Gladiator Guild Manager
Gladiator Guild Manager is the best auto battler i have played. I have had lots of fun coming up with various strategies and team comp’s. Unlike other team manager games, it has a strong RPG element that isn’t there just for fluff. For instance, I have 2 Mana Assassins (Rogues), one that does a very high backstab, where the other one is a brawler with stealth. The various quirks your gladiator can have also spice up the selection, as well as the ability to equip various items that boost stats, or add effects.
– Real player with 36.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Base Building Tactical Games.
Very fun auto-battler! Very addictive and has a good amount of variety. The randomness option with the building/units at the start and the option for permadeath makes the replay value high! I am look forward for more randomness with the quests and more buildings/units and an even greater replay value with the full release.
Give the game a chance! I found it, watched a youtube video of it, bought it, and played 8 hours of it all in the same day. It is very stable for an early access game with a lot of room for growth :)
– Real player with 26.3 hrs in game
Chambers of Devious Design
“Build me a lair… And it better be devious!”
The evil mastermind is in need of a lair suited to his devious demeanor. Can you come up with a fiendishly creative design to bury your competition?
Each room type comes with a unique effect that is boosted when the room is placed next to supporting room types. Try to come up with an optimal design that unleashes the full potential of your rooms!
Your opponent shouldn’t have started building so close to you… Teach them a lesson by planting a room full of dynamite next to their control room! Or maybe you should shoot at them with a cannon instead?
“No, no, NO! This will not do. We need to have a puppy jail! What do you mean “why”? Because we’re EVIL, duh!"
The evil mastermind knows exactly what he wants… And usually, it’s the complete opposite of what he wanted 5 minutes ago. If the boss wants his bedroom next to a snake pit, it’s best to follow along.
Read More: Best Base Building Board Game Games.
GhostControl Inc.
This review need updating. The game has been updated and polished even further. Will update when I get around to playing it again.
In short:
Ghostcontrol Inc. is a solid and fun turn-based strategy ghost hunting simulator with very good humor.
Ghostcontrol Inc. style and feel is that of a casual and fun game (but not easy :) ). The graphical style, sounds and music are similar to Theme Hospital. Gameplay is sufficiently deep for a turn based game and incorporates a simple 2 AP system which makes the game flow nicely. Menus and action are understandable and there is enough amount of micromanaging to have variety. The story of the game is humorous and well written.
– Real player with 40.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Base Building Character Customization Games.
Ghost Control Inc seemingly has everything going for it. It’s a game where you essentially play team manager for Ghosbusters! And it has a nearly-perfect blend of tactics and management gameplay! What could possibly be more fun?
Unfortunately, the game is marred by several issues.
Firstly, the art direction is uneven at best. Most of the ghosts have very uninspired designs that won’t stick in your mind like those of other franchises involving catching ghosts. Several of the ghosts are just recolors or slight redesigns of the lower level ghosts you fight early in the game, so they’re both boring to look at and repetitive. This also makes it slightly harder to tell what you’re figthing at times.
– Real player with 39.5 hrs in game
Xenonauts 2
XENONAUTS-2 is a vast single player strategy game in which you control a multi-national military organisation defending our planet from alien invasion.
Battle the extraterrestrials in tense, complex turn-based combat across a variety of maps and missions, recovering and researching their technology to unlock new weapons and equipment!
Take a global view with the real-time strategic management layer: you must establish and develop your bases, conduct research, battle for air supremacy and try to keep the panic level in your funding regions under control.
The strategic and tactical layers of the game are directly related, with ground missions affecting the overall balance of the Geoscape and your research efforts on the recovered items unlocking new equipment for your squads and aircraft. Every management decision you make filters down to the troops you control in battle; every shot you fire could change the balance of strategic power.
Can you hold off the invasion long enough to discover a way to defeat the alien forces?
No knowledge of the previous game is required to play - XENONAUTS-2 is a standalone title with its own setting and narrative.
Key Features
-
Ground Combat: The highly-detailed turn-based combat system gives you fine control over your soldiers as they battle the aliens across multiple different mission types and numerous varied environments. The day / night cycle and destructible battlefields open up endless tactical possibilities to defeat your enemies, and your soldiers will grow stronger as they gain combat experience - provided you can keep them alive!
-
Strategic Management: A complex strategic layer allows you to coordinate the defence of our planet. Establish bases to extend your reach and use customisable interceptors to shoot down attacking UFOs, then deploy your soldiers to secure resources. Capturing crash sites can secure alien technology and live specimens for research, whereas protecting regions from alien activity and terror attacks will protect your funding and prevent them surrendering to the aliens.
-
In-depth Simulation: The structure of Xenonauts-2 is not linear; no two campaigns unfold in exactly the same way. Every element of this complex interlocking simulation has been designed to create maximum coherence between the strategic and tactical layers: small decisions can have an impact across the entire game.
-
Extensive Tech Tree: XENONAUTS-2 contains a vast variety of aircraft, vehicles, weapons, armour, and battlefield equipment for you to experiment with. and a deep research tree with over a hundred projects to unlock. Play the game the way you want to play, devising your own tactics and strategies to defeat the extraterrestrial threat!
Key Improvements from XENONAUTS-1
In addition to the new modular upgrade systems mentioned previously, here is a very small selection of key changes and enhancements:
-
Improved visuals across all parts of the game, including full 3D tactical environments with a rotatable camera!
-
A more detailed and immersive Geoscape simulation incorporating greater player choice and stronger elements of territory control!
-
More environments and maps to fight in - including our new Jungle and Boreal biomes!
-
New aliens have been added and many existing ones have been redesigned, all of which will benefit from our new and improved AI system!
