This toy-based RTS game gets you to physically draw your troop formations like a sandpit battleplan, and you can play it now on Steam

Toy Tactics lets you create your own battle formations for legions of martial minifigures

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Strategy game Toy Tactics shows off more quirky minifigure action in a new trailer at theFuture Games Show, and it’s available now in early access.

Published by Joystick Ventures and developed by Kraken Empire, Toy Tactics is a whimsical real-time strategy game that has you hand draw your commands for all sorts of wobbly minifigure units. The fully simulated physics system means all the toy soldiers with their rounded bases can get thrown around and knocked over, meeting their end, so send your enemies flying and you’ll be sure to emerge victorious. Not only that, but the game will have online multiplayer for the full 1.0 launch.

Toy Tactics' main mechanic is the ability to physically draw formations and new commands for your toy soldiers to follow. Pause the game and draw shapes using the Brush of High Command to get your troops to exactly where you want them or to focus their fire on just the right spot.

Draw around the ridge of cliff so your archers can get up high and rain arrows on the enemy or direct your fighters to get up close and surround your foe’s forces with an enveloping ring. The freeform nature of the drawing system means it’s simple to pick up but allows for plenty of complex ways to command your battalions.

You won’t master the art of war immediately though, so as things don’t go to plan, it’s nice to have spells and relics to turn the tide of battle against the various enemy factions. Skill trees let you unlock and customize your spell roster, while defeating enemies charges up other powers, letting you deploy powerful siege weapons or supportive structures to bolster and heal your army. Coupled with the physics system, your most powerful relics and spells can topple castle walls too.

While there’s no launch date for a full 1.0 release, Toy Tactics is currently available in early access on PC via Steam and there’s even a free demo you can try out. To keep up with the latest news on the development of Toy Tactics, be sure tofollow the gameon Twitter and get it on your Steamwishlist.

If you’re looking for more excellent games from today’s Future Games Show, have a look atour official Steam page.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

GamesRadar+ created this content as part of a paid partnership with Joystick Ventures. The contents of this article are entirely independent and solely reflect the editorial opinion of GamesRadar+.

Will Sawyer is a guides writer at GamesRadar+ who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.

Indie dev behind photorealistic RTS about ants says a maxed-out PC “easily” costs 3 to 5 times more than a PS5 Pro, but won’t “look or play 3 to 5 times better”

StarCraft 2 veteran would want a sequel go open world, or just “try something radically new”

Metal Gear Solid Delta dev says that Konami wants to make the remake feel familiar but not old: “Our whole goal […] is to make sure that it still feels like the game that you played 20 years ago”