Dominions 5 - Warriors of the Faith
I bought Dom 5 just yesterday and started 2 games, 1 random map game and 1 game on the cradle map, which is still one of the best maps in the game( you can download it from the map subforum).
I consider myself a veteran dominions player, having played a lot of single player and multiplayer in Dom 2 and Dom 3 very succesfully.
Dom4 I never played in MP but I did play some really long lasting SP games on the glory of gods map using Mods to strengthen the AI at the highest difficulty setting.
I think dom5 is definitely worth the money, it feels much better polished than Dom4 and also better balanced …which is a pretty big achievement from the devs considering this game is only out for some days now.
– Real player with 3199.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Turn-Based Strategy Indie Games.
I’ve had quite mixed reactions to this game but it may definitely be appealing to some people.
Pros
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Very varied and different factions that aren’t cookie-cutter copies of each other, there is a lot of mythical lore. Exploring different options will take quite a lot of time.
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Multitude of viable and strong strategic options, battles can be decided by huge buffed armies / massive magical evocations/superheroes geared with magic items/ reanimating huge swaths of undead/ …
For a fantasy-themed 4x there truly are a lot of things to do.
– Real player with 336.1 hrs in game
Primeval
Despite the game being early access it’s fully functional and certainly enjoyable, lots of potential to be a great game.
– Real player with 24.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Turn-Based Strategy Turn-Based Tactics Games.
I really love turn-based games and stumbled upon Primeval on the turn-based lovers website, which then lead me to Steam.
Primeval has a lot of potential, the Developer is cool and a nice guy. He is working hard to make this game a very unique experience. I have played turn-based games for years and I haven’t come across anything like this before, which is what I love about it. You enter the game in ‘God Mode’ where you create your domain with terrain hexes, various fantasy/monster units, and spells. There is an ever-growing selection of these and I know the Developer has lots more in store! You spend essence to create the land, units, spells and buildings. You build your castle on one of the terrain hexes, this must be protected at all costs or you lose the game. When you are happy with your domain set-up you then enter a live turn-based match (3 minutes per move) against another person(s) and the domains created by each player will then join together, with a few random hexes added in, these random hexes will have neutral owners. Randomly each turn three hexes then produce resources according to their colour values (green for Forest, red for Volcano etc) which can then be used to deploy your units onto the domain or cast spells. There are buildings that increase resource yield, help defence and more. It’s a typical hex game where each type of terrain incurs a movement cost for a unit, dependant on the units move value. Each unit has unique actions and some abilities to attack enemy units and damage buildings. Once your castle is lost you are returned to God Mode and your domain is amended accordingly, where upon it can be amended ready for the next match. Spend those essences wisely! It would make a really good table top board game (worth a think for the Developer) The Developer is working on single player mode, more achievements, more units, more actions, improving the UI and is clearly very passionate about it. I am excited to see how this game continues to grow, as I find it charming, addictive and a bit of a brain burner! If you like turn-based hex games, based on fantasy, that feel like a board game, or just fancy something completely different then I highly recommend it!
– Real player with 9.2 hrs in game
Unending War: Grand-Strategy Chess
Game inconsistently gets stuck as the computer doesn’t take it’s turn in the chess battles. There is no way to then proceed, other than killing the program from the task manager. I’m hoping the dev gets back to me about this in my discussion thread, because the game is a neat twist on chess that I enjoyed playing more than the AI apparently did.
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Turn-Based Strategy Board Game Games.
Awesome new look at chess with a “grand campaign” map. The chess board itself is tactical in nature as different tiles yield bonuses to units. Definitely worth a look for chess fans.
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Dominions 3: The Awakening
I own Dominions 3 and 4. Started playing Dominions 3, few monts later Dom 4 came out - moved to it.
Now I’m playing Dominions 3 and enormousely enjoying it. Less spells, less magical items than in Dom 4 - somehow even more fun.
Why I like Dominions:
1. Very interesting fantasy setting (not just elfes and other copies of Tolkien imagination) with Valkiries, armoured gorillas, ghouls, giants, chariots, eagle-men, bat-men, spider riders, raptor riders, fiery salamanders, armoured or undead elephants, giant ants, tiny dragonflies, barechested warriors, tritons with amber armour, hydras, halfblind cyclopes, nagas, twoheaded giants, liches, krakens, dragons, mechanical dragons, trolls, tengu, ghosts, lamias, jaguars, werejaguars, powerfull but insane gods, mages of various kinds,assasins, shark knights, Vikings with glamour, Aztects with flying ability and many, many more…
– Real player with 360.6 hrs in game
BLUF: This game’s pretty awesome, if you can get past the ancient graphics and focus on the creative/imaginative aspects.
