Faster Than Light
The point of Faster Than Light is to lead your ship’s crew through many challenges and objectives through the universe. It’s a great indie game that combines the stress of time and having to respond to issues such as hull breaches and loss of oxygen. It’s an even tougher strategy game, however, because it adds the ever stressful “Permadeath.” This leads to you sinking hours into a great run only to be caught off guard, lose, and have to start anew. This forces you to start again and again, with the hope that this time you’ll win. It’s a vicious cycle that you’ll be sure to love anyway.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is one of the most fun and equally frustrating Turn Based Strategy games released in recent years. It places you as Commander of a secret military organization that was put together in case of an alien invasion. Leaving you to your own mental fortitude to build your base, manage your resources, create and rank up your soldiers, and decide which missions have priority. It has an incredibly fun soldier customization feature that allows you to name, shape, and equip your soldiers. This causes many stressful hours of trying to keep your friends alive, failing, and always feeling really guilty when you see them in person. XCOM also has a permadeath system which makes every battle that much more intense. Plus, you can virtually play any campaign forever making this an incredibly addicting, mentally taxing game that will hit the full spectrum of emotions.
The Total War Series
Total War is a cornerstone in strategy gaming, and its community, as a quality game that makes for some epic battles. With a smooth overworld that calls for intense city management, clever diplomacy, troop movement, and massive scale battles, it’s a home run. Allowing for thousands of troops and multiple players on the field at a time, you either have to equip real tactics or watch everything you built up fall apart due to a minor miscalculation. Total War truly puts you in control, proving that true strategy rules. There are many examples of players who’ve won battles that shouldn’t have even been close. As the games get more and more ambitious, the hope is they keep doing what they do so well, making games that make you lose track of absolutely everything, and leave you with no regrets.
Sid Meier’s Civilization
Civilization is the godfather of Real Time Strategy games. Starting on MSDOS in 1991, the series is still going strong and getting even more ambitious. It puts you in control of everything, literally everything. You start with a town and some happy folks, and get to make every single decision to shape your faction to your choosing. With many different ways to win; you can become a military superpower and enforce your will across the world, use diplomacy to build a wall of allies to protect you, use money to rule, or just peace out and fly your nation to space for a scientific victory. It truly is a one of a kind experience that is very hard to compare to other games of the genre. The true control you have, and at the same time, don’t have over the other factions leads to some incredibly stressful encounters that you must use your wits and strategy to escape. With a cast that will make you irrationally hate every major world leader in history, and an average match time of roughly five hours, Civilization is a game that is as timeless as the mark you make in virtual history.
Valkyria Chronicles
Valkyria Chronicles is a truly unique strategy game that allows a tactical freedom not found in other games. It quickly garnered a cult following, and is an incredibly beautiful game. It has a unique art style that looks as though someone is drawing the battle as it happens. Unlike many other games on this list, Valkyria Chronicles follows a fairly linear story as told by a local militia group that rises in talent and prestige. It is a very dramatic game that allows for enough choice and customization to keep it fresh, as well as interactions that seem genuine and, in turn, make the player need to think on their feet. It’s a fluid mix of RTS and TBS that causes you to, quite literally, think on the run. Our good friend permadeath returns, as well. This time, however, it applies to all but the crucial story characters. If you haven’t yet, go pick this game up, it is a true one of a kind experience that you won’t mind losing days of your life to. Once it pulls you in it refuses to let go.
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Fire Emblem: Awakening was one of the first powerhouse titles on the 3DS when it was released, and it was as good as everyone wanted it to be. This turn based gem has one of the most endearing and unique cast of characters. It has a permadeath option, but for those of us that can’t handle the feels, you don’t have to turn it on. With a fairly interesting story and solid writing, as well as gorgeous graphics and incredible use of 3D, Fire Emblem should have a spot in every 3DS owner’s library. One of the more intriguing features is the relationship system. It allows for more powerful team ups and certain characters can even get married and have a child. That kid can then join your army and will have abilities inherited from both parents, leading to some very interesting combinations. Incredible customization, drama, as well as a plethora of options and tactical choices makes this TBS game one that you won’t mind spending hours playing. Plus, being a mobile game, it allows the player to bypass the bore of their daily commute or trip.
StarCraft 2
How could a list of strategy games exist without StarCraft 2, the pinnacle of strategy, if not competitive online game as a whole? This game almost exclusively led to the formation of E-Sports, as well as became a national sport in South Korea. StarCraft 2 is brought to us by the crazy minds at Blizzard, and took off unlike any game before it. It has become a phenomenon that can make people rich, or on the more casual level, absolutely furious. While some look to become better every day, others have whittled their strategy down to a thing of beautiful precision. The magic of StarCraft 2, however, is the fact that a total newbie can have as much fun as seasoned pros. The incredible dedication players put into this game, including seamless micromanagement and a level of multitasking, is a wonder to see. StarCraft 2 is proof that games are only rising in popularity. Seeing where E-Sports go from here is enticing, to say the least. So pick up StarCraft 2 if you want a game that will make you try and refine your stratagem over and over until you lose track of what year it is.
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