Hi
I am at a constant lookout for good strategy games for PC. They are few and far between and my favorites are these:
CIV IV, Master of Orion II, MOM, Heroes of Might and Magic, Kings Bounty and such. Since I find so few games I like/want I have started looking a little among more indie games /small developers/older games for some respite while waiting for Elemental or other good games (Kings Bounty Armored Princess).
My findings so far:
Armageddon Empires. Bought this a year ago and played a few times. Its plays excactly like a boardgame. The game is ok, but the AI doesnt really challenge a lot. My rating 6/10
Bellatorus: A game where you play cards to produce resources and ultimately destroy the enemy tower. Played the demo a few times, but the game was reminding me to buy constantly while I tried the demo. On startup, on closing the game, on trynig to change a setting in the skirmish++ I had almost decieded to buy when the game told me I could not play the demo anymore and that I should buy the game. There must be a hidden counter on number of plays (I had only had the demo installed for two days). I uninstalled and will not buy. Treat me with a little more respect next time, and I will buy. My rating (of the game, not the annoyance of the demo) 7/10
Majesty Gold: Bought while waiting for Majesty II. Got crashes quite often and therefore didnt play it a lot. No rating
Majesty II: NO SKIRIMISH? No buy, No rating
Etherlords II: Just bought and have played only a little whild. Promising game.
Lux Delux: A risk simulator (with lots of other maps and stuff as well). Great little filler that I play if I have 10 free minutes with the computer. AI not half bad. My rating: 8/10
Hollywood Mogul 3: Tried demo. Very difficult interface and hard to get into. Could be a little gem here, but I eventually gave up.
Nils Bauers Empires & Dungeons: Tried the demo. Seems to me like most games will be the same. I coult be missing something here, but the demo bored me fast. My rating: 4/10
Gal CIV II: Bought and played, but didnt get hooked. My rating 6/10. Dont know why I didnt hook me. Will try again some time.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Bought and played, but didnt get hooked. No rating yet. Will try again.
Elemental Beta: Still testing
Battle for Wesnoth: FREE game. This one is quite challenging and good. I play it now and again. My rating 8/10
Anyone got any more suggestions for me to try?
And i forgot
Depths of Peril. Bought it and played for a little while. Its very stressful with the fighting among the groups back "home" in the city and I want to build tings more at my own pace. My rating: 5/10
I have a lot of suggestions but that depends on your definition of a "Little game gem". Have you tried "Trine" yet?
Havnt tried Trine. A bit too "platformy" for me
I also forgot
Puzzle Quest. Great little filler. 8/10.
I am mainly looking for two different kind of games
1. The more heavy ones within TBS Strategy (conquer the world/galaxy). Like CIV IV, Master of Orion and Master of Magic.
2. Fillers with some substance to them. Like Puzzle Quest and Lux Delux.
I am not fond of shooters, platform games, sims and such.
Dwarf Fortress. Toady One [Tarn Adams] is probably the best coder on this planet.
Have read about it. Isnt it really HARDCORE? Like I have to spend hours before understanding anything? I have two kids and not as much time as I used to.
Could you describe it in a few sentences or is that impossible?
Do you like X-Com and games like it? Squad based tactical combat on a turn based level? (not a real time shooter though some have the option to do it)
I somehow missed x-com (had a friend playing it, but I never tried it). I played Laser Squad a lot a looong time ago. If the game was good I would go for such a game. Are there any new ones out? I did try a game that was almost like Laser Squad a few years ago, but dont remember the name of it.
Out of interest did you get the GalCiv 2 expansions? They make it SO much better.
Have you played Homeworld? If you haven't, you probably should, being as you can get it off amazon.com for cheap and it's one of the greatest PC games ever made (in the opinion of this guy, it's THE best game ever made, but I'm a little biased).
If you like the Age of Empire/Rise of Nations games, you might try Rise of Legends. It's not pathbreaking like RoN, but it is gorgeous, put together well, and cheap.
Some older games you may want to give a shot.
Age of Wonders and sequels - most similar to MOM. Good games overall but not as good as MOM.
Disciples and sequels - pretty fun game in the vain of Heroes of Might and Magic. Tacticals battles are handled differently in that you only have a few guys that level up instead of armies.
Alpha Centauri - made by Sid Mieir I believe or at least some of the same people that worked on the Civilization games. Basically it's Civilization in space, you are starting a new colony.
X-COM - mentioned above. A true classic you should try if you have any interest in this type of game. First is the best in my opinion.
Sword of the Stars - Only played this a little due to time constraints but it looks like a nice light 4x game.
Warlords - I think there were like four of them, if I remember I think 3 was my favorite. There was also the Warlords Battlecry games which was the same universe but were RTS games. Also good games if you like RTS'.
That's all I can think of at the moment.
