Second Front

About

Second Front is a single player tactical turn-based strategy game with warfare and historical themes. It was developed by Hexdraw and was released on January 31, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

Second Front is an accessible WWII turn-based tactical game with more than 40 infantry units and 200 tanks, vehicles and guns. It has all the depth of a paper wargame and the ease of a computer simulation. Campaign, scenarios and a complete editor make it an infinite tactical sandbox experience.

+17

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81%

Audience ScoreBased on 477 reviews

gameplay22 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Authentic adaptation of Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) rules providing deep and tactical WWII squad-level gameplay.
Extensive content including many official scenarios, campaigns, and a powerful map and scenario editor enabling vast community-created content.
Good AI offering a challenging single-player experience with active developer support and frequent updates.

Heavy reliance on RNG leads to unpredictable and sometimes frustrating combat outcomes, affecting enjoyment for some players.
Lack of multiplayer or hot-seat mode limits replayability and social play, though it is planned for future updates.
Some UI and quality of life issues such as slow turn processing times, lack of manual saves, and occasional bugs reduce game smoothness and accessibility.

gameplay
121 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
75%
7%
The gameplay of the game is deeply rooted in advanced squad leader (ASL) mechanics, offering complex, tactical, and immersive WWII turn-based strategy experience that appeals strongly to fans of the tabletop wargame genre. While praised for its depth, challenging scenarios, intuitive controls, and smooth pacing, it can present a steep learning curve and occasional frustration due to certain dated or luck-dependent mechanics, UI issues, and some missing features. Overall, the game succeeds in delivering rich, strategic gameplay but would benefit from quality-of-life improvements and some mechanic reworks to enhance accessibility and polish.
- “It captures much of the tactical depth and nuance of ASL, while streamlining the gameplay just enough to keep things moving smoothly.”
- “Many PC wargames fall into the trap of becoming a puzzle game, but Second Front successfully dodges that bullet and presents you with complicated tactical challenges that will require you to learn the best way to use your units and the best way to manage the game's mechanics.”
- “With 48 scenarios, 5 campaigns, ~20 tutorials, 200+ vehicles, a 100-page+ manual, and a full scenario/campaign creation system, this is a deep game with gobs of gameplay.”
- “Coercing you to do something you know is dodgy in ASL (and which reinforces poor gameplay practices), and then kicking you for doing it anyhow is poor design in my opinion.”
- “Seems like it has a lot of content, but I found the core gameplay clunky, and not very fun.”
- “I want to like this game but the combat mechanics feel terrible, units route way too easily, pure RNG for everything, UI in this game is pretty awful, AI seems to be not balanced with the player at all.”
graphics
107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
66%
7%
The graphics are generally described as simple, clean, and cartoonish with a distinctive low-poly, board game-like style that may not appeal to everyone but supports clarity and ease of gameplay. While not visually stunning or realistic, the art style effectively conveys game information and complements the historical wargame feel. Most reviewers appreciate the functional, charming visuals that prioritize gameplay depth over graphical fidelity.
- “The whole graphic concept is very well crafted, as the UI matches the graphics and the 'diesel', 1940's military feel of the game.”
- “The graphics, while 'cartoony', have vehicles with incredible detail and terrain that is easy to evaluate even in built-up areas.”
- “The graphics, while simple, are clean and do a good job of displaying the different terrain types.”
- “I also don't like the 'lego-type' unrealistic graphics.”
- “Also, the graphics are very limited, no UI scale (much of it is currently unreadable on a high res, full screen monitor).”
- “There are a few interface issues where the cartoonish 3D graphics make it difficult to figure out where exactly a unit is sitting, particularly in urban areas.”
story
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
83%
5%
The game's story is delivered through 20 progressively unlocking scenarios and multiple campaign modes, complemented by an extensive workshop and mission editor for user-created content, offering significant replay value. While tutorials are detailed and helpful, many players find the difficulty uneven and some mission turn limits frustrating, impacting pacing and challenge. Overall, the narrative structure supports immersive tactical gameplay but leans heavily on player patience and mastery of complex mechanics.
