Part tower defence, part grand strategy, part sci-fi mayhem, Gratuitous Space Battles is a unique take on the space combat genre -- and the playable demo is available now.

Developer Positech sees its latest creation as a breath of fresh air for PC gaming: "Gratuitous Space Battles aims to bring the over-the-top explodiness back into space games. The game is for everyone who has watched big space armadas battle it out on TV and thought to themselves 'I could have done a much better job as admiral'. This is not a game of real-time arcade twitch reflexes. GSB is about what ships you design, and what you tell them to do. Your individual ship commanders have total autonomy during the chaotic battle that unfolds. This is not a tactical game, it is a strategic one. These gratuitous space battles are not won by plucky heroes with perfect teeth, but by the geeky starship builders who know exactly what ratio of plasma-cannons to engines each ship in the fleet will need."

Or, in the words creator/programmer Cliff “Cliffski” Harris: "GSB is like spacebattle porn, without all the foreplay of empire-building."

The demo is available now in our downloads section. More details are available at the official website.