The CoLab’s Counter Clash Charges Into Steam Early Access – Build, Battle, and Base Your Way to Victory!
A Freshly Crafted Strategy Game with a Classic Twist—Counter Clash Deploys Today from a Bold New UK Indie Publisher!
London, UK - April 8th, 2025 - Netherlands-based indie developer, Bjenssen announced today that their minimalist, action-packed strategy game, Counter Clash, heralded its arrival in Early Access on Steam today. Counter Clash is the first commercial, solo-developed game by the indie micro-studio, and takes heavy inspiration from classic RTS games like the Battle for Middle Earth, and Age of Empires series. Counter Clash is the first new title to be published by brand new indie publisher, The CoLab, who unveiled their plans to make the indie publishing scene a fairer and more collaborative place earlier this month. Supporting solo developers is part of The CoLab’s vision to provide developers & partners a supportive, safe and empowering environment where their creativity and vision can flourish and their games find their audience.
Counter Clash offers a lighter look at strategy games and champions itself on being easier to understand, faster to play, and offers refreshing new challenges, with simplified city building, upgrades, and troop management so players can focus more on their tactics. It’s full of old-school vibes reminiscent of strategy games from the ‘90s - imagine if Cannon Fodder and Age of Empires had a funky, modern baby, and you’d be on the right track.
When starting a game, players can choose between a number of different factions, each offering distinct playstyles and unique heroes, resource management, troops, and upgrades. Counter your opponent with over 30 different troops, or outsmart them by using the environment to your advantage!
Factions that will be available on launch include:
Monceaux - A religious kingdom formed of knights and warriors. Master versatile troops, powerful healing, and siege engines.
Fahad - A nomadic culture harnessing the elemental forces. Use fast, high-damage units and elemental magic to crush opponents.
URA - A republic of scientists and mechanics, specialising in tactical superiority and raw firepower.
The game features simplified city building, upgrades, and troop management so players can focus more on tactical gameplay - and there’s a lot of depth hidden within the hand-drawn artwork. The game is light enough for novice players, but has enough depth to keep the most experienced RTS players engaged.
Main Features
Minimalist Strategy - With simplified city building, upgrades, and troop management, you can focus more on tactical gameplay.
Choose Your Faction - Each faction offers distinct playstyles and has unique heroes, resource management, troops, and upgrades. Counter your opponent with over 30 different troops, or outsmart them by using the environment to your advantage!
Handcrafted Campaigns - Enjoy a handcrafted campaign for each faction, with missions dedicated to their unique playstyle and troops. Guide a paranoid king, a lost shaman, and a grumpy general as they rampage over the lands with ever-changing alliances.
Choose Your Play Style - Build your empire and set up your defences. Train a huge army to perform a powerful strike, raid your opponent with hit-and-run tactics, or level up your hero for them to become a one-man army.
Mark Faulkner, Head of Production at The CoLab said, "Counter Clash is an every-person RTS on first examinations which rapidly expands into a multi-layered tactical conundrum that will keep you entertained for days. It really is one of those superb games that you can get into in 10 seconds and then spend as little as 10 minutes having a blast or multiple hours discovering its intricacies.”
Check out Counter Clash here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2838160/Counter_Clash/
Follow Bjenssen on social media: Instagram, X, TIkTok
Press contact: press@thecolabgames.com
About The CoLab
The CoLab is an indie game publishing company based in the UK, founded by a team of games industry veterans with over a century of experience under their belts. With a focus on empowering developers through kindness, collaboration and support, The CoLab’s aim is to nurture a select number of titles each year, providing resources, expertise, and connections for critical and commercial success. Its diverse portfolio includes exciting and unique games like Campfire, DeadWire, and Counter Clash. As a commitment to its values, the company has partnered with UK charity Safe in Our World to raise mental health awareness in gaming. Press assets for The CoLab are here. For more information, visit www.thecolabgames.com.
About BJenssen
BJenssen is a small Dutch indie development studio headed by Bram Jansen.Originally an artist who branched into coding at a later date, Bram’s passions lie mostly in character design and interactive storytelling. He loves stories in general and believes their power can be harnessed in almost any situation to improve people's life experiences. When not creating strategy games to delight his audience, Bram enjoys digital painting, playing games, watching series or movies, and going for a stroll or just having a nice chat. He’s also a keen snowboarder.