- “The game offers 20 introductory scenarios that progressively unlock more challenging missions.”
- “It also includes campaign modes, a workshop with over 900 community-made scenarios, and tools for creating custom maps and missions.”
- “The missions start out scripted but soon depart the script to confront you.”
- “Worst case example would be the two German vs. Soviet missions that are rated '2-star' yet are heavily dependent on luck.”
- “Some missions give you limited turns to complete and some are so short you have to be exactly on the spot the designer had in mind when creating it.”
- “They don't make a lot of sense most of the time, make a poor effort of actually teaching things and even rush you at times, meaning you can and will fail a tutorial mission due to time restrictions.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The game offers extensive replayability through numerous scenarios, campaigns, and a scenario maker that allows players to create and share custom missions. Its design, including deliberate RNG elements, fosters varied and emergent gameplay experiences, keeping battles tense and engaging. The active workshop community further enhances this, providing near-infinite replay value for fans of turn-based tactics.
- “It requires thought and tactics and is infinitely replayable.”
- “With the scenario maker and the nationalities included there is endless replay value.”
- “Anyone can post scenarios to the workshop, so there's basically endless replayability.”
- “There is a palpable lack of dynamic factors to sway gameplay, which negatively impacts replay value.”
- “While randomness (RNG) is designed to create chaos and emergent narratives, it can be a point of criticism from players and may affect consistent replayability.”
- “Despite the availability of many scenarios and a scenario maker, some players feel the game lacks enough dynamic variety to keep gameplay fresh over multiple replays.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music is generally peaceful and unobtrusive but often perceived as minimal or average, with some users noting bugs, low performance, and crashes related to audio. While the sound design is considered limited, volume controls allow for adjustment, and many hope for improvements or mods in future updates.
- “Birds' song is so peaceful.”
- “All of the sound levels can be adjusted and mercifully, the music is turned down to a very low level by default.”
- “My negative point will concern the music and sound, both are average, but hopefully we will have mods for that in the future.”
- “Small, basic maps, no real music, and limited sound in general, coupled with crazy RNG and soulless units - there is not enough going on to enjoy this 'game' at this point.”
- “Music is usually bugged, causes low performance (I have a decent PC, so it's definitely not my problem) and leads to a lot of crashes.”
- “My negative point concerns the music and sound; both are average. Let's hope we will have mods for that in the future.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including long processing times even in small scenarios, frequent crashes, and poor performance despite decent hardware. Dice mechanics also feel unbalanced, contributing to inconsistent gameplay experiences. Overall, the game appears under-optimized, likely due to limitations in its indie development and Unity engine use.
- “This is clearly an indie-developer Unity project - it remains unoptimized with very long processing times.”
- “Music is usually bugged, low performance (I have a decent PC, it is definitely not my problem) and a lot of crashes.”
- “Dice mechanics in the game need to be optimized.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users found the emotional aspect mixed, with some feeling disengaged and needing effort to connect, while others appreciated the intense emotional highs reminiscent of compelling board game experiences.
- “I have to work up the emotional energy to play each game!”
- “Reminiscent of board game design that makes every scenario an emotional roller coaster.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game demonstrates strong stability, running smoothly without bugs or glitches even after extended playtime, reflecting a well-polished experience.
- “After twelve hours of playing, no glitches or bugs.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its fun and engaging vibe, capturing the authentic feel of a tabletop squad tactics game despite its outdated graphics. Tabletop gaming fans will particularly appreciate its immersive and nostalgic ambiance.
- “Yeah, the graphics aren't state of the art, but there is something to be said about a fun atmosphere.”
- “If you are a tabletop gamer, you will be pleased as this game has just as much atmosphere as someone playing a squad tactics game on a tabletop in a garage.”