I loved the game. Yes, it is complex, but I think the complexities are actually exagerated. It’s basically raise armies, research spells, invade provinces, collect gold, etc. But somehow I find it 20x more engrossing than any other “4x” game (which I don’t think it quite is). There are little quirks, like that it is turn-based, but then all the movement happens at once for everyone, seasons affect gold income, but they also affect how many mushrooms grow in the forest for your witches to collect, and it’s all these quirks and the plethora of races to play that make the game world feel alive. I love how you are slowly introduced to the lore; it never feels like a chore to read it to get into the game, you just pick up some of it as your priests randomly summon some ultra-powerful seraphim that then randomly gets itself killed by wandering around the map.
– Real player with 159.4 hrs in game
Shadows Behind the Throne 2
Remember “That Which Sleeps” the kickstarter game that promised that you could play as Cthulhu and corrupt the world and a million other things, but then the dev took the money and ran and never delivered.
Implausibly Shadows is not only the game that was promised, but it delivers. The graphics are a little off and the interface is a little confusing, but goddamn is it fun to corrupt and dismantle several civilizations until eternal winter falls upon the land. There is a lot of room to grow, and here is hoping it keeps growing.
– Real player with 119.6 hrs in game
Great game. It’s a bit like Ruinarch, if you’ve ever played that, except on a strategic level. Lots of variety in the ways you can take down a kingdom. Very replayable and it’s right up my alley.
That said, it’s EXTREMELY rough. As EA as you can get while still being playable.
- Kind of a crap, poorly thought out UI. For example, saves are placed in alphabetical order instead of chronological order where your most recent one is at the top. You might have 7 autosaves, and the one you’re looking to load is save number 3, halfway down the screen and you have to look at the time to know that’s the one you want. I called my manual save aaa, so it will be at the top of the list. That’s a small thing, but there are a lot of poorly designed UI functions like that and it impacts the level of information you get from the game.
– Real player with 39.5 hrs in game
Shadows of Forbidden Gods
TLDR - Great, unique Lovecraftian turn-based grand strategy game.
The player takes on the mantle of one of multiple eldritch gods with different play styles, bent on bringing their particular brand of apocalypse. The first unlocked god is the most simple - She Who Will Feast, a giant snake that focuses on corrupting heroes and rulers through “enshadowing” them. She starts weak, without a real worldly presence, before awakening, destroying civilised lands and ultimately eating the world. Other gods include Iastur, the Laughing King who focuses on spreading madness to all, Vinerva a god representing nature’s bounties but with a serious catch, Mammon (unreleased at time of writing) who offers great material wealth for the small price of eating people and Ophanim (unreleased at the time of writing) who offers mankind salvation from the aforementioned enshadowment but at the cost of their autonomy.
– Real player with 23.7 hrs in game
My plan to destroy the world was foiled but its okay because I can change the chosen one’s name to Ligma Balls as a final act of primordial malice
– Real player with 19.7 hrs in game
Skyward Collapse
Skyward Collapse is a game that requires some dedication and time investment to really learn it. You have to forgive the fact that there is no animation at all - characters slide around the world like pieces on a board game. And I’m going to say right up front to buy this game with the Nihon no Mura expansion. It’s only a little extra for it, and you won’t want to be without the Super Smite ability that comes with it.
As a god-like being, you command two factions of human civilization, which can be either Greek, Norse, or (with the expansion) Japanese. Each has unique skills, monsters, and gods whose powers can be used against one another by building up their towns and earning supplies.
– Real player with 70.0 hrs in game
This is a very unique game, combining automatic turn based combat with godlike with city manager, it is hard to place this in any particular catagory. The game itself is nice, although there are some features that are not so likeable. The game itself feels like a board game, and could easily be played as a board game, which is a great thing if you like board games! (Note, I am the founder of the Tabletop RPG Gamers League, so you could say I like board games!) Anyway, enough said for now, let us proceed to the pros and cons list.
