Athena Crisis

This really is just like a browser/pc/mobile port of Advance Wars, minus the combat animations in favour of online and a faster experience. Despite its strong focus on online, it even has an offline mode, too! Not just campaign, but the ability to play without an internet connection, which is always a must in my book. My only qualm is that I can't download maps for local play to play them later, though I can make my own, and somewhat more egregious is that it doesn't have hotseat multiplayer on the same device. It seems to play PvP or co-op you need to play against someone who's also running the game, which is a bummer. But as someone who wanted to just play some Advance Wars against bots this game really scratches that itch, and the online functionality of immediately storing and loading your game across devices with no syncing is very, very nice.

Obviously it's based off of advance wars, but it actually has a lot of new features to offer.
- Infantry is much more varied. Snipers, flamethrowers, saboteurs, medics... there is a lot!
- Instead of picking a CO that has a power/super, you get to pick an ability from abilities that you unlock
- There are certain capture points where you can build new buildings, like barracks or factories. Also, there are a lot more buildings with more specialized purposes. In advance wars, you have a city, factory, airport, or seaport, all which give you funds. In Athena Crisis, houses/oil rigs provide income, while other building produce units. Then there are labs which boost stats.
- The tile sets are really beautiful! There are cute objects that seem to be placed on tiles, like shrines and other doodads.
- The music slaps harder than my father
I'm sure there is a lot more, but I'm only a few missions in. One downside is that the controls/menus are a bit janky. Nothing that is really frustrating or anything, just takes a bit getting used to.
Overall, its a cool little game if you want something similar to advance wars, but different enough to keep it interesting :)

I'm really impressed with this game for the amount of innovation it did on Advance Wars's formula. Other attempts to revive AW which I shall not name feel really shallow by comparison, since they tried to stick so close to the original unit balance, meanwhile Athena Crisis manages to keep things really fresh and exciting constantly throughout the campaign with its endless stream of new unit variants -- and it's not overwhelming since they're tied to Skills.
Also, adding Dark Souls-style invasions to a Turn-Based Strategy is one of the wildest gameplay decisions I've ever seen.

An absolute gem of a game.
EDIT: Now able to play OFFLINE
If you like Advance Wars, you will love Athena Crisis. I've put countless hours into Advance Wars games ever since I was a kid, and I assure you that Athena Crisis is just as good, if not better in many ways. It is not a blatant rip off by any means; Athena Crisis has its own art style, its own excellent sound design, and introduces lots of new gameplay mechanics. There are interesting new units, varying terrain types, and best of all the community content so anyone can create new campaigns. The official single player campaign is not complete yet, so you will get through it quickly, so you will want to try the community created campaigns.
I love the sound effects. They are crispy and fit the style well. The soundtrack is decent as well.
Now for the one caveat, and it's a big one. Online only. Now, the developer has said they are working on an offline mode for the single player campaign, but as of now, you cannot play without an internet connection. Wanna play on your long flight? Tough luck! Wifi disconnects? Sorry to be you! So until they change this, when you purchase Athena Crisis, you are essentially renting access to the game and hoping they keep the servers up. Ouch.
However, the implementation of the online system is actually really good. This game does cross platform so well, so much better than any other game I've ever played. I started playing on my Mac, then I went to my PC another day and everything is exactly where I left off. When I go out, I can play on my phone. It works in the web browser too so you can play anywhere on whatever platform you like. You don't have to think about it, going from one device to another is a seamless transition.
The game is in early access, and the developer seems very passionate about this game and he responds to feedback and claims to be working on an offline mode. He also open sourced the core of the game too (but not the art or sound) so if this project dies, someone else can pick up the ashes.
EDIT: Offline mode has been deployed and is working great so far.
One criticism I have is that the game doesn't offer a lot of help for new players. There is not anything in the settings menu that explains the controls. I just had to press keys and guess what each key did until I figured it out. The game on its own would do a poor job of explaining the gameplay mechanics to those unfamiliar with this genre of game. However, someone created a community tutorial campaign that explains everything for people new to this genre. Something like that needs to be in an official campaign, like a tutorial mode. But, if you're like me and already familiar with Advance Wars type games, you'll pick up on things quickly in Athena Crisis, and the context menus show most of the details you'll need. So that's a minor gripe.
Overall, Athena Crisis is a gem of a game and it hope it will flourish. I haven't enjoyed a new game this much in a long time. It also:
Works natively on Apple Silicon!!!
Which is a cool bonus if you have a Mac.
If you want to see the Advance Wars style genre expanded upon and living a new life, buy Athena Crisis. You won't be disappointed. And now the game supports offline mode too so you no longer have to worry about "renting" the game. 30+ hours in Steam and more on my phone (playing on mobile does not count towards playtime in Steam) and Athena Crisis is still a blast.

The control scheme specifically on steam deck is a very rough. The fact that you can't download the official campaign to play on the go seems like a big oversight. But the over all package is very good. Clean gameplay, async matchmaking, lots of variety and good balance. Also being able to play on mobile or pc seamlessly is VERY cool.

I was looking for an Advance Wars like game and saw this game randomly.
I checked it out and found out - if you buy it on steam, you also can access it via every Webbrowser + Android phone based on Chromium.
So in the end you get the game and can play it on the go + every webbrowser.
The game is advance wars like with more units more depth and more functions.
It feels different - so they realy did their own twist. There is also a map maper + campaign editor and I bet many people will keep the game alive via mods and maps.
Units are fun and way different - can't wait to see how the game turns out. (Tested it and played it on EA) - I played waaay more maps on my phone - so my short time on steam does not really count.
Interface on android is okayish! There is also a free demo on phone/ steam and web! you should at least try it!

uh, this game is cool...
but there should be a local multiplayer
it's a turn based strategy, so, why we can't play on 1 device?
or by steam remote to play??
Could be cool to see that.