Oil Rush
Android, 
iOS (iPhone/iPad), 
PC
Where to buy
Oil Rush is a 2012 naval strategy game developed and published by Unigine Corp, released January 25, 2012 for PC (Windows, Linux, and Mac), with tablet ports following — and, for clarity against its search neighbors, no relation to the historical Pennsylvania oil rush. It reviewed in the mid-60s on aggregate, and its most lasting significance was never really the game: this was the flagship showcase for the UNIGINE engine, the benchmark-famous technology behind the Heaven and Superposition GPU stress tests that PC builders have run for a decade.
The premise is Waterworld with a resource ledger: the ice caps melted, civilization drowned, and the survivors’ factions wage war over the only currency left — offshore oil.
Technical Specifications
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Developer | Unigine Corp |
| Publisher | Unigine Corp |
| Engine | UNIGINE (of Heaven/Superposition benchmark fame) |
| Release | January 25, 2012 (Windows, Linux, Mac); tablets later |
| Reception | Mid-60s aggregate |
| Genre | Naval strategy — RTS / tower defense hybrid |
| Mode(s) | Single-player campaign · Online multiplayer (long inactive) |
RTS Meets Tower Defense, at Sea
The design strips classic RTS to group-level control: units auto-produce at captured platforms, and the player routes swarms of boats, hovercraft, and gunships between rigs while building defensive turrets on captured structures — closer to Galcon-style flow strategy plus tower defense than to StarCraft micromanagement. Reviews at the time credited the gorgeous water tech (genuinely ahead of its class in 2012) and the streamlined accessibility, while finding the mission variety thin and the simplified control an acquired taste; Linux gaming communities adopted it warmly as one of the era’s rare native showcase titles.
Where to Play It Today
Oil Rush remains on Steam for a few dollars, single-player campaign intact — its multiplayer scene is long gone. It survives as a time capsule: the moment a benchmark company briefly became a game studio, and the prettiest waves of 2012.
