There’s a lot to love about Star Wars Zero Company. The story offers a more grounded view of the Star Wars universe, the XCOM-like tactics are sharply tuned, and I can’t get enough of my goofball squad with all their clashing personalities. But the deeper I’ve gotten into Bit Reactor’s hit strategy game, the more I’ve come to appreciate the little details that elevate it. For instance, Zero Company has a unique approach to difficulty that’s downright ingenious.

In your average strategy game, ratcheting up the challenge can be a tricky task. Many games just tend to introduce more powerful units as the game progresses, or fill maps with more enemies. Those are both sensible solutions, and Zero Company does a bit of that itself. Its more creative approach to challenge scaling, though, comes in the form of Crisis Missions, the strategy game’s star feature.

Occasionally, when you head over to your holotable to select a mission,........

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