Remaking strategy games comes across as an odd decision, because strategy games are principally defined and remembered through their mechanics, and that is something that typically improves over time. Take Civilization 2 as an example. It’s my single favourite strategy game of all time, but it would be downright strange if Firaxis were to remake it. Sure, the art team…
Most 4X and empire-building strategy games are focused on building an empire up. Starting from humble roots and then carefully managing the economy, military, diplomacy and so on to become the most powerful nation of all. It’s a well-established formula, to the point that no one really questions it. Enter…
Shinto is one of those things that most people who know anything…
The pitch for Republic of Pirates is straightforward enough: It’s a very…
I truly cannot believe that someone created a digital adaptation of War & Peace. For those who aren’t familiar with classic board games, War & Peace is a lot to learn. It’s a board game that recreates Napoleon’s various military campaigns across Europe. That doesn’t sound so bad in itself,…
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Ubisoft’s mismanagement of the Heroes of Might & Magic property has been such a tragedy, because it has left a real void that no one else has quite managed to fill. Apparently, the combination of turn-based tactical combat with turn-based empire-building strategy is harder to achieve than it seems, or…
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Affogato has players managing a coffee shop, listening to their customers enchanting stories, and using witchy powers to get rid of their inner demons. It’s kind of like Coffee Talk, plus strategic battles. It offers 30 unique “reverse tower defense” battle stages, a strategic arsenal of distinct Witch Cards, and…
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Nobunaga’s Ambition has finally landed on the Nintendo Switch. To celebrate the series’ 40th anniversary, Koei Tecmo has gone all out to make this latest entry in the venerable series assessable, story-driven, and interesting, and the team there has comprehensively succeeded. Related reading: Our interview with the producer and director…
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Nobunaga’s Ambition is more niche than the top strategy games out there that jump to mind immediately when you think about the genre. Civilization and Total War rule the roost, of course. However, there are also the likes of Crusader Kings and Age of Wonders, which have rapidly become major…
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So in a game titled “Company of Heroes 3” you get to play as the Germans (the, uh, World War 2 Germans) in one of the game’s campaigns. That is… certainly a brave decision. If the story was in any way effective, this would have been an enormously controversial game.…
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A simple re-release on the Nintendo Switch GBA platform would have been better than Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp. Nintendo and developer, WayForward, did two things of substance for this “remake”: They gave the game a graphical overhaul, and added native online play. Neither of which justifies this project in…
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It cannot be easy to conceptualise a strategy game based on World War 1 (“The Great War”). The reason we have so many more games based on World War 2 isn’t just because the optics behind that war are easier. Yes, World War 2 had a much clearer line between…
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Transport Fever 2 is a celebration of the value that transport networks bring populations. It is a “builder” simulator, but similar to the likes of the classic Transport Tycoon and A-Train, you don’t build the building directly. You build the road, train, ship and air transport networks that the cities…
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I haven’t played an Anno game since Anno: Create A New World on the Wii and DS, but I absolutely loved those games, and I likewise love Anno 1800, the first game in the main series to also get a console release (the Wii and DS titles were spinoffs). If…
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