Shadows of the Sengoku
The year is 1467. The Sengoku period has just begun. Every Daimyo will be out for blood, trying to bring glory to their clan and be unifier of Japan. More than might and riches, cunning is required.
Enter the Shadows.
Shadows of Sengoku is a Grand Strategy game that mixes Turn-Based Tactical Combat into the formula, and puts the player in control of the Shadows; a group of elite units that serve one of the Daimyos of Japan, executing missions and expanding the clan’s influence in order to achieve its ultimate destiny: The Unification of Japan.
Conquer Your Way!
Shadows of Sengoku features over 30 possible clans that the player can choose to play as. Help the Ashikaga retain the Shogunate; Aid the Hosokawa in keeping their regional superiority; spearhead the warlike Uesugi’s offensive in the Tokaido; grow the Ainu into a formidable opponent; or fight for supremacy in the Kyushu as the Shimazu.
Each clan will be ruled by a Daimyo with their own goals and aspirations for the clan. Some may seek greatness through war, others may desire for peaceful relations and diplomacy, yet others may want to isolate themselves from the rest in a road to self-reliance. But Daimyos don’t live forever; a change in the leadership of a clan may severely alter the course of a game!
Train Your Squad!
Units can be recruited and will have their starting abilities based off of the province they hail from, with each of the game’s 80 provinces bringing different bonuses. But they all start at low level, and will need to gain experience be it in the form of open combat or using the Shadows' training grounds. Being efficient in battle will not only allow your units to improve quicker; they’ll also gain combat ranks which will unlock a whole new host of gameplay options.
There are no classes in Shadows of the Sengoku; instead a system of proficiencies will categorize your unit based on its weaknesses and strengths. An innovative skill system allows you to train your units in whatever way you desire, specializing them into one or more combat roles as you see fit. But use caution; losing a very important unit in combat can have drastic consequences to morale!
High-Stakes Tactical Combat!
Going back to the roots of tactical turn-based combat, Shadows of the Sengoku gives the players complete control over their units action. Based on a time unit system, players can more accurately coordinate and develop their strategy during combat. Each time unit will count, with units being granted a better chance of defending themselves if they have time units to spare after taking their turns.
Combat is also extremely deadly; badly positioning your soldiers can lead to a quick and untimely death at the hands of the enemy! A blend of melee, ranged, and explosive attacks will be useful in turning the tide of a battle. 8 different enemy archetypes with multiple variations within will expand the possibilities in battle and make each encounter formidable. Expect the unexpected!
Build And Research!
Improve your weapons, armor and items via a dynamic research system that does away with traditional tech trees in favor of a more procedural approach; each piece will have their own tech progression, which can first be unlocked by researching an existing item. This way players can focus research on items that more favor their playstyle; become an assassin with ranged weapons, focus on impenetrable armor and so on. But beware; the enemy is smart and paying attention to what you do, and they may just focus on tactics to counter you!
Players will also be able to build up the infrastructure for their headquarters, constructing new buildings and improving old ones as they see fit in order to gain bonuses and gain combat advantages. But these expansions must be planned carefully; there is always the possibility of an enemy attack on your hq, which could be very difficult to defend if you were haphazard with your planning!
And More!
Shadows of the Sengoku also features:
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Comprehensive mission tree system to direct the actions of your clan
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Wide variety of procedurally generated missions to keep the gameplay always fresh
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Intricate diplomatic system that allows you to form alliances, start wars, and betray your friends
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Unique Daimyo personality that will shape the way each individual clan acts
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An AI learning system that learns and adjusts to your tactics on the battlefield
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Annex provinces via diplomacy or conquest
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Non-combat missions that may drastically affect the world and provide you with benefits
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The ever-present threat of retaliation by the Emperor should your clan grow too powerful, be it politically or militarily
Read More: Best 4X Grand Strategy Games.
Treasure Fleet
There is a lot to like about Treasure Fleet, as it builds upon the legacy of Sid Meier’s Colonization. I personally like how the game puts more emphasis on naval ships and actually makes building a fleet of them much more practical then it ever was in Colonization. The idea of the supply mechanic does well to make exploring much more of a risk/reward thing where there can be consequences - especially when things go awry and your horses are stolen under you!
However, at the same time there is also quite a bit of game mechanics that just don’t feel like they work all that well, feel cheap, or are a direct downgrade with Sid Meier’s game. There is also a lot of quality of life features you might expect from other 4X titles to be here as well but are yet absent.
– Real player with 154.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best 4X Strategy Games.
It a nice game but still not ready there to many feature and ui that suppost to be there but are not hopefully this get fixed, 1 exampel that that anger me alot is that soldier can lose there musket when they get attacked or attack, the problem is if you not carefull attack nativ/other colonys loose 50% attack dmg that include defens too, this feature suppost to be explained but it isnt and it ui suppost to be big enought so you can see it clearly but you dont you must look/see super good so the soldier doesnt lose musket. Other thing the nativ are pain in a** since all bunch a**hol* and do as they like give you stuff/attack/steal/demand and diplomacy dont work is just you take money from them until they get angry, you give them money and gona be nativ from same tribe gona attack you anyway, so it almost sad that auto you have kill them all. Game is annoying at the end need be fixed before it can be fun.
