Julian Gollop shows how not to defeat the crabmen in Phoenix Point

In a match between Julian Gollop and a load of crab men, I like to think that the X-COM designer would at least put up a decent fight, given his experience with tactically snuffing out aliens, and the fact he'd be literally playing them at his own game. And yet here he is showing how not to defeat the crab men and the crab queen in a demo for his upcoming turn-based tactics game Phoenix Point, which is a bit like X-COM but with more murderous crustaceans:

If you were at the Weekender a few days ago, you will have had the opportunity to play a little bit of Phoenix Point, and take on the overgrown rock-pool-dwellers for yourself. If you weren't so fortunate, or if you're looking for a few tips to up your game, you might want to watch our extensive interview with its designer, who did much better during his next attempt at tackling the mission, while chatting to PC Gamer Weekender host Zoe:

Phoenix Point is due out later this year. In addition to working on the game, Julian has also been writing his strategy-focused The Gollop Chamber column for PCG.

Tom Sykes

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.