| Tooth and Tail | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Pocketwatch Games |
| Publisher(s) | Pocketwatch Games |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 |
| Release | September 12, 2017 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Tooth and Tail is a real-time strategy video game developed and published by indie development team Pocketwatch Games, the company behind Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine. Tooth and Tail was released in September 2017 for Windows, MacOS, Linux and PlayStation 4.
The game is set in a society of anthropomorphic animals during a time of severe food shortages, resulting in the uprising of political parties with differing ideologies regarding the acquisition of food. The gameplay consists of single-player and multiplayer modes and supports gamepads and keyboard and mouse arrangements. Players begin by choosing six units out of a pool of twenty to use during the match. Once each player has chosen, the goal is to destroy the enemy's resources through building structures and creating units. Each player controls a commander rather than having a top-down view.
Development of Tooth and Tail began towards the end of development for Monaco. Various real-time strategy (RTS) games were prototyped before the game, then titled Armada, was announced in March 2014. The premise was to create an RTS game without micromanagement or the necessity of high quantities of actions per minute. From the outset, the game was designed to work well on both gamepads and keyboard-and-mouse setups. In August 2014, the game's title was changed to Lead to Fire before being finally changed to Tooth and Tail, a reference to the tooth-to-tail ratio,[1] in August 2015. Before its official release, the game's developers proposed a launch on Steam's Early Access platform, though this did not occur.
The game was positively received and won two awards in 2016; "Best Character Design" at Intel Level Up and tied with Giant Cop for "Guest's Pick" at Media Indie Exchange. The single-player mode was not praised as highly as the multiplayer modes; reviewers said the difficulty spikes impaired enjoyment. Many comparisons with other games and media were made; mostly with the novel series Redwall and the novella Animal Farm.