''Toy Soldiers'' is an

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

and

strategy video game Strategy video game is a major Video game genres, video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy ...

developed by

Signal Studios Signal Studios is a developer of both video games and interactive software applications. Signal is known for their game ''Toy Soldiers'', one of the top 10 best-selling Xbox Live Arcade games. As part of the ''Toy Soldiers'' franchise, they ha ...

released on

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

on March 3, 2010. It is featured in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Store. It has been available since February 29, 2012, debuting alongside the Windows 8 Consumer Preview beta release. The game was officially released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

on April 27, 2012. A high-definition port, published by Accelerate Games, was released on October 21, 2021, for

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

, and Microsoft Windows.

Gameplay

Players control one of two armies of miniature toy soldiers on a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

model

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

with wooden and plastic landscapes. The diorama is set in various locations, such as a child's bedroom, library and lounge, and objects such as dressers and reading lamps are occasionally visible in the background. The game features 50 different controllable units including machine guns, mortars and tanks, with the fixed emplacements being upgradable to more powerful versions. Players can create and control numerous units from a strategic command perspective or individual units on the field from a third-person action perspective. They can also command fixed emplacements that they create such as howitzers, mortars, and machine guns, or drive various vehicles such as tanks, biplanes, and bombers. When the player takes control of a single unit, the other emplacements are automatically controlled by

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

. When shot, the toy soldiers explode into plastic chunks but do not display blood, in order to keep the game family-friendly. A

tower defense Tower defense (TD) is a Video game genre, subgenre of Strategy video game, strategy games where the goal is to defend a player's territories or possessions by obstructing the enemy attackers or by stopping enemies from reaching the exits, usual ...

-style single-player campaign is available, which involves defending a base from

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

soldiers. The player receives money for destroying enemies, which can be used to equip greater defenses. The single-player game features British and German campaigns among 24 unique levels. Once a campaign is finished, the player unlocks

Survival Mode Survival mode, or horde mode, is a game mode in a video game in which the player must continue playing for as long as possible without dying in an uninterrupted session while the game presents them with increasingly difficult waves of challenges. ...

, which involves fighting continuous streams of enemies to last as long as possible. There are four difficulty settings. Multiplayer is also available (Xbox only), and can be played online over Xbox LIVE or locally with two-player split-screen. In multiplayer games, the player must focus on waging offensives as well as defending the base. Scores are tracked and compared in Xbox LIVE leaderboards.

Development

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

anticipated ''Toy Soldiers'' would be one of the biggest Xbox Live Arcade releases of the year. Microsoft officials compared the game to the ''

Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

'' game franchise and

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, tur ...

games, but designed to be more easily accessible. A playable version of ''Toy Soldiers'' was spotlighted at the 2010

Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The music acquired for ''Toy Soldiers'' includes ''

Goodbye, Dolly Gray "Goodbye, Dolly Gray" is a music hall song, with lyrics by American Will D. Cobb and music by American Paul Barnes, first published in 1897 by the Morse Music Publishing Company. The song was the publishers' first hit.https://www.songhall.org/pro ...

'' and ''She May Have Seen Better Days'', which play during the opening credits and main menu. Five other pieces were composed by Stan LePard for the game; two of these, ''The Sailor's Life for Me'' and ''There's a Candle Burning Bright'', also play during the opening credits. ''Toy Soldiers'' was released for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade on March 3, 2010. On March 9, 2011, concurrent with their announce of ''Toy Soldiers: Cold War,'' Signal Studios announced their intent to release ''Toy Soldiers'' on the PC. The PC release was on April 27, 2012. On February 12, Microsoft released a companion

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

game called ''Toy Soldiers: Match Defense'', in which users and their friends match items to collectively win countries and conquer

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Downloadable content

''The Kaiser's Battle'' is the first downloadable content pack for ''Toy Soldiers''. The pack adds several new features:

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Army skins for all units, two new units exclusive to the French Army, a French mini-campaign featuring three single-player levels and the "German

K-Wagen The ''Großkampfwagen'' or "K-Wagen" (short for ''G.K.-Wagen'') was a German super-heavy tank, two prototypes of which were almost completed by the end of World War I. History In June 1917, before the first A7V tanks had been completed, the Germ ...

