A Battlefield That Changes Beneath Your Feet
In March of Giants, each player is a colossal giant infused with mythical power, leading their side’s forces across a war-torn landscape. The defining innovation lies in how players manipulate the battlefield itself. Commanding your retinue of soldiers functions as just another ability in your arsenal, alongside placing battleworks that fortify positions and inevitably crumble into ruins that reshape the conflict.
In a typical match, you’ll contest a lane against one or more enemy heroes while grinding for experience points by defeating opponents and requisitioning supplies from ruined city sections scattered beyond the attack lanes. That requisition acts as your currency, spent upgrading your giant’s own body, while collected supplies transform into battleworks that can swing a pushed-forward lane in your favor or help your team hold a struggling one.
“March of Giants doesn’t dilute the genre. It has the hardcore things that have survived and thrived in the MOBA for years—from big stuff like separate skill leveling and complex itemization to the littler things like last hitting.”
Jon Bolding, IGN contributor
Battleworks extend far beyond mere defenses, functioning as ironclad tanks, cavalry charges, and airship soldier drops. While there is no RTS-style micro-management or base-building on display, March of Giants feels closer to the MOBA genre’s RTS roots than any title in recent memory, evoking the golden age of Warcraft 3 custom maps when every conceivable variation on the formula was tried.
A Depth That Rivals the Genre Leaders
The surprising promise of March of Giants stems partly from its developers’ pedigree. Key members of the team previously worked on Rainbow Six Siege, a game that boldly challenged tactical shooter titan Counter-Strike and went on to thrive for years. The same philosophy appears evident here: while incorporating modern accessibility standards, the studio refuses to water down the competitive depth that keeps veteran players invested.
The heart of this flexibility lives in its characters. Far from interchangeable bruisers, the roster includes a skeleton, a werewolf, a tree, and even something resembling Cthulhu. Each character offers a variety of builds governed by skill-ordering choices, itemization decisions, and scarce augment points that enhance abilities with longer range or additional projectiles.
Iron Sister, for instance, can be developed into a traditional support laying down buffs and heals, or rebuilt as a tanky menace operating deep within enemy lines. According to the preview, even a handful of matches barely scratched the surface of what each character could accomplish.
The Soldier Command System
Perhaps the most anticipated innovation is the soldier command system, which players expect to inspire a wave of creative community strategies. Your squad responds to just two keys: one sends them charging forward or redirects their path mid-charge, while another recalls them. That simple interface enables soldiers to gather supplies, scout concealed positions, break open defensive shields that protect enemy towers, and deliver what amounts to an unresistable damage type separate from regular attacks and abilities.
Giants themselves are not defenseless, able to autoattack larger targets like guns and armored cars, though the tiny soldiers can only be dispatched by stomping. Several giants further alter how their troops behave: Wolfgang’s forces transform into a ravenous werewolf horde, Voidmaster conjures tentacular cultists, and Ossuary summons ghosts capable of phasing through walls to steal supplies right from under enemy noses.
The natural counter to such swarms lies within your own army and battlework defenses. Trenches halt charges in their tracks, anti-giant bunkers prevent follow-up assaults, and both can be overcome with hard pushes involving ironclad tanks or cavalry charges. Crucially, the ruins left behind by destroyed structures prevent rebuilding in the same locations, creating a devastated no man’s land that keeps matches snappy and prevents stalemates.
Looking Ahead
With matches designed to run roughly 20 to 30 minutes—nothing longer than 25 was observed during the preview—March of Giants offers an appealing option for players fitting gaming sessions between other commitments. Players could realistically complete two, perhaps three rounds within a single hour.
The developers have noted that while matches typically stay within this window, the freedom afforded by their build system could occasionally push playtimes toward 45 minutes or more in extreme cases. As March of Giants heads toward its full release, competitive players and MOBA veterans alike will be watching closely to see whether this bold reimagining can carve out a lasting place alongside established giants.
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