Relic's taken a break from real-time strategy to make a turn-based hybrid of Advance Wars and cult classic Impossible Creatures—but it feels totally removed from the studio's legendary legacy

What's Relic Labs?

Earth vs Mars is the first game from Relic Labs, the studio's new sub-division, focusing on small indie-style games. That goal is to release games more frequently through Relic Labs, while Relic continues to work on traditional RTS games.

An acclaimed—albeit struggling—RTS studio developing a cute turn-based tactics game full of retro sci-fi Martians and animal soldiers sounds like one of those terrible April Fools' not-jokes that inundate my beleaguered inbox every April 1.