King’s Orders

King’s Orders

WHAT IS KING’S ORDERS?

In King’s Orders, you play as a medieval ruler. Your goal is to manage armies and cities on a map of Europe. Give orders by sending letters to your generals and make decisions based on the reports you receive. Re-enact historical events and see how you can change the course of history. Create a dominating empire that shall last for centuries!

MEDIEVAL EUROPE

From the frozen Scandinavia to the deserts of Africa - claim new territories, expand influences and replay unique scenarios. Each of those will challenge you with the most important battles of the middle ages, however, the outcome depends on your actions. Hundred Years' War, Battle of Grunwald, Wars of the Roses - each can be a setting for your plan to achieve total victory. Are you able to create an ultimate strategy that will fulfill your ambitions no matter what?

KING’S STRATEGY

King’s Orders is a game for players who seek a more immersive experience than in most real-time strategies. Communicate with your troops by sending messengers with your letters. Send orders and wait for results. Remember it takes time for your runner to deliver the message and the route is full of dangers. Realism is magnified by the lack of battle preview in real-time. You gain all knowledge of those events from received reports, so that’s all you have to picture the battle and make further decisions.

DIVIDE AND RULE!

Conquer the cities and control key trade routes. Gained gold gives you various opportunities, so spend it wisely. Will you train more troops or focus on fortifying? You decide what kind of ruler you are and how you’re about to manage the economy. Everything comes with consequences. Some unpopular decisions may even end up with a rebellion against you. Take care of your generals’ loyalty and morale, so they will help you to control the people.


Read More: Best Military War Games.


King's Orders on Steam

Death Trader: Cold War

Death Trader: Cold War

This game was great! It was super fun and im suprised its not more laggy and gltchy than it is, i was sceptical buying it but im glad i did, lots of fun, you need to fix a few bugs but i loved it otherwise and suggest you buy it! One thing I would like to see is things like being able to change the time you start like 1960, 62', 65, etc. I would also like to see more weapons from more country’s, I would like a variety in this game.

Real player with 31.1 hrs in game


Read More: Best Military Indie Games.


Oct 28

The game has a few kinks but the dev(s?) have been quick to patch. It is worthwhile, especially on sale. I’ve not been able to get more than 2 years into the 30 that the game has due to bugs but I’ve gotten a lot of fun out of it.

Nov 8

I can now play 15 out of the 30 years of the game before it crashes or becomes unplayable. The majority of the early bugs are gone, the gameplay is more user friendly with a better ui/tooltip, was a fun game before but it’s even better now. The devs may have released it prematurely, even as early access, but it’s been rapidly improved.

Real player with 18.7 hrs in game

Death Trader: Cold War on Steam

Act of War: Direct Action

Act of War: Direct Action

A superb, well detailed RTS where a varied army composition is needed and diverse strategies are key to victory as combat can end quickly and brutally. Gameplay is a great mix of casual and hardcore RTS with the usual base building and unit deployment except resources aren’t found in deposits instead are earned either from POW’s or finite oil fields/banks/ammo bunkers. Buildings also utilize realistic gameplay so you’ll have to MedEvac injured troops to field hospitals or ferry a heavily damaged vehicle to a repair depot. Lastly buildings can be garrisoned on different levels when the building provides like on the roof or other visible floors to defend from not just within the structure. Infantry units can depending on the unit type go prone stance for camouflage and gain additional cover at the cost of speed as well as storm a garrisoned building with varying levels of success depending on unit type. Sometimes your units or the enemy’s forces have a chance to survive a battle due to either heavy injuries or are part of a surviving vehicle crew unless captured, repatriate or healed they will eventually bleed to death or stay put for the enemy’s gain. Killing POW’s is useless unless to prevent them from exposing your stealth units so your better off getting them for more money. Vehicles like infantry aren’t all around powerful units so you can’t zerg in this RTS thankfully. Aircraft are treated as off-map support with varying aircraft for different sortie missions but all can be shot down if not properly deployed or if the Air Control Tower gets destroyed. WMD’s are in-game too but whats unique as well is counter WMD defensive teach to prevent such disaster. As your units gain veterancy they will become generally more effective and even heal/repair when idle so its best to keep your army well supported in the long term. Each faction is unique with their own tech trees, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. The US Armed Forces has specialized firepower but needs electricity and descend their DEFCON alert level to access and maintain new tech. Task Force Talon is all about speed and flexability not needing electricity for a direct tech tree but doesn’t have the punch of the other two factions. The Consortium lastly requires you to use all of your units to get the best out of them. The story and characters are set in a well made semi-futuristic Military Sci-Fi theme with an interesting cast and a simple but effective plot that’s better, more interesting then most RTS stories especially if your a fan of Tom Clancy’s style writing though the main antagonist doesn’t have the same impact as say Kane of Nod is like. Cutscenes are made using a combination of real actors and CGI giving a nice cinematic feel for each missions all in a more realistic, gritty, serious take on the genre that’s more engaging and enjoyable then just a simple briefing. Missions have great variety that makes you utilize different strategic skills without being unfair with great AI as you increase the difficulty. Multiplayer is available as well with optional AI enemies or allies in good number of maps and nice number of game modes though its not functional online as its GameSpy so you’ll need 3rd party software like Hamachi or Game Ranger to do so. Graphics are dated and some animations too but it still has great detail with unit interactions, building functions, battlefield scarring and no unit limit help make it still impressive. Audio is passable with mostly similar unit dialogue and the soundtrack is good but limited. In summery a well made RTS despite its age for those wanting to find that niche for an in between casual and hardcore experience and more depth then to simply zerg.

