Arma's 'Rats map' April Fools' is now a real Tiny Wars mode you can play
Servers live until April 9th
RPS was on holiday yesterday, which is fortuitous timing because it was April 1st and it meant we missed all the "jokes" (lies) the games industry likes to spread on that day each year.
Credit to Arma developer's Bohemia Interactive, however. Their April 1st announcement was that the latest update for Arma Reforger was Tiny Wars, a game mode in which you controlled tiny toy Army Men as they waged war around a proportionally huge home. As ever, this isn't really a joke, but it also wasn't exactly a lie, because you can actually play Tiny Wars for real now.
"This video was part of April Fools' Day 2024...," says an update in the description under the video. "However, we're not cruel - You can play this content NOW! Get ahold of the official Tiny Wars game mode from the in-game Arma Reforger Workshop."
Bohemia will host servers for the game mode until April 9th.
I am a stick-in-the-mud when it comes to April Fools' jokes, but I do like it any time a developer uses it as an excuse to genuinely make soemthing frivolous or a bit daft, as Bohemia have.
I'm also a huge fan of levels that make you feel very small as you fight among mundane bric-a-brac. I spent many, many hours playing various Rats maps - Turkey Burgers, et al - for Quake, Half-Life, Counter-Strike and so on. I am glad that the phenomena lives on in Arma of all places.
You can download Tiny Wars in-game, but you'll find more screenshots and information about it via its page on the Reforger site.