Battle Aces is a new strategy game and deckbuilder combo, and you can try it now

It’s been nearly a decade since Starcraft 2’s last DLC, and 15 years since the base game launched. In the time since, there have been plenty of great entries to the RTS genre, like Dune: Spice Wars, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, and remasters of the original Command & Conquer and Age of Empires 2. But nothing has quite captured the same look and feel as Starcraft over the years. Fortunately, Battle Aces, made by a team that includes former Starcraft 2 multiplayer designer David Kim,  looks to fill that void. Even better, you can try it right now thanks to a beta test currently being held on Steam.

Battles Aces is an RTS game that looks to boil the genre down to its essence. Its matches, which mix direct action with army building and customization strategies informed by deckbuilders, are designed to play out entirely within 10 or fewer minutes. To accomplish this, the fiddliest aspects of a traditional RTS — base building, resource collection, and more — have been simplified for speed and ease of use.

It’s a fresh approach to the genre, and one that audiences can best understand by trying the game for themselves. The best opportunity yet to do so has just been made available with Battle Ace’s new beta test. For this test, creator Uncapped Games has unlocked the entirety of its array of unit types; opened up its 2v2, 1v1, and 2vAI game modes; and set up new progression features and login rewards. The current test also allows players to invite up to three others to try out the game with them.

If you want to check out Battle Aces for yourself, you can request access to its beta on Steam right here.

Otherwise, there’s more like it to play in our picks of the best strategy games and best grand strategy games out on PC now.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.