I'm going to second Sword of the Stars. Make sure you grab the Ultimate Collection though, as that contains the two expansions. You're going to have to buy Argos Naval Yards separately though, but for $10 its totally worth it considering the new sections and weapons it gives you (Impactors FTW!).
I always enjoyed the Monkey Island games. They weren't too obscure, but they were definitely gems. Surprises me how many people haven't heard of it though. It's becoming more popular now though, as newer Monkey Island games come out.
Space Rangers 2. Wonderful cocktail of RPG, adventure, RTS and much more. One of the best games in last years. Anyone I pushed to try it still thanking to me after months.
Look at the user score.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/spacerangers2dominators?q=space%20rangers%202
Mount & Blade. Great simulation of a mercenary's life and simply the best game ever done about mounted combat.
Oh, a couple of indie/small developer games I enjoyed also. They are more puzzle games than stategy games which seems to be your favorite so not sure if they will appeal to you though.
Defense Grid: The Awakening - a very well done tower defense game
Plants vs. Zombie - I guess a tower defense game also but feels quite different than Defense. Has lots of personality and special levels that play differently. Looks stupid but had me hooked for a long time.
World of Goo - a weird puzzle where you build things from different kinds of Goo balls. Hard to explain. Very original game.
I've tried it for about a week, and it's just about the most complex game around. Dwarf Fortress is a lot like the Sims... with a bunch of alcoholic, violent dwarf maniacs. It's extremely deep; almost too deep. I never played Dwarf Fortress too much, but it's extremely difficult to learn, but supposed to be very fun after a while.
Though you have Sins of a Solar Empire... that game takes a while to learn (Took me about a week), but it's absolutely incredible. I'd say it's the best RTS on the market, and currently my favourite game. Interface is simple but effective, everything is extremely unique, and the game is beautiful. Give SOASE another chance; it's truly fantastic.
When I think of "PC gems" for some reason my mind jumps to games like Quest for Glory and Scotched earth. Games I played as a kid.
As monkey island has already been mentioned, and I'm not sure dungeon keeper is old enough to make the list, nor is Thief: The dark project. I nominate Scorched Earth.
Scorched Earth is a shooting game in the most classic sense of "shooting" right next to that gorrilla game where they throw bananas. In theory it has been passed up by other games like Worms.... actually thats the only one I can pull of the top of my head. But for whatever reason, most of the worms games after Worms 2, Armegedon, and World Party have lacked the charm. The newer games seem somehow, cheaper... and not just in weapon selection, though thats a factor. Even then, when I go back and play scorched earth (and get it to pace itself correctly by tweaking dos-box way down in CPU cycles) it STILL seems more solid of a game than the golden age of worms.
I third the recommendation for Sword of the Stars. The non-warfare aspects of strategy are fairly dumbed down, and the tactical battles are more of an annoyance than a feature, at least for me (thankfully they can be skipped though), but there's *something* about the game that makes my imagination fly, imagining myself as the supreme commander of humanity leading them in a quest for the stars, rather than simply a guy sitting in front of his computer playing a videogame.
And I also second the recommendation for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. So many years later, and it's *still* the best Civilization game ever made, and there's *still* features in it absent from the mainline series. Plus its the only one available for Linux, which is handy for my laptop
But have you tried Paradox's games besides the Majesty series? like the Europa Universalis series or its various spin-offs such as EU: Rome or Hearts of Iron, the strategic model of those games is, in my opinion, second to none which makes for a very interesting and deep gameplay. For instance, being forced to sign a truce with an inferior, weaker opponent because even *winning* would inflict a worse hit on your economic and diplomatic stability, possibly damaging your nation for decades, or watching the world fall in a handful of power blocks through military alliances and royal marriages until a seemingly small military action scalates into a large-scale war, its simply fantastic.
Didn't see Fall from Heaven 2.
If you haven't tried it. Do so.
No - just vanilla. I didnt even consider expansions since I wasnt hooked at all.
Have played Rise of Nations but only for a very little while. Its in my closet somewhere. Didnt get hooked there. Got hooked on Age of Mythology + Titans expansion at the time if I remember correctly. Havnt tired Age of Empire
Will check out Rise of Legends!!
Tried and didnt get hooked. Not sure if I gave Homeworld and Rise of Nations enough chance.
Age of Wondes - Have played it a little. Ok game
Diciples - Tried a little. Ok this one too
Alphe Centauri - Played it waaaay back. Now I stick to CIV IV
Sword of the Stars - Almost bought it a few times
Warlords - Have played all 4 till my fingers bled. Super games the three first ones, while the fourth was a let down.
Warlords Battlecry - Boring
I have Space Rangers 2 on impulse. Played it for a while. OK, but not great.
Mount & Blade. Not my cup of tea I think
Will check out Defense Grid. The two others I have read about and might buy sometime.
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