Red Sea is about small-scale, real-time tactical combat. There’s no world exploration, minimal narrative elements. You choose a random contract or a boss mission, fight some hostiles, and go home.

What makes the game fun is that it presents a variety of challenges that require you to use your brain and get creative to beat them. Every unit in play has abilities that interact with each other in interesting ways and a big part of the game is experimenting with them to discover what is possible.

You control the team in battle as much as you want - full micro, full auto, or anything in between. Each friendly unit has scriptable tactics which determine how they act in certain situations.

Completing contracts awards credits for buying equipment upgrades, which make your team stronger and give more tactical options. You can also unlock additional talents and team members as you progress.