Defense of the Oasis
I picked this up after being mentioned on Crate and Crowbar as a puzzle game with very short rounds appealed. It fits that comforting spot very well. I can play a few rounds while other stuff is happening around me in the house. As an older game it’s also at the right price. I have never been a graphics obsessive, but to me these graphics have an old-school style, but work fine on my 1yr old Windows gaming laptop, and I never have trouble working out what a particular tile is. The game structure is an elegant idea with not too many pieces, where the pieces combine well to create lots of interesting variation.
– Real player with 85.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best 4X Strategy Games.
I bought this game a long time ago - forgot about it, tried to find it again a few times over the years since and it was impossible to find. I was so excited to see it finally on Steam! However after 2 minutes it’s clear that it is just a port of an amazingly old game. Going into full-screen mode immediately breaks the game and makes it unplayable with a ton of graphical glitches. I’m glad its available to play though, but be warned that it’s a bit ugly and potentially buggy.
It has been described as ‘Civ meets Minesweeper’ and if that sounds like something you’re into I recommend it.
– Real player with 57.0 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
Cave Quest
Cave Quest (Match-3)
Steam copy provided for Curator review
One of my most-played match-3’s of all time!
Options include separate sliders for SFX, Music and Ambients, Full-screen, Custom Cursor and choice of Timed (bonus cash~! Ka-ching!) or Untimed (can be changed between M3 levels).
Story
Your family has disappeared in the mountains, and thanks to rumors of dangerous evil spirits, the locals are too afraid to help you search for them.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1969463119
– Real player with 100.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best 4X Indie Games.
It’s so hard to find a good match-3 game. This is one of them. Thanks for the nice experience! This game has it all. Including beautifully designed gems which are hard to spot! Story that glues the experience together, smoothness, good professional design, even translation to my language which I didn’t need but it’s ok. Finally a game that I couldn’t take my hands off and felt urge to play on. Good product! Now I pity it’s over.
Criticism: sure to perfection it lacks more compelling story, less artificial or less cliche story, better art - one that would not be so kitchy and which would be less amateurish and a better translation. Thanks to these imperfections the game stays as just no-name game in game history, as it doesn’t bring any cultural contribution. But it’s professionally and well made product anyway. Relaxing and fun enough.
– Real player with 23.0 hrs in game
Base Wars
Base Wars is a unique strategy concept, it feels mechanically similar to RTS games like Age of Empires and Starcraft but packaged in a turn based format. I’d describe it as chess without a grid.
I’ve been following development for a couple years and the game is actively getting updates every month or two. As of 1.0 the core gameplay is great. Online games are easy to set up and the map editor is very in-depth. There are some missing extras like a full singleplayer campaign and a replay system, but those are claimed to be coming soon.
– Real player with 8.8 hrs in game
Europa Universalis III Complete
Whee. Europa 3, like its predecessors and its cousins Hearts of Iron and Victoria (Crusader Kings as well, but that isn’t as hard to learn), is an extremely complex game that is notoriously difficult to learn, not helped by crappy tutorials. I had an edge having been playing this series since its first installment, but it still took some time to get used to everything. So right from the start expect a significant time investment on learning how to play the game, and learning to do well at it. War, Diplomacy, Trade, Exploration, and more. It’s all here.
– Real player with 535.5 hrs in game
As far as I’m concerned, this is the best game ever - especially in this version with the first two additions to the game.
To a certain extent, it is comparable to the Total War games, if they only included the map mode, which would here be simplified to armies only being able to move from province to province and not within a province. However, you have a more complicated diplomacy and domestic policy to deal with.
Another thing that makes it different, and, for my taste, better than the Total War games, is the greater realism and historical accuracy - in this game you can’t just conquer everything, and it remains challenging for the more than four centuries that its timespan covers.
– Real player with 492.4 hrs in game