" boss, two new multiplayer maps, a new Survival Mode map and three achievements. The pack was released for purchase on June 30, 2010. ''Invasion!'' is the second and final downloadable content pack for ''Toy Soldiers''. The pack adds a new three-level mini-campaign including the "RoboBob" boss, two new multiplayer maps, a new Survival Mode map and three achievements. The player will take control of the German Army to fight off new British secret weapons, including Spacemen, Fire Trucks, Space Tanks, Chivalrous Knights, Flying Saucers, and

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

s. The pack was released for purchase on September 29, 2010.

Sequels

''Toy Soldiers: Cold War'' was announced by Signal Studios on March 9, 2011, as the follow-up sequel to ''Toy Soldiers.'' The game takes an interpretive look into what might have happened had

military aggression A war of aggression, sometimes also war of conquest, is a military conflict waged without the justification of self-defense, usually for territorial gain and subjugation, in contrast with the concept of a just war. Wars without international le ...

escalated in the 1980s. ''Toy Soldiers: Cold War'' features a blend of third-person action and strategy similar to the original ''Toy Soldiers.'' It was released August 17, 2011, as part of Microsoft's 2011 Summer of Arcade promotion. ''Toy Soldiers: War Chest'' was released on August 11, 2015, for Windows,

and

HD remastered version

A HD remastered version of game, ''Toy Soldiers HD'' was announced and released on October 21, 2021, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows, and for the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

released on December 31, 2022. The game was published by Accelerate Games.

Reception

Early reports of ''Toy Soldiers'' were generally positive. ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

'' writer Matt Miller said, "My early glimpse of the game has me pretty stoked." Matt Casamassina of ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' wrote, "Frankly, the title is a lot of fun, inventive and polished. ..The style is great and the blend of fantasy with authenticity drives home the theme that despite all the carnage, these battles aren't real." GameZone writer Dakota Grabowski gave the game an 8/10, saying "''Toy Soldiers'' is a brilliant way to kick start Microsoft's concentration on Xbox Live Arcade titles for the month of March. Signal Studios deserve a pat on the back for creating a unique tower defense title that sets itself apart from the rest of the pack." The game received a

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

score of 81 between 40 tracked critics. On February 11, 2011, ''Toy Soldiers'' received a nomination for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year from the

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

, competing against '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'' (eventual winner), '' Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Chaos Rising'', ''

Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. It is the sequel to Civilization IV, ''Civilization IV'', and was released for Microsoft Windows, Windows in Sep ...

'' and ''

Supreme Commander 2 ''Supreme Commander 2'' is a real-time strategy (RTS) Military science fiction video game developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Square Enix as the sequel to '' Supreme Commander''. A Windows-only demo was initially released via Steam o ...

''. As of October 2010, ''Toy Soldiers'' has sold over 429,000 copies. As of year-end 2010, ''Toy Soldiers'' has moved more than 471,000 units, with its downloadable content selling in excess of 66,000 units collectively. ''Toy Soldiers'' was noted as the top selling Xbox LIVE Arcade game title of 2010. As of year-end 2011 sales exceeded 615,000 units on the Xbox 360, with the downloadable content collectively moving over 100,000 units.

References

External links

Toy Soldiers
at xbox.com
Developer website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toy Soldiers (Video Game) 2010 video games Action games First-person strategy video games Games for Windows Microsoft games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Signal Studios games Split-screen multiplayer games Strategy video games Third-person strategy video games Tower defense video games Video games about sentient toys Video games developed in the United States Windows games World War I video games Xbox 360 games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Xbox One games