So you want to play an online game but you don't have hours each day to invest in playing, what do you do? Welcome to the world of Play-by-Email (PBEM) gaming. Games of this type have been around for years, beginning with the popular pen and paper variety, to the current full-featured titles. Massive Assault Network is a turn-based strategy game which works off of the PBEM format from its own fully functioning client. There is no fussing around with email clients or data files. Simply play your turn and let the game do the rest.

The setting is a sci-fi futuristic world on one of six different planets. You play either the Free Nations Union or the Phantom League; the good and the bad. The objective of the game is to capture territories and effectively conquer the map, twice as much as your opponent. There are quite a few additives to the mix to for that extra twist to the game play. For instance, the Secret Allies concept. At the start of the match, players are given an equal number of Secret Allies, of which they must disclose two to their opponent. When you disclose an ally, you can use the resources it holds to purchase troops for that territory. If you so choose, you can withhold your remaining allies for as long as you like, to add the element of surprise later on. This system changes the strategic play of the game in that you never know what is going to happen when you invade a country. If it is neutral, you are simply faced with a small force of guerrilla troops. However, if it is a Secret Ally, which is then disclosed by your opponent, it's a whole different story.

Each turn is split into phases. The very first phase of a game is the initial disclose phase. Here, you must disclose two of your secret allies, and build troops with the available funds. Once your opponent does the same, the game takes on a repetitive phase cycle during each turn. First comes the Guerrilla Stage where you can recruit forces in any countries that were invaded by your opponent on the previous turn. Whether this was a neutral territory or one of your Secret Allies matters not for now. Next is the Combat Phase. Here, you move and fire with your available troops. During the next phase, Recruitment, you purchase troops in all controlled territories where there are no present enemy units. In other words, you can't recruit troops if that country is being attacked. Last comes the disclose phase, here you can disclose any of your Secret Allies if you choose to do so. Once you are finished, you end your turn and it is sent off to the server. Your opponent will receive an email notification, if he has the setting enabled. Whenever he completes his turn, you will be notified. Rinse and repeat.

Now, many turn-based strategy games are very unforgiving. You make your choices and submit your turn-that's that. In Massive Assault Network, every single decision you make is kept track of during your turn. If you change your mind, you can rewind and redo anything at all. You can even select a single unit and undo its action, even if it happened much earlier during your turn. This way, you don't even have to rewind all the way back to undo a simple mistake somewhere. This system is very useful so that you can play out several combat situations in order to get the most efficient outcome. Think you can redirect your turret fire to destroy even more units? Undo and try again.

There are 13 different units for each side, each with its own purposes. For instance, your small assault units are good for setting up walls at your country's border. Tanks are ideal for invading because they are quick and pack a decent punch. Amphibious units are available to maneuver around those pesky unit walls, or you can simply send bombers from your city into enemy territory. There are ground, air, and naval units available, giving a full range of strategic combat. From Aircraft Carriers to Mobile Missile Platforms, there is a unit for every plan of action.

The graphics in Massive Assault Network are nice enough. The camera is fully functional with rotation and zoom functions. Watching a battle scene can be quite invigorating, unless of course you are on the receiving end of the shrapnel. Water gives off believable reflections, explosions aren't overdone, and the units look and sound as they should. The interface is practical and concise. There is nothing too complicated here, every function is clearly labeled and does as expected. The lobby enables you to view turns awaiting your moves, outgoing turns, and finished games. You can also join a chat channel and talk to fellow players. This is useful if you want to play a quicker game, you can arrange this here and send turns back and forth while conversing through chat. You can even send messages to your opponent during a turn which they will receive later as they play. Sometimes I found that sending turns to the server created a problem. Two or three times it would halt while connecting to the server and I would have to close and hit the "Repair" button to finish sending the turn. Luckily, the repair function saves you from having to act out your entire turn over again.

Community wise, I found other players to be quite helpful. Most were willing to offer advice to a mere Conscript, as they blasted me off of the map. In fact, of the dozen or so games I played, I didn't win a single one. As you play, you earn points and progress through ranks from Conscript to Marshal. The game definitely has a high learning curve when it comes to being a good player. To simply learn how to play, however, is fast and fun. There is a useful tutorial system available that will teach you everything you need to know.

I enjoyed Massive Assault Network very much. Whenever a company decides to take a risk and do something a little bit different it gives me a bit of hope that developers are still trying to put something fresh into the industry. The last thing we need is a new Real-Time Strategy game from the familiar mold. Here, you have a game that you can invest as little as 10 minutes per day and still have a great gaming experience. However, you can't play at work without downloading the game client. This is a stand-alone PBEM game that requires a sizable download to play but it's definitely worth the short wait! The only gripe I have is that there is no way to play a dynamic game against an opponent. The only way to have a quick match is to have someone who will continue to keep sending turns back and forth as they receive them. Spoiled by fast-paced on demand games, I found myself constantly checking my email every hour looking for new turns to play. The good news is that you can have as many games going as you like to keep the action going. Though, I recommend keeping it few for a bit until you get the hang of it. The last thing you need is to be playing games where you can't remember what your strategy was, or what you have done on previous turns. For a fully functional account, a subscription costs only $6.95/month. If you commit to longer terms, it can be a bit lower. There is also a free-trial available where you can play for free for as long as you like with certain limitations. If you are looking for a game to play periodically or even between other games, this is the one. I was looking for something that would be playable in the short time chunks that I have available with a busy schedule and Massive Assault Network hit the spot.