– Real player with 30.1 hrs in game
Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension
I’ve played several thousand hours of this game, and dominions 3. The only other game i’ve played anywhere near as much is tabletop rpgs. But i’m biased, old hand, fan, etc. This guy isn’t. Here’s what he had to say on the Steam forum.
@Stephen:
Earlier tonight, one of the most epic occurences I have ever seen in a video game occured. Seeing that as a sign of a good game and also worth telling about, I decided to post here for your reading pleasure. Since it is only due to a confusing chain of events that this occured, I’m going to tell the full story from start to finish. Enjoy.
– Real player with 595.5 hrs in game
Dear friends, I know that many would have you believe that the Pale Ones are extinct, save for the occasional emergence of an Earth Reader or the primitive Pale Ones that are sometimes encountered in remote regions. I am here to set the ancient records straight.
Long have I labored in service to the Ancients, dead and forgotten though they may be to most of the civilized world. Only after extensive research and tireless experimentation had I uncovered a ray of hope in the sea of Agarthan darkness.
– Real player with 333.1 hrs in game
Godhood
Godhood is an excellent game - innovative in its approach and as full of character and life as we’ve come to expect from Abbeygames.
But what makes it special?
In short: It’s a God-Game where the people and religion are what matter.
It’s not you, the deity who is doing the work: it’s them - your disciples and followers. It’s their ideas, their society which are important, and the character and life your religion gains as it grows is down to them. You give them a push (sometimes a rough shove) in the direction you want to be right, but it’s them who’re doing everything.
– Real player with 819.6 hrs in game
TL;DR: Godhood is a great management game. While the god-theme adds a lot of flavour, at its core it is a game about customizing your roster of disciples to synergize with each other and to prepare them for the unique abilities some boss fights have. A surprisingly deep strategy aspect is hidden behind a system that at first looks very basic and random.
This review has been updated for the 1.0 release.
–Core gameplay–
This is a roster management game. Since even Steam’s tagging system seems to get confused by this, let me repeat: This is a management game. Think Football Manager/Motorsport Manager, not strategic-turn-based-fighting like Darkest Dungeon or sandboxy god-game like Reus.
– Real player with 72.5 hrs in game
Niche - a genetics survival game
I’ve been searching for a game with breeding mechanics, and this game scratched that itch I’ve had for so long now. I love how it’s not just a “Red parent and blue parent have purple child” simple type of breeding game, tho those are fun to play too. It actually uses real life genetics. So there are some genes that are dominant/recessive, co-dominance, incomplete dominance… and you run into real problems if you inbreed too much.
There are so many genes! You can make your nichelings be primarily herbevores or carnavores. You can make them fly or swim. They can survive hot climates, cold climates, and even poisonous swamp environments. Or you can make them anything inbetween! And these are just the genes to help you survive the environment! There are tons more genes that are purely cosmetic
– Real player with 372.6 hrs in game
Niche – a genetics survival game, is of course an early access game. It revolves around these creatures, which aren’t anything specific. Many people describe them as cats and bunnies combined, with plenty more. You start off with Adam and Eve, and must breed them, occasionally using the Mutation Menu in hopes of getting specific or better genetics for your creatures. As you go on you must strategically pick each creature you mate together in order to get the most optimal genetics. There are many islands to go to and fro. During your adventure you’ll come across many challenges, of course. This includes carnivores, who come to of course eat your creatures (or, really, just to kill them), or going into harder islands you’ll encounter birds, who will eat your babies if they’re not within a hexagon (or square, step, spot) of the baby. There’s also Dodomingos who will take every chance they get to steal a nest, and if you attack it, it’ll attract more Dodomingos, and perhaps even carnivores. Perhaps you’ll encounter a Rogue Male (previously Horny Male) who will breed with your females if you’re not watching. There’s also leeches who will attach to unsuspecting creatures, even if they’re on the shore. There are also a few biome specific creatures, such as the different (Hearing, Seeing, and Smelling) Apes, who you’re suppose to run from rather than fight. Or the Mountain Biome creatures, such as Walrus Deer (Who I believe is prey) Arctic Ramfox, who is also like the carnivore, and will steal meat you haven’t picked up, or the infamous Balance Bear. The Balance Bear is the Apes of the Mountain biome. You’re suppose to run from it, rather than fight it, and it only appears during snow.
– Real player with 141.5 hrs in game