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
Pollute & Conquer
A strategy about ecology, where players can capture territory and build different buildings; And the choice between green and polluting buildings is important and affects both the world and the interaction between players. If both players make mistakes, then the world dies and both players lose.
-
CAPTURE TERRITORY
Buy neutral or enemy cells for the accumulated resources of money or influence. Surround the enemy or go to the other side of the map. Choose and purchase cells with the most profitable terrain: river, forest, desert, hill, snow, ocean.
-
BUILD BUILDINGS
Build buildings suitable for specific terrain, using the bonuses or disadvantages of each of them. Adapt to your opponent’s strategy. Build polluting, neutral, or cleaning buildings that use different resources: coal, oil, river flow, nuclear, sun, wind, fusion power, or hydrocarbon cleaning.
-
DEVELOP TECHNOLOGIES
Upgrade technologies of different buildings. Use coal with less pollution for the world. Learn to obtain solar energy more profitably than coal. Cleanse the world with advanced hydrocarbon capture technologies. Or open a new era of thermonuclear energy.
-
POLLUTE AND CLEANSE
Use the wealth from coal and oil usage, getting rich at an incredible speed, despite the world’s disasters that destroy you and your enemy. Or cleanse the world so you don’t die and gain massive influence.
-
CONTEST
Earn as much money and influence as possible to win. Survive the most difficult situations by finding counter-strategies against your opponent. Deal with global pollution. Or take advantage of the world’s chaos from pollution to disrupt the enemy’s plans and capture them.
-
PLAY WITH FRIENDS
Play with friends on the same device as a board game. The game provides great opportunities for a complete competition, using many different strategies and adaptations for the map, enemy actions, and disasters.
-
DEFEAT EVERY AI
The game has several levels of AI difficulty from the easiest for beginners who started acquainting with the world of strategies, to the most difficult for hardcore players who want to test their skills. Can you pass them all?
-
CHOOSE GAME TIME
Choose a map size from several options from a small map for 15-20 minutes to a large one for 40-60 minutes.
WORLD
Long ago, people believed that our world lays on 3 elephants that stand on a giant turtle. Those people were wrong about 2 things:
First - There are no elephants. That is silly. There is only the Turtle.
Second - Our world is just a planet, but there is another beautiful place wandering space, that is similar to Earth and rests on the Turtle.
An unprecedented economic war for territories and resources flares up on the turtle.
Will it and all life on it die in the chaos of pollution?
Or will intelligent beings come to their senses and prevent the end of the world by developing new technologies?
Pollute and Conquer, compromise and cleanse.
Read More: Best Turn-Based Strategy Economy Games.
Lords of the Shattered Kingdom
I’m a PVE type player. I don’t enjoy playing against other players, because almost always there is someone better than me just around the corner. And I’d rather enjoy fighting the environment.
I’m 49 hours into this game, still happily grinding away. For those that played the Heroes of Might and Magic games, the base building games, this is close to it. Except more detailed in the army management/equiping. The graphics are rather basic, but I can see that being fixed easily as they go.
For the current $5 cost of the game, it’s well worth it. And as the special currency is currently set, that’s not an issue, though I understand that will change.
– Real player with 63.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Turn-Based Strategy Hex Grid Games.
Lorenzo il Magnifico
I will freely admit that Lorenzo is a favorite board game. In Pre-Covid times I would beg my game group to bring it to the table. While this implementation of the game digitally had a rocky start, it’s now settled in as an elegant rendition of a very complicated game. In particular, the AI is finally modestly competitive…but very modestly… I play this game most often after a loss on Yukata or BGA…because it soothes my ego to have a reliable victory.
But the real reason for my “yes” recommendation is that I live in hope of finding a live human being to play this with. For months, I’ve hit the lobby at various times of day in the vain hope of finding a game I can join. So ] far just crickets. I just know I can’t be the only person who bought this game. I figure if I write a review, maybe someone will tell me where you’re all hiding.
– Real player with 217.2 hrs in game
A nice digital adaptation of a great boardgame. If you’re not familiar with the actual boardgame you will have to follow the complete tutorial and then still have some trial and errors (the tutorial lacks a bit in dept concerning strategie, unless you want to read a lot of text in the glossary), but looking for great ways to score and learning to improve your game is actually something that makes this game a hidden jewel.
