Arms Trade Tycoon: Tanks

Arms Trade Tycoon: Tanks is an in-depth business simulation game that puts players in control of a fledgling arms trading company specializing in researching, designing, producing, and selling customized tanks across the globe. As CEO and head tank designer, players must guide their company to success against competitors while navigating political landscapes, military doctrines, and the turbulence of world conflicts and wars.

Gameplay revolves around making key decisions related to raw resource procurement, engineering tank components, hiring staff, negotiating trade deals, adapting to different nations' tank demands, and directly testing tank designs on proving grounds obstacle courses. The deep simulation allows playing out alternate histories depending on your tank models' battlefield performance and your business decisions' wider impacts.

Designing Tanks with Myriad Customization

One of the most engaging parts of Arms Trade Tycoon is the sheer level of tank customization available. Players can faithfully recreate historical tank models like the German Tiger I or British Churchill with an array of turret types, chassis sizes, armaments, engines, suspensions, and armor. The customization doesn't stop there, as applying modification packages and upgrades unlocks even more ways to specialize tanks for specific environments or extend tank model lifespans over decades. Players also employ cutting-edge technologies researched from rival designs using industrial espionage - resulting in hybrid Frankentank monstrosities the world has never witnessed!

The customization options enable adapting tanks to unique specifications required by the game's diverse nations with distinct military doctrines. Do you design heavily armored beasts for frontal assaults? Lightning-quick flankers? General all-rounders? The choices become vast with dozens of components and modification trees to explore. When combined with directly testing tank designs on proving grounds obstacle courses from the driver's seat, the tank construction element feels incredibly hands-on.

Business Challenges Mirror Real-World Complexity

While tank design is engaging, growing your company presents arguably the biggest long-term challenge. Beyond factory upgrades, players must weigh political influence, global reputation, trade negotiations, raw material shortages, and macroeconomic landscapes when deciding which national tenders to pursue - all dynamically impacted by real-life historical events. Send outdated tanks to Third World proxy wars, monopolize a superpower's contracts, or balance exports across factions? Maybe you cut deals with both sides of a conflict! The turbulent choices make success highly replayable.

By the late game, balancing tank innovation, quality, pricing, and time-to-market with shareholder interests introduces boardroom drama - is your company vision aligned with profitability? Regardless, watching your customized tank models shape history across the 20th century via detailed battle reports and seeing nations adopt your designs globally makes success deeply rewarding.

Review: 7.5/10

With such business complexity does come a learning cliff for new players and somewhat drab menus. The sandbox lack of an overarching campaign may also dismay some.

Pros:

• Incredibly deep tank customization
• Authentic business simulation challenges
• High replayability factor
• Tanks shape alternate histories

Cons:

• Steep learning curve
• No true campaign mode
• Uninspiring menu visuals