97% Positive Reviews on Steam - Impressive Strategy Game Looks Like Old Windows
Players on Steam are swooning over Rule the Waves 3. The game looks like a spreadsheet, but the gameplay is like a dream.
We like to write about super-niche games that are successful. The latest offering of this type is Rule the Waves 3, a naval warfare strategy that looks more like a spreadsheet or Windows interface from the 1990s than a 2023 title.
- The game was released on May 18 and is available exclusively on PC.
- You can buy the game on Steam or in Slitherine store.
- Rule the Waves 3 has received a very enthusiastic reception on Steam - out of 151 reviews issued so far, as many as 97% are positive.
- An employee of the publisher Slitherine jokingly commented this success, claiming that "Rule the Waves 3 is Zelda of fleet management games." This references The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, whose average rating on Opencritic is also 97%.
- The activity record set on launch day was 812 concurrent users, which for such a niche production is an impressive result.
In reviews on Steam, players praise the excellent and insanely deep gameplay, which includes not only combat, but also the development of fleets over decades. At the same time, many of them stress that mastering the game is not as difficult as it might seem. No one is bothered by the simple graphics, which is not surprising, since Rule of the Waves 3 is bought by fans of war games, who know well what to expect from such titles.
Below we cite some reviews from Steam:
"The best naval battle game on the market, with absolutely tremendous scope. No other game captures the atmosphere of different eras so well. (...) I would also add that you should not be afraid of its complexity. Yes, it is a complex game and looks like an Excel spreadsheet. But I would say it is easier to master than most strategy games. Many things can be automated, and the size of the fleets can be customized, so you don't have to manage giant fleets on your first playthrough, and for the first time in the series, the manual does a great job of explaining how the game works."
"If you like history and naval warfare, don't mind the old-school graphics. This game is simply amazing."
"I love this game. It's certainly a bit niche, but it's also absolutely great. My girlfriend got upset that I didn't want to go to bed because I was in the middle of an aircraft carrier battle, trying to destroy a British force more than three times my size."