In a game of Lorenzo il Magnifico you will try to earn points by gaining buildings, assets, … (the parts shown in the big building on the right) and by gaining papal approvement (this is not obligated, but failing the pope gives you some kind of penalty).
– Real player with 32.5 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
High Strategy: Urukon
This game is surprisingly addictive. Stripping a genre down to bare bones to see what new things might appear has, of course, been done many times before, but this game demonstrates precisely why that’s the case. There are far more resources than the average grand strategy game, perhaps more comparable to an Anno or Settlers title, but stripped-down gameplay makes it easy to understand how to obtain what you need to achieve your objective.
As one might expect, the interface is tastefully minimalist and generally easy to understand. The music is very enjoyable, to the point that I’m reluctant to mute it and watch videos on my second monitor as I often do with other games (even though this game is otherwise perfect, gameplay-wise, for doing exactly that).
– Real player with 26.0 hrs in game
This is essentially a lightweight grand strategy game that has been heavily abstracted and streamlined. Everything, including your army, is a resource, and game play consists of exchanging resources either peacefully or aggressively, to try to gain an advantage against other nations. It differs a few ways from other games in the genre: it’s easy to learn the rules, and you can jump in pretty much right away; games are fast, usually lasting around an hour or two; and you’re given goals other than just “conquer everything”, which keeps the game fresh when replaying it. It does feel like the game could be expanded with more features, but given the modest price point, I find it worth the cost.
– Real player with 25.8 hrs in game
Multishop Tycoon Deluxe
Casual game; Not really good or bad. In this game, you have to select which food you serve in which area and at which price.
You get the opportunity to buy upgrade and change the color of the food truck to attract more customers.
But that’s where the big problem is: you don’t get a tutorial or hint.
– You get NO feedback or hint about the things you propose. Customers don’t say anything - for example that’s it’s too expensive, or that they didn’t like the meals proposed or that i proposed too many units of that item. You get NO advises or confirmation the items you selected are the right one.
– Real player with 25.9 hrs in game
great casual simulator of foods selling shops network - game’s small, does not have any heavy hardware requirements, does not require any learning to play it, but its funny and addictive, bright and colourful, suitable even for children.
sure, its not a complicated economics strategy, not a simulation of all complexities of a real world, its a simplified model of a business, but - after you play the game a little you will understand where are retail stores prices are coming from as you will be rising the prices to the maximum to get the maximum profits :) you will understand, why a cup of coffee that costs 0.1 euro to make is 2 euros in retail :)))) and maybe this knowledge will help you to save some money not buying junk foods at typical junk foods locations
– Real player with 12.1 hrs in game
City of Gangsters
An amazing game overall. I would like a few more features though, such as the ability to export goods to other cities, mansions that you can buy, maps based on Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, and the ability to buy off the mayor or even run for office.
– Real player with 227.2 hrs in game
Great management style game. Don’t expect a game with heavy fighting as this is not the focus of the game. It’s really how to max profit. Easy recommend for me.
– Real player with 115.0 hrs in game
Lareissa Everbright
Charming little game with some fairly in-depth strategy options making your choices feel good.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Slipways
Okay so I’ve only played this for 28 hours. I might review this again at 250 hours and start a class action against Gabe for wasting my time. As it stands now this is my cup of tea. I like Euro games with a flow. Normally with a few people to balance the strategising. This is a solo game but captures the dynamic feeling of adjusting on the fly.
EVERYTHING IS IN FRONT OF YOU
You can connect the dots from the start or you can make incredibly predictive strategic placements to backfill.
I am not interested in games that make me go look at an Excel spreadsheet just so I can play. This game has all of it inside the game in an amazing way. Its inbuilt instructional tab is an exemplary way to get people rolling with all the components they need to know. Come back to this after a few runs and fill the gaps you missed.
– Real player with 57.1 hrs in game
SUMMARY: A must-buy streamlined space-empire management game that’s easy to play, challenginghas surprising depth, and plenty of game modes. The kind of game you can play in an hour - or constantly.
Slipways is a game of space-empire management that is so streamlined it approaches being a puzzle game. Yes, there’s exploring, tech trees, and more. But boiled down to basics, you get both the click-of-idea thrill of a puzzle game AND the fun of managing your space empire. The combination is heady, fun - and challenging.
– Real player with 49.5 hrs in game