Part real time strategy, part tower defence, part exploration - rymdkapsel is certainly a unique proposition. It's one of those games where your initial playthrough is all about familiarising yourself with the mechanics so that you can start again and tackle the game proper. In fact, you'll have to take numerous runs at rymdkapsel's tough cycle until you manage to discover the secrets of the monoliths, and survive all the attack waves.

Like any real time strategy title, rymdkapsel's core mechanics revolve around resource management, acquisition, and unit control. There are three resouces which you need in order to build: blue energy (which is pulled from a reactor), pink material (which is extracted from sources around the map), and food (which is created using gardens and kitchens). Weapons quarters will will let you defend your base from the incoming enemy waves, and the quarters will build more units.

You can assign tasks to your minions by swiping them between engineering, food production, defence, and construction. The monoliths are all over the map, and corridors need to be built reach and reseatch these landmarks. Rooms take the form of random tetrominos. These can be dragged onto the map, and rotated to fit.

In rymdkapsel, base building (and especially planning) is paramount. That's not to say you still don't need to worry about defending your turf and reinforcing yourself as you progress, but the focus is definitely on expansion, not offense. You're not going to witness any flashy pyrotechnics. That said, what the game lacks in explosions, it makes for in atmosphere. The flat, block colours, and low key music and sound effects contribute towards a feeling of isolation - a sense that you're floating in the void waiting to meet your end.

Though play might initially seem pretty sedate, once you understand your goals and the enemy waves start coming quicker, you realise you don't have a second to waste. It's unforgiving, and you will have to make numerous attempts to complete all three goals. Sessions also take a while - around an hour per game - which doesn't make it ideal pick-up-and-play fodder. But if you're willing to put in the time, rymdkapsel's ingenious fusion of genres makes for a compelling strategy experience.