Wargroove came out back in 2019, and honestly? It still holds up. If you grew up on Advance Wars and have been itching for something in that vein but with more teeth, this is it. Chucklefish built a turn-based tactics game that doesn't hold your hand — and after spending a weekend diving into the co-op campaign with Pohndip, I can confirm: this game will humble you.
To get the online co-op campaign rolling, you need the Double Trouble DLC — which is free, by the way. It adds a brand new story campaign built around the Outlaw faction. You play as Wulfar, a beefy dad with a massive hammer, and his twin kids Errol & Orla. The story follows their heist across Aurania, stealing from the four major factions. There's a full overworld map you travel across, picking missions and progressing through the narrative. On top of that, there are a ton of standalone Arcade missions you can tackle with 2-4 players.
Wulfar's Groove ability — his special move — is this ridiculous hammer punt that launches ground units roughly 8 tiles across the map. You can use it on enemies to yeet them into the ocean for an instant kill, or swing at your own allies to reposition them behind enemy lines. Meanwhile, Errol & Orla stick to the shadows as thieves, sneaking around to steal gold and cause chaos. It's a genuinely creative co-op dynamic where one player plays the bruiser and the other plays the rogue. The missions we tried were unique and demanded real coordination between us.
Look, I love Advance Wars. But let's be real — you can cheese a lot of those maps by mass-producing cheap infantry and clogging chokepoints until the AI crumbles through sheer attrition. Wargroove doesn't let you get away with that. The CPU actually responds to your strategy and adapts. You have to think like you're playing chess — every unit placement matters, every turn counts. Advance Wars eases you in gently; Wargroove respects your intelligence enough to challenge you from the jump.
Was it hard? Absolutely. Did I enjoy the challenge? Every second of it. If you've got a buddy who's into tactics games and you want something that'll make you both sweat a little, grab Wargroove, download Double Trouble, and jump into the co-op campaign. It's an older title but it still plays beautifully on the Switch 2, the online worked great, and those co-op missions are some of the most creative level design I've seen in the genre. Good stuff.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
