First, It's a really interesting game, with a novel premise. Control resources and leverage the balance of resources against an AI. It allows you to play the gam and focus on different mechanics to exploit in the R&D to beat the AI. Rather that build a lot of units and pick at them/swarm them, in OTC you have several different approaches (hence the 4x) you can simply try to outproduce and/or monopoloize as industrial competitor. Or you can disrupt their core prodcution via industrial espionage, or you can game them through the simulated market. So their are several different 'battlefields' at work here, and while this game plays like an RTS, it almost feels more like a 4x in the way you have a very diversified approach that ultimatel converges together. It plays like an RTS without units and a 4x but with faster pace rather than grand scale.

I also found the game has a nice balance to it. Which is somewhat important considering with how you play it. I did not much like the simulated market however, as it didnt feel very much like a real market, and there is only so much depth to what you can do with it as you hoard commodities or disrupt prices in it to screw your competitors..

I personally didnt like this game and opted to stop playing it. I'm not a fan of 4x genre (and to me that's what this felt like) and found the lack of units leaving me feeling... empty? (hard to describe) It felt like a bit work to carefully calculate every move with your limited resources/structure cap. Every decisions it important, and it really gives players an edge who like to study things like how this game's math works, etc. . If you fail a mission you can go back and replay it and often you will just modify your approach and come out on top.

The variety in how you can play the different factions is also interesting.

So pretty clever game, does a lot of things that are very new and different, and does them well but sadly I just can't say it's for me. I wonder if Factorio is a bit like this.