This upcoming first person sim puts you in control of a military facility in an alternate future in which we're still fighting World War 2.

War Mechanic, announced last week, is a new sim that puts players in the shoes of an enterprising greasy monkey who must build, defend and make a profit from a military base. This is in an alternate world where we are still fighting the Big One.

The game imagines that the Soviet Union attacked the US during World War II, leading to a long-lasting conflict. We are tasked with gathering resources, building a foundation, and defending it from the Soviets while taking contracts to repair vehicles and accomplish war objectives for good ol’ stars and stripes.

Steam's page describes a "blaster tool" that looks like a combination of an enormous wrench and a torch. These resources can be used to build buildings for repairing tanks, or new parts and bobs for combat vehicles, as well as some cool anti-aircraft weapons. You'll eventually be able automate all of this with an army robots. The first one looks like a cute clone Claptrap, with some era appropriate goggles.

I will never chop a single tree or use a mining pick, no matter how much I tell myself. Again. I keep coming back to this game. This looks like an interesting take on the classic survival formula. I wonder if I will miss the satisfying M1 Garand ping. With any luck, driving a custom built WW2 jeep/truck/tank/rover thing around a mysterious island will keep me occupied.

It also has a war campaign with a storyline and "intriguing" characters like Crazy Man and Wild Bully. Although those names sound like placeholders for alpha versions, I'm willing give them the benefit-of-the-doubt. The idea of my base building survival game having a strategic aspect where I try and conquer other bases sounds great.

War Mechanic will appeal to tinkerers, explorers, (alternate) history World War 2 fans, and anyone who correctly concluded that Claptrap needed to shut his gob and repair tanks for me. It's scheduled to release in 2025.