A Planet of Mine
A cute time killer that its easy to get lost on for hours at a time. The random planet load outs and landing positions can make some planets practically impossible to win which can take a while to spot. Re-starting is fairly easy though.
– Real player with 21.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Minimalist Building Games.
Very enjoyable little game~
Takes a bit of learning but it’s very fun~ you can find some good info and tips with a quick google search that might help you get started.
I used to have it on mobile but I find it much more enjoyable on PC and it runs very well.
Lots of races (I believe 16) and different ways to play. Discovers and exploration. Planets are very unique and not all the same.
You can also destroy a rivals planet completely or be friendly and trade with them.
The gist is you start on a single planet and harvest resources and build different constructs. After a while you ascend (which you can do several times) and more technologies become available. Soon you will be colonizing multiple planets.
– Real player with 19.5 hrs in game
Conquicktory
Conquicktory is a minimalistic turn-based strategy focused on top-level decisions in your civilization’s development. You’ll control the diplomacy relations with neighboring countries, declare wars, plan the key strikes and distribute funds to the peaceful/military issues. Your subjects will do the rest of work - there is no need to deeply micromanage all the aspect of your glorious growing empire.
The game map has 3 views:
1. Military view. If you see a spear with a flag over one of your cities, it means that you can create an army in it. Simply touch and drag from it and you’ll see the army path. Army will capture cells around its path. The same dragging way is used to plan the movement of your existing armies. Also you can see the cells defense ratings on this view. Cells are defended by nearby armies, cities and forts.
2. Diplomacy view. Here you can select a country and see its current enemies (red) and allies (green). You can select a country and suggest a treaty to it, or declare war. Also here you can answer the treaties suggestions from other players
3. Economy view. You can see how much each of your cities brings to you, and set the funds spreading to war, peaceful growth and treasury. You can fund new cities and fortresses in this view.
Game features:
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easy control mode which lets you focus on the top-level questions of you empire
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simultaneous moves, which are performed once all the players have issued orders
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challenging AI, which does not cheat but can make clever moves
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spectator mode, where you can relax and spectate how the AI play (and try to guess the winner)
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prebuilt maps of the world, continents and countries, which you can conquer
Read More: Best Minimalist Diplomacy Games.
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
Read More: Best Minimalist Singleplayer Games.
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
World of Asgabas
In World of Asgabas, you take control of a faction with its unique gameplay and fight your way to conquer of the world. Explore the world, expand your territory, exploit your lands and exterminate your opponents.
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All the factions are unique Join the Knights, the Vikings, the Cowboys or the Pirates and play a different experience each time. The factions are designed to offer a different gameplay, unique progresses, buildings and units.
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Take advantage of the terrain Build your fortresses to be impregnable or conquer rich soils to take over your opponents. Each faction has bonuses related to the terrain that you’ll have to consider.
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Manage your armies Battles between armies take place in a small battlefield and are entirely automated. Organize your armies to take the best out of your units.
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And more to come… There are only too many possibilities to add content to this game. New factions, new concepts, new objectives. The game is released in Early Access and new free content will be frequently added.
SPACECOM
Spacecom is a strategic-to-the-bone starfleet-command game with a heavy focus on multiplayer. Using 3 types of fleets (siege, invade, battle) and 4 types of planetary systems (hubs, shipyards, repair yards and supply systems) command your armies to dominate in the galaxy. Capture enemy hubs using proven maneuvers learned from military legends (blitzkrieg, burnt-ground, cut supply lines, outflanking) or devise your own plans. Raise smart thinking over fast clicking in galaxies with up to 6 players in Multiplayer mode.
– Real player with 68.8 hrs in game
I came in expecting the simplicity of Galcon Fusion, but got something in between Galcon Fusion and Sins of a Solar Empire (though closer to Galcon). This is a pretty good complexity level as you can understand everything. By contrast, in a game like Sins of a Solar Empire, I don’t really get it all, so I end up doing stuff because it seems right, not because I really understand the nuances, which makes strategy a bit dissapointing. This is partially the games fault, and partially my fault.
The first third of the tutorial (what I’m calling the incredibly short campaign/story mode) is nightmareishly painfully slow to get through at first, but gets much better about a third of the way through. They overly spell things out for you, while not explaining other things your become interested in out of bordom that they shouldn’t be showing at all. I think a single page overview of all iconography and abilities (without going into strategy) would have been more ideal.
– Real player with 17.3 hrs in game
Translunar Enterprises
Translunar Enterprises gives gamers the tools they need to compete in randomly generated sandbox universes. In these universes are multiple worlds to either colonize or exploit for their resources. Players can either fight for more resources through war or complex trade agreements. With a unique design system that enables players to design new reactions from elements and components, They can share or keep the research they discover throughout the game.
