Kairobotica

I'm slowly but surely running out of ways to say, "oh look, it's another Kairosoft game." I might as well have a monthly subscription, given that money seems to travel from my bank account to the Japanese company's every 30 days or so.

I'm also running out of ways to say, "it's essentially more of the same but with a slighty different theme." Kairobotica, the latest from the Japanese studio, is indeed more of the same, although it introduces a feature not seen before in Kairosoft games - turn-based combat.

Kairobotica is a space-themed management title this time around, in a similar vein to the wonderful Epic Astro Story.

You play as the captain of a spaceship, darting around space, landing on planets, and saving the inhabitants from peril. You have a army of Kairobots, which you send out into the world to kick some alien bottom.

Your flotilla houses your Kairobots' resting quarters, as well the factories where they are made, and various attractions that people from planets can visit - this is your main source of income.

These elements are classic Kairosoft. You use items to level-up your facilities, and visitor numbers are determined by how well you're cleaning the universe up, while the amount of money they spend is determined by how evolved they are.

As always, there's very deep and varied gameplay hidden beneath the accessible veneer. There's always something to do, whether it's patrolling a planet, completing a mission, researching a new facility, or upgrading your existing base.

Patrolling and entering missions sends you planet-side, and into new territories for Kairosoft - turn-based battling.

The number of Kairobots you have acts as your health points, and once enemies have killed all of your bots you're sent back to your base. You bots can attack, use special moves, repair themselves, and call in help from back-up bots.

While the combat is fairly accessible and simple to get into, it can be a little too passive. You can select 'attack' and then tell the game to just keep attacking over and over without your input, which just emphasises how shallow it can be.

Even so, Kairobotica is yet another Kairosoft game worth grabbing. Despite the slightly new direction it doesn't stray far from the Kairosoft formula, and the studio's legions of fans really aren't going to complain about that.