[Disclosure: A Steam key was provided for the contents of this article]

Co-founder, Project Manager, Lead Developer & Designer at Hammer & Ravens would seem like responsibility-enough, especially with at least one flagship tower-defense title in production.

In typical Monday spirit though Emiliano Pastorelli decided to put aside all inherited designation, six-years of team project-work, and fish out a long-forgotten concept to procrastinate with. 30-minutes and several lunch-breaks later, Razerwire: Nanowars is now an encouragement for others to follow suit.

Pastorelli has no inhibitions marketing it as a personal ode to his arcade-hugging days of the 80’s and really, judging by Razerwire’s overall premise, I do secretly believe he’s been exposed to a bit too much screen time.

I mean he threw me a free Steam key just for complementing the game’s March 1^st release on the social web.

Yes, it’s a future far-far away again and yes, we have nothing better to do but colonize a remote galaxy. The baddies here however are inconspicuous, nano-sized in fact, to the point that humanity’s hope rests on a molecule-thick wire.

How this wire went from being a tool for medical procedures to obliterating critters doesn’t seem to be elaborately relevant, with one end connected to a generator and the other to a shielded contraption called a Wiredrive.

Now,

• Your Mouse Does the Work, moving the Wiredrive and consequently – the Razerwire across the screen as critters swarm from all corners. Let the Wiredrive make contact and suffer shield disruption, generator damage and game-over.

• It’s all Fun & Games Until Wave 90+, especially with each of the game’s seven distinct species of enemies exhibiting unique movement patterns, awareness and a varied arsenal of bullets/missiles.

• Procrastination Endures in Rogue-Like Fashion. Unlock an Upgrade point with every 1000-point score, spend it on the PowerWave or other assorted goodies, and return to outdoing the scoreboards.

I quit at wave 90 or so this morning after things frankly got overwhelming on-screen, reminding me that I have an entire schedule of activities to contend with for the rest of the day.

Before moving on though, I found feedback from fellow dawdlers to be fairly positive, much of which not only has its roots in pre-release beta-testing but has already seemingly effected Razerwire’s first update.

For $1 then it does well what it sets out to do, not taking itself or its developer very seriously amid minor typo’s, encouraging Steam achievements, a rudimentary pair of game-play instructions that can be brought up by hitting ‘P’ and loading-screen tips for the overzealous.

In-game 80’s/Arcade/Old TV-themed chromatic filters and a vaporware inspired soundtrack are extras.