– Real player with 110.3 hrs in game
Arcane Sorcery
This game feels like a cross between Master of Magic and Medieval Total War (the first one that is). Gameplay wise, it feels like Master of Magic with the magic spells, and the isometric battle system, but the campaign maps feel more like the original Medieval Total War. As one of the other reviews described, it has an early 90’s feel to the graphics (and for once that phrase does not mean ‘pixel art’, which is a rarity). The 4x nature of the game is more 4x-lite, specifically with lite aspects on the diplomacy and exploring aspects of 4x. There’s three different maps, but it would be nice if there was random map generation, though that would probably require a different map style I think. It has flaws, but it’s an inexpensive game as well.
– Real player with 32.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best 4X Grand Strategy Games.
A game that strongly resembles strategy games of yesteryear, that actually does not pretend to be anything else. Its pretty straight forward, without much tactical depth or need for strategic thinking. Still its an enjoyable game, even if only for a couple of runs, its still worth playing. If you are a hardcore 4x or strategy player, I would strongly suggest you stay clear, for you will be disappointed as the game lacks in both areas. Its perfect for the casual strategist, looking for a fun run.
– Real player with 26.7 hrs in game
The Battle of Polytopia
I would like to begin with the disclaimer that I received Polytopia for free as I had the privilege of beta-testing it before its Steam release. However, I do not believe that this influences my view of the game in any major way that would impact my review. I also had prior experience with the game in its mobile form prior to its release on Steam.
Polytopia is simply a brilliant game. Midjiwan created a masterpiece that is continually refreshing and new, yet challenging to master. The AI is just punishing enough on higher difficulties to encourage thoughtful and deliberate gameplay, yet lenient enough to reward clever strategic moves. At no point have I felt like the game was too arbitrarily challenging or easy, instead it has consistently maintained a delicate balance in terms of difficulty (unless you happen to be stranded on a 1x1 island with no resources in sight, which although rare, is quite tragic). The game is also super approachable for beginners without much experience in this type of strategy/resource management genre. I think that honestly anyone from any skill level can thoroughly enjoy Polytopia.
– Real player with 52.9 hrs in game
I really do recommend this game after playing for about 11 hours. It’s the first time I play a game like this, but to my understanding it’s quite a lot like Civilisation but much simpler (and cheaper). Like all games, there are both good and bad things to this game. Let’s discuss it.
Firstly, I’d like to adress the negatives. Multiplayer mode is not that fun, in my opinion. Pass & Play works if there are two of you, but even then it’s a little tiresome to wait for your turn. I tried playing with 2 friends and it just took way too long. I haven’t tried online multiplayer because I don’t know anyone who owns this game. You can play with strangers as well, but the waiting time to fill a server is too much. That’s not really the game’s fault though, that’s just because not enough people have bought this game yet since it’s new.
– Real player with 28.7 hrs in game
Askara
Askara is a rogue-like turn-based tactics game, you choose how long each run takes, from a half an hour, to a few days if you want to! Multiple layers of mechanics mesh together to ensure that every run will be unique. It is easy to pick up, but will take years to master.
Game features
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Procedurally generated worlds, every playthrough will have a unique map
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Death is not the end, part of your experience carries over to the next run, you will unlock perks as you play enabling new strategies
Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars
If I were to describe this game in one sentence it would be as follows: A game with strong foundation, but a lot of underutilized or wasted potential. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and look at its strengths and weaknesses.
STRENGHTS:
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ART. Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars features very high quality art that is best represented on Cards. I can’t praise art of this game enough. Everything is very detailed, atmospheric, diverse and just a pleasure to look at.
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ATMOSPHERE. This one is a bit subtle but at its core this game makes you feel like a vampire ruler who is playing a deadly game of influence and warfare. The fact that game represents quite a few things with cards certainly adds to this feeling.
– Real player with 149.0 hrs in game
After playing for 100 hours, completing the campaign, and finishing +16 sandbox with all factions, i can say that this game is, for the better parts :
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Stable/Playable (I encountered no game crash, nor errors, with the “worst” bug being solved by simply surrendering the fighting in which i was stuck.) (Played on an Acer Nitro N50-600, I5-8400 CPU 2.8GHz, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB, 8G RAM)
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Enjoyable (Some part of the campaign may be more difficult than others but taken on the right angle, they become easier.)
– Real player with 137.6 hrs in game
Retro Commander
Retro Commander is a post-apocalyptic real-time strategy wargame (RTS). Take command and fight it out in a world where a cataclysmic timeline has transpired on Mother Earth. Wage wars solo, against the AI, or take on your gaming comrades and friends in cross-platform multiplayer matches. Form teams and clans and fight co-op style with the AI and other players for ultimate victory.