As a player, you will have to manage the economics, production chains, colonies, wars, and research of your corporation. Dive into the translunar universe where you will play as a corporation, either alone or with friends. Each session will never be the same as each universe is generated randomly, which will force you and your opponents to think differently on each playthrough. You can take up arms if you can’t find a peaceful resolution, or fuel the fire between other players and sell your high-tech weaponry to the highest bidder.
Features
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Community driven development
During early access, the community will be involved in what will be coming in the next patch. We value your feedback immensely, and we want you to be a part of this game’s development! We, the developer, will select a few features that we can manage for the upcoming milestones, and then you get to vote on what is most important to you! Be a part of the community!
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City Building on Planets, 4x In Space
Command your locations and your resources located in space and on different planets! You won’t have to manage menus to upgrade and build your megacity or industrial complexes, because they are created on the very planet surface! Space travel and combat will never be a menu or numbers game. Use your battle strategies and tactics to your advantage and prepare to defend yourself against enemy players and space pirates. Build Missile frigates for reinforcement and then counter incoming attacks with close-ranged defense systems that will eliminate most missiles. Or you can blast your enemies into nothingness with the power of your railguns. You control everything with the flick of a finger.
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Player Driven Design
The players are in full control of designing the items that exist in their universe. You can trade, sell, and produce each of your items, control the market with your designs, and specify who can produce your items and the cost of the royalty fees they must pay. With over 20 different items to design and more on the way, each player is challenged to find the best combination while keeping their resources stocked by trade or mining. Successful execution of these skills will reveal the pros and the rookies.
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Sandbox
Whether you choose to build entire cities, harvest and collect every resource in the known universe or become a warlord that make the strongest of players scream in fear, the decision is up to you to do exactly what you want. Play your way and fulfill your destiny!
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Realtime Combat
When war strikes the universe, each player controls a battlefleet that fights in real time. Proper management, skilled tactics, and careful planning can turn any battle into a victory. You can also control individual ships or fleets at the same time to maximize the tactical ability in each combat situation to make sure you win. A corporation without protection rarely gets its mineral safe to harbor.
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Multiplayer
Multiplayer gaming is at the foremost of this game. Together with integrations from Steam, your gameplay experience will be as smooth as possible. Play alongside your friends, or fight and destroy enemy players who have just as much to lose as you do!
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Production Management
Transport minerals across the universe to manage production and raise it to its highest possible level. Optimize your production and transports for maximum output. You, the player, have full control over the market and what to sell and buy. Players can also choose where to sell or buy. Cause these prices to skyrocket by hoarding valuable minerals, or by making sure no other mineral transport reaches its destination.
Empire Takeover
This is a fun & amazing tower crush game! Crush enemy’s towers, take over the empire!
● Fight: Connect all your buildings together to grow them taller and then takeover the enemy’s buildings.
● Control: Simple drag controls from one building to another.
● Build: Build your empire, occupy more territory, crush your opponents.
● Heroes: Recruit legendary heroes.
● Special art style: Lowpoly Style Game.
● 3 Special Mode:
#1 Stage Maker Mode: design levels by yourself and share it to your family, your friends or all the worldwide players.
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
Up Left Out
Up Left Out is a sliding block puzzle game where the primary gimmick is that the blocks have to be slid out of the pegs holding them before they can be moved around like normal. For the starting levels, removing the blocks from the pegs is all you have to do, but later on you’ll also have to create complete lines from red fragments on top of the blocks, as well as contend with other mechanics like rotating blocks and moving walls.
My main problem with this game is that it feels half-finished. There’s only around 50 levels, and considering how every time a new mechanic is introduced the game uses a few levels to ease you into how it works, it feels like only one half of the package is made of actual puzzles. Of those, the majority felt more like busywork than brainteasers, and when I reached the point where the game became engaging enough that I felt it was about to truly START, I suddenly got a “THANK YOU FOR PLAYING”, followed by a few bonus levels easier than what I just played. Disappointing, to say the least.
– Real player with 2.9 hrs in game
| Follow my curator for more great puzzle game recommendations! |
Up Left Out is another short minimalist puzzle game from the maker of Hook, Klocki and Push but this time you are sliding blocks around.
There are various goals to accomplish. It starts off simply, you just need to free each block from it’s holding pin. Other mechanics are slowly introduced, blank blocks that just get in the way, patterns and lines on top of the blocks that need to be matched together to end the puzzle, buttons that rotate all the pieces and walls/gates that can be manipulated to stop blocks at specific places. These walls demonstrate the fundamental mechanic, blocks slide as far as they can until they hit something. Some of the later and best puzzles contain blocks that can only be moved once that pattern on top of them is replicated on other movable blocks.
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
Isle of the Crown
Right now you need a controller to play the game and a friend to play it with. Those are things that will be addressed in future though.
I think it’s a fun strategy game and would recommend it if you’re a fan of the genre with the above caveats in mind :)
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game