Real player with 24.9 hrs in game


Read More: Best Military War Games.


Introduction:

Act of War: Direct Action is a tactical RTS game set in the near future, which tells us the story of the conflict between US forces and terrorist baddie who went full mad berserk mode and almost made it to Nuclear war. Original game was released in 2005, so this is more of a retrospective review, as judging the game according to modern standards would be wrong.

A drama behind the scene:

From the actual announcement, Act of War was possessed as a straight rival to C&C Generals. I still have that fancy magazine where journalist made a review, calling AoW a killer of Generals. In all honesty, even if developers did not initially plan to fight C&C on their own field, the rumors and speculations aren’t born on empty place: both games really have similar gamestyle and gameplay, despite, quite often, having somewhat different approaches.

Real player with 24.2 hrs in game

Act of War: Direct Action on Steam

Rebel Inc: Escalation

Rebel Inc: Escalation

Great game, very stressful, amazing feeling after winning.

Real player with 60.1 hrs in game

This game is wonderful. In addition to being a good challenge and having endless replay ability, it’s theme is uncommon and very relevant to the real world. More games like this should exist.

Real player with 42.1 hrs in game

Rebel Inc: Escalation on Steam

Europa Universalis IV

Europa Universalis IV

I’m a divorced woman of color. Recently, my ex got our son Larry a video game called Europa Universalis for his 14th birthday. It seemed good for him, because it takes place in the distant past and he’s always been interested in history, so it seemed like a nice enough game, no graphic violence or anything, at least until I sat down and watched him play at it. I don’t know what sorts of racists made this game, but it’s basically a colonialism and genocide justification simulator. If you want to survive, you need to have access to money and soldiers, and the most (only) reliable way to ensure you have enough is to attack and conquer your weaker neighbors. If you don’t, you can be sure someone else will eventually come attack and conquer you.

Real player with 4558.6 hrs in game

So EU4 was a good game. Then they released the 450+ ‘bug fixes’. The entire game outside Europe has now been put back behind a new paywall unless you have the paradise DLC as it is now impossible to develop your provinces to spawn institutions as army tradition gives you impossibly high dev costs. I played one game and when I needed to dev an institution from a 1/1/1 grasslands province and starting cost is 120. That is only with 33 army tradition giving a 150% penalty. This was a custom nation and I had -20% dev cost. Good job paradox forcing everyone to buy your shittiest dlc in order to use any of the other DLC’s you have paid for. The game is now broken outside of Europe without the paradise dlc. You make me sick Paradox!

Real player with 1819.5 hrs in game

Europa Universalis IV on Steam

ENCODE

ENCODE

I really enjoy this game, It truly nails the cyberpunk blade runner feel. No other game on steam can match this. People are giving negative reviews like its too dark, my goodness just adjust your gamma. This game has amazing detail for a small studio of only two people. They made another game blade net that was amazing as well, very unique, cyber punk feel game of hide and seek with a twist. People who leave negative reviews with only 0.5 hours of play you guys need to re think what you are doing. I have tried every cyber punk game on steam and this game really gives me that vibe, it is totally worth the low price of 19.99/17.99 its ok to point out bugs and issues but this game deserves a positive review. Look at it like this this game has so much potential but if people keep coming and dropping negative reviews after only 5 minutes of playing the game is going to do bad, and the developer might just give up, but if you play the game give good feedback more people are likely to buy the game and the devs will have more energy and resources to make more content. thank you to the devs for this game, it really enjoy it, thanks for all your hard work

Real player with 10.3 hrs in game

What I love is that the world within the game seems so much bigger than what you see. Its atmospheric, dystopian Tokyo feel is served by an excellent soundtrack and unique narrative. Driving around was not only an entertaining part of the gameplay, it gave me an opportunity to explore the nooks and crannies of a city I had never really seen the likes of before.

I think the developer deserves kudos for building a universe that is stylistically reminiscient of Blade Runner without being trite, and filling it was sufficiently interesting things to do to capture my attention for a few hours. With some refinement and a little more time to incubate, the game would be a really hefty competitor in the cyberpunk genre. It has solid foundations and delivers on the intrigue of its concept, especially for an indie game. The uphill part of the battle is building a convincing in-game universe, even if it is a little sparse here.

Real player with 6.2 hrs in game

ENCODE on Steam

Terminal Conflict

Terminal Conflict

Edited review at 106 hours played.

I would definitely recommend this game for anyone interested in the cold war. I haven’t played the game ‘Twilight Struggle’ myself, but I hear it is quite like that game and I reckon if you like that game chances are good you’ll like Terminal Conflict too.