-
A larger research tree with more lore and an expanded variety of equipment for your soldiers to use in battle!
Xenonauts
More faithful than the modern XCOM games. You can build multiple bases to your own style and needs! Multiple drop ships, not a single one and an anthill for you to save the world with. Troops are expendable like they should be! Yay!
Eagerly awaiting the sequel, and hopefully eventual Terror From the Deep spiritual successor.
Only thing letting it down is lack of final polish - quicksave works, quickload doesn’t for some reason, and there’s a few minor glitches like the camera being stuck panning in a direction after an alien turn which requires a quick reload to fix, etc. Sometimes the AI acts a little omnipotent, such as sitting in a corner in a building never moving until the moment you get close enough for it to take a fair shot at your soldiers and then dip back into cover again, even though it shouldn’t have known you were there.
– Real player with 347.6 hrs in game
Good: Mostly faithful recreation of XCOM UFO Defense but with significantly better controls and a cool Cold War setting. No class restrictions like Firaxis XCOM and fewer restrictions in general. You make your own classes. Four gun and explosive tiers.
Nice, detailed lore with the Xenopaedia. Great music overall. Overall good weapon design, with humans getting their own distinctly designed plasma weapons. Sound effects are fantastic, especially for high level weapons and explosions. They even have different sounds for the weapon reloads.
– Real player with 140.7 hrs in game
Kingsblood
In a medieval world full of political intrigues and mysteries the player joins in on the dark fate of three siblings of extraordinary descent. After dramatic events, the player will start his journey to build up a force to fight the crown’s increasing oppression. In this strategic RPG you assemble many followers, build them a customizable home, send them on missions and individually improve their combat abilities. Skillfull composition of party members unlocks their true potential in the battles and dungeons ahead.
Explore a Medieval Fantasy World
Unlock a network of allied cities to enable trade, access new quests or just listen to the rumors in the local tavern.
Assemble your Fellowship
Encounter unique characters with unique special abilities and synergies. Strategically employ them in battles and pay attention to their morale.
Tactical Combat Preparation
Exploit the elemental weaknesses of enemies by skillful positioning your troops before the autosimulated combat starts.
Random Dungeons
Coming soon… we’re working on it.
Features
-
Lots of unique characters
-
Character progression
-
Turn-based strategic management
-
Autosimulated combat
-
Group buffs for class, race and elemental synergies
-
Pokémon-like elemental system
-
Randomly generated dungeons, items
-
Coherent dark fantasy world with its own lore
-
Story-heavy campaign
-
Adaptive difficulty and ranking system
-
Research tree
-
Base building
-
Quests
-
Motivation system
About the Developers
We’re a small indie team of three friends who decided to make their dream game become a reality.
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:
-
Comprehensive mission tree system to direct the actions of your clan
-
Wide variety of procedurally generated missions to keep the gameplay always fresh
-
Intricate diplomatic system that allows you to form alliances, start wars, and betray your friends
-
Unique Daimyo personality that will shape the way each individual clan acts
-
An AI learning system that learns and adjusts to your tactics on the battlefield
-
Annex provinces via diplomacy or conquest
-
Non-combat missions that may drastically affect the world and provide you with benefits
-
The ever-present threat of retaliation by the Emperor should your clan grow too powerful, be it politically or militarily
Grim wanderings 2
Worth it! Whether you are playing Adventure or Strategy, you are getting to play a great turn based RPG.
There are so many more options to solve encounters rather than just being a murder hobo. I would even say it is the best strategy for the first bunch of turns until you get your 4 man party set. The combat itself takes place on a tight hex grid, but you get used to getting your party in the right place at the right time.
There are more gameplay mechanics still to come, at least as far as I seen in Strategy play. There is just soooo much you could do with this game with infinite development time. MP Strategy mode would be a great way to make and then lose friends in bitter defeats :) And multiple campaigns for Adventure mode would extend the replay value beyond its already ridiculous value (FUN/time+money). Maybe even slow down the pace of leveling, to make campaigns just for 1-7, 8-15, then high level play.
– Real player with 127.9 hrs in game
What a great hidden gem. A 4x that its not sophisticated in special effects, but in terms of abilities, races, classes and gear is fleshed out. Plus, it comes with a side dish of strategy and base building, so the resources do not apply only to craft. It is dificult to balance a good party tho, and to make things worse you dont get to pick a starting one, adding an extra layer of dificulty to an already complex game. In fact, you are in some things dependent too much on luck. This is the con, if you are not happy with the rooster of the chars available at start, you gonna have to wait a week for a roll on new ones. And the same happens for gear, having to leave some chars even without weapons for a while. Plus, there is a “pick a card” mini-game instead of dice rolls, and might be me, but luck is really not on my side. Regardless it is a very fun game after these hurdles, and the price makes it a must buy.
– Real player with 110.3 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
Siege the Day
I tested this game and did enjoy it.
Things i have spotted is people expecting stronghold like gameplay, it really is nothing like stronghold.
The video, made it seem to me as if it’s a microtransaction fest, it has no microtransactions.
You build your castle and shoot the enemy’s castle into bits, much like castle storm.
In all honesty, if i had to chose between siege the day and castle storm i’d prefer playing castle storm, but this game has entertained me greatly as well.
Controls may seem wonky at first, but they’re easy to get used to.
– Real player with 19.1 hrs in game
This is the old 80 game Crossbows and Catapults re-imagined as a computer game - for an early access release its playable and fun.
Game does need some polish - takes a bit of patience to get thru the tutorial and voice acting needs to change.
I can’t comment on Multiplayer as I haven’t been able to get in a game - I assume its a lack of players :(
– Real player with 18.5 hrs in game