Hyper-focus Review - Meckabelum

Hyperfocus Reviews:

I have ADHD meaning I am to very in controle of my attention - sometimes that means I have no attention for anything, at other times I have an unhealthy amount of attention for specific things misstakeingly going without food etc. In this series I review my experiences when various games have become such a hyper-focus. 

Mechkabellum

Mechkabellum is a game of big robots shooting each other, while giant robots rocket-punch each other, and swarms of smaller robots drill everything to bits. 

It is an “auto battler” meaning that you select your army of robots, its upgrades and how it deploys - then watch it fight your opponents' bots without directing the battle itself.  

My Experience hyperfocusing on this:

I came across a YouTube video that looked interesting, wishlisted on Steam, brought in a sale and haven’t stopped playing since - occasionally getting very focused playing repeatedly and watching TikToks on tactics and updates. Note this doesn’t mean I'm good, my ranking is very average, but that doesn’t usually deduct from my enjoyment. 

Ease to get into:

It has informative tutorials and single player modes that are great for learning the game, fun and challenging. But their will be points on the learning curve that just involve losing with no hope to tactics you’ve not seen before. 

Cost:

A cheep download definitely worth the price. Includes a few optional extra payments for cosmetics but the vast majority of players don’t get them. Very big 3d battles so it needs a decent computer or game streaming service. 

Fun:

Lots of different strategies to explore, different card “draws” making you adjust strategies on the fly, constantly challenging opponents, and spectacular battles to watch. Even if you're having a nightmare of a match, the “pew-pew BOOM!” is still fun to watch. 

Usefulness:

I don’t think I’ll ever use the skills that I’ve acquired to command armies of giant robots. This is probably a good thing for the world, if a little sad for me personally.

I guess it has developed some transferable strategic thinking though. 

Frustrations:

The pacing of the game is good for me, alternating between a few minutes of frantically clicking stuff to chose optimal tech’s and reinforcement and a few minutes of just sitting back watching explosive things happen. 

Most of the time, when you are beaten, it’s possible to work out why you lost and do better next time. Just occasionally particularly early in the learning curve it will seem like the opponent just has more AND better bots than you without it being clear why which can be frustrating, but a large and supportive community of u-tubers and reditors can usually help. 

Holding interest:

Theirs 1000’s of possible combinations of units to try building strategies around, and each unit has different ways they can upgrade so you can try entirely different approaches with each of them. Moreover even if you do end up settling on one firm favorite strategy the wide variety of opponents you will face and the random hand of “cards” you chose from each round will mean you have to try slightly different spins on that strategy each time. The unpredictability, cleverness and ingenuity of my random opponents who are automatically match to a my overall skill level also frequently amazes me. 

I’ve been playing frequently for almost a year now with zero signs of it getting old yet - even if it did it has frequent new content to re-fresh things. 

Recommendation: yes

Good fun with loads of strategy and real opponents to outwit or learn from after defeat

Random game depicted:

I would go on to win the game screenshoted by the power of Scopions, although their regenerating high level flying sorcer gave me a serius challenge especially since my opponent keapt cleverly Movement Beconing it out of reach of my Melting Point.