Special Ops features 10 unique shaped maps, for example a map of earth or a smiley face. They are unlocked as you advance trough the conquest missions. Authors comment as what inspired him to make these maps:

So, as to the meaning of all of the Special Ops maps. A good number of the maps were part of a theme of things that have influenced me.

1: Classic Earth. This reminded me of the board game Axis and Allies. I thought it would be cool to fight across the continents.

2: Super Tax-Man. I live in NC, and our wonderful government has decided to declare war on e-commerce. So now, for instance, if you run a web site and live in NC you can no longer be an amazon.com affiliate. This has destroyed I don't know how many e-businesses in our state. It makes me sad.

3: Gump. Not the box of chocolates part, but the feather part. How Forrest's insight at the end of the movie about life being both random yet there also being fate (and how the feather's journey represented this).

4: Mouse Shadow. “Mouse shadow of the second moon” Google it, then read the book.

5: Chess. Seems obvious enough (it looks like a chess board). But think about chess for a minute. An 8×8 board with only 6 unique 'units'. Talk about the tightest most awesome strategy game ever. Makes Creeper World look like Supreme Commander by comparison.

6: DTD. Not the first defense game by any measure, but desktop tower defense was probably the most popular first gen defense game. It's emphasis on minimal graphics and a 'path-less' screen were inspirational.

7: Poison. I thought it looked funny (not everything has to have a really deep meaning)

8: ChopRaider. My last public game was ChopRaider, so I though I'd make a whole map that looked like the helicopter in that game. Since it was about flying, I threw in a whole load of spores.

9: Air. I'd have to say that Adobe AIR was pretty influential in the game design and limitations….

10: KC. It's the name of the company and the web site, so it seemed like a fitting final map.