The Turf Demo

Gangs are part of everyday life in some cities from around the world, especially in less-developed areas. Controlling certain buildings or street corners can be very important for a gang if drugs are involved, because they get a lot more money if they sell their product in a profitable area. Hence, most of these disputes are solved with blood, and innocent lives can sometimes be caught in the crossfire.

The Turf is a top-down real-time strategy game about gangs and territory, as well as the fight to obtain as much influence as possible. It’s designed to be humorous instead of serious, which is why the characters look like walking stickmen and there’s no actual hardcore violence. It’s more about the strategy you use to capture territory than it is about gangs and violence.

As such, you start with a bit of cash and the ability to create one of three possible units, each one of which is specialized in either strength, speed, or a balance between the two. The unit selection is obviously kind of disappointing at the moment, but you have to remember that this is merely a pre-alpha version of the game. Hence, things are bound to get better content-wise, as is everything else.

Although some buildings are just there to help you expand, others provide you with the ability to improve your soldiers. Hence, it’s always good to own a gun store or a hospital, because you never know when you’re going to need better weapons or a few health upgrades. Other special buildings are planned as well, including the police station, which allows you to arrest rival gang members and receive bounty rewards.

As for the actual gameplay, it’s all a bit stiff at the moment, especially in regards to control and targeting. The pathfinding is dreadful as well, and the combat is entirely anticlimactic. Thankfully, the graphics are actually pretty sharp, at least when it comes to the environments. It would be nice to see some improvements in the characters as well, but the gameplay is much more important at the moment, and it needs serious work.

In the end, The Turf is not much of a prize fighter right now, but it’s certainly on the right road to success. Hence, as long as the gameplay mechanics are improved and refined in the following months, the game has a real chance at greatness. You can support the developers by participating in the game's Kickstarter campaign, or by voting for it on Steam Greenlight.