Range of functionality is comprised of base building, exploration and expansion. In addition, the game features a multitude of pre-defined missions such as elimination, survival mode, capture the flag, defense and escort missions. A post-apocalyptic story campaign puts this all together into an engaging experience. Players have a variety of troops at their disposal to wage war on land, sea and in the air. Armed forces included are infantry, tanks, warships, submarines, fighter jets, recon drones and bombers to reign supreme over the enemy in battle.
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Real-time strategy (RTS) played in a post-apocalyptic timeline on Mother Earth.
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Challenging AI for single player games including co-op play with the AI.
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Cross-platform multiplayer over LAN/internet including co-op team and clan games.
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Deep campaign and story line of humanity after a cataclysmic event.
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Troops including infantry, tanks, jets, helicopters, airships, warships, submarines and more.
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Factions each with their own technologies including stealth, laser, shields and more.
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Missions including elimination, survival, capture the flag and defense.
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Demanding environment with day-night cycles, rain, wind and solar flare activity.
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Map editor and a central server to host and distribute player-modded maps.
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High scores, playing statistics, achievements and multiplayer ELO-ranking.
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Engaging music, sound effects and fantastic graphics.
The game includes one map for FREE. Other maps are all available for download as a single purchase or 1-by-1 if desired. Multiplayer games are generally free to join. There is no subscriptions. This game is NOT pay-to-win.
If you like this game, please also try our other strategy games. You should be able to find the games in the same marketplace!
Thanks & Enjoy the Game!
noblemaster ]:-D
The Dwarves of Glistenveld
It has been a while since I posted this review and much has changed since then. Having played the game now for a total of 300+ hours (and there was me saying I don’t get much time to play games), I have explored many of the game modes. My favourite right now is the Skirmish mode where you can hand-craft your map options, such as the number of enemies, their initial strength, the map size and style, etc. I am currently working my way up to more and more difficult settings to see how good I really am. My other favourite mode is the cavern mode (the game’s sandbox mode ) where I have also spend many hours. In this mode you can slowly build your base to ever increasing size while improving your tech tree. The current tech tree is already in place for the upcoming next chapter of the game and it allows you to build a railway network so that your miners don’t have to carry everything back to your base, improve and automate your defences, build automated farms for farming roots and mushrooms, light up your neighbour hood with lanterns, build cooking stations and much more. I have also played with the map editor and will be uploading my own hand-crafted map very soon. ‘hwill’ has uploaded a new map to the workshop which I enjoyed very much. I must add a comment.
– Real player with 638.7 hrs in game
This game, is absolutely fantastic! This RTS adventure strategy game is about leading a tribe of Dwarves trying to take back their homeland from the goblins that have ran them down underground. There are so many things that you find out during every level, there are nice challenges such as the achievements and the schematics that you have to find to advance with technology, there are song hidden choices through your first play through (such as when you meet Fishbeard’s first guard) it’s amazing, it’s so replayable and enjoyable for sooooooooooo many hours even when there is only 6 levels at the time of writing this. Along with the mechanics in this game are so nice and fluid such as the base building part, and the class switching system, the AI is pretty on-point, it’s not one of those games where the AI struggles with some of the commands that you try to give it, in this game, it just does it immediately!
– Real player with 18.9 hrs in game
Sid Meier’s Civilization® III Complete
Here’s what I think of this game, I’ll compare it to Civ 5 since most people consider that to be the best Civ game.
Music: Both Civ 5 and Civ III have fantastic soundtracks as with pretty much all Civ games. CIV 5’s soundtrack is better, but that doesn’t mean this soundtrack isn’t worth listening to.
Diplomacy: The diplomacy here in Civ III, in my opinion is better. You can trade maps technologies, change how agressive the AI is. The AI does get quite a bit agressive once you get to medium agressiveness although.
– Real player with 328.3 hrs in game
I will start this review in two seperate forms, one for interested newcomers and then the Old Guard.
I will list off the pros first before the cons of this game, Civilization 3 is a different twist of the game than you may be familar with 4 and 5. Go in understanding this switch:
-Its an old game, if you can run the actual game, there should be no real issues.
-Graphically, it’s a sound experience and not many real issues, the modding community can find you bug fixes or new skins. Its pleasing regardless and you won’t really be let down by this game.
– Real player with 325.2 hrs in game
Dead of Winter
Lead your villagers in a battle for survival against relentless hordes of undead as you gather, build and explore in a post-apocalyptic medieval fantasy world plunged into a seemingly endless winter
Gather what resources you can find before your supplies dwindle and your people starve
Build shelter against the elements and worker buildings to assign tasks to your villagers
Explore your surroundings to find the most defensible locations to build and gather resources in safety
Survive a lack of resources, the unending winter and the relentless hordes of undead