I think game captures the essence of the cold war quite well - USSR vs USA, proxy wars and managing the home front while you’re trying to achieve your goals. Intelligence is a big part of the game, especially with the Eyes Only DLC. War is abstracted, but still challenging.

Real player with 168.3 hrs in game

In this Cold War strategy game, you assume command of either the USA or the USSR. You compete with the enemy by influencing regions, recruiting historical leaders to your cause, sometimes outright engaging the enemy forces in combat as well. Both factions have unique events, decisions and leaders. Literally every singleplayer playthrough can result in a different conclusion as the AI is dynamic and provides a challenge on its own, although its still no match for an experienced player. One thing to note though, the game is more focused on the political machinations of the Cold War, rather than military. Funding, spying, sometimes even assassinating your way to victory. Despite this, of course, military units still play a large part in the game.

Real player with 36.3 hrs in game

Terminal Conflict on Steam

Arms Race - TCWE

Arms Race - TCWE

Arms Race - The Cold War Era is pretty promising with the way game mechanics work and the AI is good. The recommended strategy in the guide section doesn’t work reliably for me and I ended up using a different strategy. The AI is also pretty good at adapting to what you are doing. The limited 3 budget changes ends up meaning every decision has long term implications.

Most games turn out slightly differently due to the AI choosing different tactics and the randomness of global crisis events.

The game isn’t as full fleshed as say Hearts of Iron but I feel like the mechanics are well thought out and the AI provides a challenge even on easy. It does a good job of abtracting the cold war and reducing decisions to the macro level (‘meaningful decisions’) compared to HoI3/4 which features considerable micromanagement. I personally prefer macro level games (less micromanagement) but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. If you prefer to play M&T in EU4 vs base EU4 or if you prefer to play Darkest Hour/HoI2 vs HoI4 then this is the game for you.

Real player with 17.2 hrs in game

This is a fun little game which plays a complete run in about 2-3 hours.

It runs through the whole of the cold war and includes extensive historical detail and research - history geerks will enjoy looking through the tech trees and space race just reading some of the interesting commentary.

The game itself is primarily about resource allocation - the resources being influence (generated by diplomats) spies, and military. These three resources allow you to control the board through a variety of diplomatic coups and military intervention.

Real player with 14.9 hrs in game

Arms Race - TCWE on Steam

Victoria 3

Victoria 3

SHAPE A GRAND TOMORROW

Paradox Development Studio invites you to build your ideal society in the tumult of the exciting and transformative 19th century. Balance the competing interests in your society and earn your place in the sun in Victoria 3, one of the most anticipated games in Paradox’s history.

THE ULTIMATE SOCIETY SIMULATOR

  • Lead dozens of world nations from 1836-1936. Agrarian or Industrial, Traditional or Radical, Peaceful or Expansionist… the choice is yours.

  • Detailed population groups with their own economic needs and political desires.

  • Reform your government and constitution to take advantage of new social innovations, or preserve the stability of your nation by holding fast to tradition in the face of revolutionaries.

  • Research transformative new technology or ideas to improve your national situation.

DEEP ECONOMIC SYSTEM

  • Expand your industry to take advantage of lucrative goods, taxing the profits to improve national prosperity.

  • Import cheap raw materials to cover your basic needs while finding new markets for your finished goods.

  • Secure vital goods to fuel your advanced economy and control the fate of empires.

  • Balance employing available labor force with the needs for new types of workers.

PLAY ON A GRAND STAGE

  • Use your diplomatic wiles to weave a tangled global web of pacts, relations, alliances, and rivalries to secure your diplomatic position on the world stage.

  • Employ threats, military prowess and bluffs to persuade enemies to back down in conflicts.

  • Increase your economic and military strength at the expense of rivals.

  • Accumulate prestige and the respect of your rivals as you build an industrial giant at home or an empire abroad.

Victoria 3 on Steam

Last Day of Rome

Last Day of Rome

A promising game, but so much bugs after only a couple of hours ! This game is clearly not finished and broken. I would really like to play this game, but at that point, it’s more a pain than a game. Too bad.

Here are some. There are probably more:

  • the biggest bug : manual battles! I had to Alt+F4 so many times because it seems to freeze if I move the mouse too fast over an unit while some are fighting (not sure about that). Or when I’m attacked and have defense buildings, the game freeze after the IA made his attack. Really painfull. This is one of the major bugs to my point of view.

Real player with 17.6 hrs in game

New game in my library - Last Day of Rome

This is a military-economic strategy about ancient Rome since the 2nd century AD.

In short: we take command of a people within the borders of Rome. We will have to use both tactics and strategy, and

diplomacy. Therefore, it is possible to gain respect among their own people and, for example, to raid or launch a campaign against the 1st Reich xD

Actually, the system is nothing new, we control any country in Europe, we build buildings and

infrastructure in their regions, that is, we focus on the development of our army through the study of new technologies.

Real player with 10.1 hrs in game

Last Day of Rome on Steam