Those that play Desktop Tower Defense will instantly be at home with the style present in 10 Second War. The game appears to have been drawn on graph paper, with enemies and characters being depicted in a clean, geometric style. The animation is completely fluid, and the effects are simple but nice. For example, missiles appear as a trail of black and explode with a little poof, while gunshots are clean black lines. There are, unfortunately, no sound effects or music, so it's probably best to put on your own favorite soundtrack if you want to play this game with music.

The goal of 10 Second War is simple. You must eliminate all the towers. Towers come in two varieties, with one making only a single appearance: shooting and non-shooting. If a tower hits the ship you are controlling, your ship will explode and you will be a ghost. Once you've destroyed all of the towers, the game will display your best time and unlock a new level. Each completed level unlocks a new level, with the only real differences being force composition and level geometry. There are 17 levels in the game, but don't be fooled: these levels are hard.

Each level must be beaten in ten seconds. Since you can't possibly do this with a single unit, the game has a strategic twist: you set the orders for each unit by controlling them, and after all orders have been issued, everything goes at once. It's useless, therefore, to try and beat an entire level with a single unit. This is reinforced with the addition of ghosting. If you are hit, you turn into a ghost. Ghosts still issue orders, but can not affect the current timeline. Once you go back and add more layers to your attack, however, the ghost might be alive and able to effectively pull off the orders you give.

A good example of ghosting in action is this. You take a gunner and attack a few towers, destroying them. You then round a corner and are shot by several other towers. You continue ghosting to destroy the immediate towers and other towers further ahead, even though it technically does nothing. For your second order, you control a shield. You now block the fire from the turrets that destroyed the gunner, enabling him to move forward and carry out his orders in actuality instead of as a ghost. Ghosting makes the game a lot more complex than it appears and first glance, and allows the player to set up more strategic maneuvers.

You can control up to three types of units in 10 Second War. Each unit has a speciality and drawback that make it effective in certain situations, forcing you to use your units effectively instead of barging in and attacking. The different units are:

• The gunner, which shoots machine-gun bullets. His strong points are fast movement, continuous fire, and pinpoint accuracy. However, he can't fire around corners and has absolutely no resistance to bullets.
  
• The rocketeer, which shoots rockets. Rockets can be controlled after being fired, as they follow the mouse cursor. Rockets will continue to follow the mouse cursor until they hit a wall or enemy, and can be controlled even if the rocketeer is dead. Strong points are shooting around corners, safe from harm, while weak points include buggy replays (the rocket doesn't always hit where it did when you issued the original order) and ability to die.
  
• The shield, which can't attack but is invincible to attacks from the front and side. The shield is one of the most important units, as it allows gunners to get up close and personal or make it through dangerous areas without turning into ghosts. However, it is more imprecise and vulnerable to gunfire from the rear, which sometimes makes multiple shields necessary.

There's a few flaws in 10 Second War. The first is the lack of a map editor. The placement of units, walls, and enemies is already on a grid, so the lack of a map editor is a big disappointment. Being able to challenge friends to beat tough maps would've been a great addition to the game. Another is the lack of unit variety. While the three unit types definitely extend the life of the game, more would've been appreciated, especially if they had been combinations of other units, such as a shield and gunner. Finally, there is no sound, and that's a real shame. No sound is always disappointing, and it's doubly so here thanks to the quality of the game.

10 Second War is caught somewhere between strategy, puzzle, and action genres. Despite this, it manages to be engaging, easy to learn, and very challenging for just about any player. Simple graphics, simple gameplay, and an interesting take on the ten seconds theme make it especially notable. It's a must play. You can download the game on the TIGsource feedback thread, and leave the developer some comments as well. This is still an in-progress version, so future updates may include music or a map editor. Definitely a game to keep your eye on!

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