Aqualique X
Controls: cursor keys + Z (or 0 - zero) , SPACE
Version 0.99, expect bugs here and there 😉
Aqualique X
Aqualique X is a modernized spiritual successor to the minimalist real-time strategy game Aqualique 10, originally written by Commocore in just 10 lines of BASIC for the Commodore 64. Staying faithful to the core mechanics and the tone of the original, Aqualique X tries to expand on the concept with deeper gameplay, improved visuals, and enhanced strategic depth.
Objective
Build and maintain a functioning base of 250 extractors without being overrun by the virus.
Gameplay
Build Apex water drilling extractors for $100 each. Each produces $1 per second.
Build defensive walls for $50 each. Walls block virus spread but are vulnerable to meteors.
You cannot build on infected land
You cannot replace or destroy structures
Meteor-hit terrain becomes usable again
Controls
Joystick port 2. Fire = place a drill. SPACE = place a wall
Use cursor keys + Z or 0 (zero) and SPACE in the embedded emulator.
Story
In the near future, Earth is no longer the Blue Planet. Human civilization has bled the planet dry. Pollution, acid rain, collapsing ecosystems, and most of all: the vanishing of drinkable water sources. In a last desperate push, interstellar probes discover a water-rich planet in a distant solar system.
It is named Aqualique.
Aqualique becomes humanity's last hope. Beneath its crust, vast aquifers hide the new liquid gold. Extraction begins, spearheaded by a fleet of autonomous extractor drills called Apex Units. You are the overseer of a newly established sector.
Your mission: deploy and maintain 250 Apex Units and secure a future for Earth.
But Aqualique is not uninhabited.
A mysterious surface-level contagion known as Decem-X has begun spreading. No one knows its origin. It corrupts all structures, consuming the land. To make matters worse, meteor showers batter the surface regularly. You must protect your base at all costs using deployable defensive walls, but those too can be shattered by the falling debris.
Based on the BASIC 10 liner game "Aqualique 10" by Commocore
Original SID music -> Play online
- Title: Shadows
- Author: Stefan Konarkowski (Alien)
- Released: 2002 Warriors of the Wasteland
Download
Development log
- v0.99 released36 days ago
- v0.8 previewJul 23, 2025
Comments
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Very good new version. I think the Basic 10Liner version was easier, the virus attacked so quickly, or I was just bad player. I added it to my video along with the other games released in March.
Thanks for the video! Currently the difficulty is totally random and is greatly influenced by pure luck. If you can get a lucky start, then it's much more easier.
If the virus spawns directly next to your drills, then you are completely doomed. It will be an extra hardmode nightmare difficulty 😄
It would be nice to have some more options here. I’ve built a fortress with drills inside and virus cannot go inside. So it’s good. But I have too little drills and have no more place to put more drills. So the game is over but still I earn money. In that case there should be some way to destroy virus or building to try to get more area for building. Maybe some big bomb destroying bigger part (maybe random diameter around 5-10 fields) and it would destroy virus but also buildings and walls. It could be a disaster when there is no empty space on the screen. Or maybe it could be something the player should buy for lots of money? This is really good idea but it could be enhanced to something that lets you play longer and give an ability to fight with virus. Currently it only depends on who will be faster at the beginning. After that there is almost no fight. Well.. I’ll leave you with a bunch of ideas :)
Thanks for the ideas 😉 I was already thinking about including some virus destroyer bomb or something, because the game currently is really unbalanced. It's hard to estabilish a base and much harder to win at all.
Yes. The problem is at the beginning. If you don’t have a chance to take over large territory, you already know that you will lose. So there is no need to fight further. And in well balanced game, it should be still possible to work a solution to take over bigger area and win. Another idea is to add some walking machine that will go and destroy a few viruses until it will be itself destroyed, but this will allow to get a part of ground. Or maybe your own anti-virus that will spread and fight with virus when they will touch each other. You could produce anti-virus for money. Well… I think this game is a great start to enhance it and make it very nice strategy game. But of course its minimalism is an advantage so there should be not many new elements to keep it simple and fun. It’s your game, so it’s up to you :).
Nice game!
Wow! Thank you for the video!!
As I see you got multiple serious bugs 😳 I have never seen this many errors during a single gameplay. It completely ruined your session 😕
Most of the time it just prints 1-2 random characters on the srcreen, and that's all. But this was crazy as hell.
I'll do my best to fix this in the next version.
Haha, I thought those colors and letters are a part of game. And after some time on the right side of screen a vertical line of viruses appeared. That killed the player’s defence. But on the other hand, it was quite interesting disaster.