The strategic genre of electronic games has been captivating PC gamers for many decades. There are two main kinds of strategic games- Turn-based Strategy (TBS) and Real-Time Strategy (RBS). While the TBS ones debuted first, the RTS ones debuted and became successful much later. Over the years, many attractive and diverse games are releasing for gamers who love to immerse not just their hand, but even their minds, to playing games on PC. Let’s have a look at some popular and top strategic PC games for the strategist in you.
1. Into the Breach
This game is set in the future where you lead an army of soldiers who control the ‘mechs’ against the arch-nemesis called ‘Vek’ who is out to wreak havoc. All about protecting your region or ‘island’ (as it’s called in the game), rather than being conquest based. You need to protect your area, the civilian population, and buildings, from invasion by Vek’s army. It’s a TBS based game and is comparable to a game of chess where each player makes a move and waits for the opponent’s response.
2. Northgard
The Vikings are ready to take you on a journey to conquer new lands and implement strategies for survival and victory. It is a multiplayer game that you play either in solo mode or in a group. There are about 10 different clans of the Vikings, each with their unique character sketch. You lead one of them to colonize a part of the land, look after the settlements and necessary supplies, like food and clothing, especially during the harsh and brutal winter months when supplies get hit. Your strategies will lead to either survival or destruction of your clan and land. Northgard is also a very visually captivating video game.
3. Total war: Three kingdoms
In this one, you aim to become the Emperor of ancient China. Ancient China is divided into ‘commanderies’ with various factions, whose support is needed to grow your rule or you fight them for it. You lead one faction, from a set of 12 different factions in this game, and expand your rule one city at a time through formation of an army; wage wars, negotiate, draw and win campaigns, and strategize the best way to expand your kingdom and earn those crucial prestige points. Build and grow your economy, as well as, create and maintain relationships. Overall, it’s a character-driven game that is visually beautiful and equally immersive.
4. Crusader Kings II
Crusader Kings II is set in medieval times with a human drama layer to its storyline, with marriages, alliances, children, killings, etc. You choose, from among others, a famous historical ruler and inherit his dynasty or even create new characters. The sole motive is to apply strategic moves to earn as many prestige points as possible to climb up the ladder of a ranking system for all dynasties and become the best among them. In the process, you can decide to marry off characters with strong traits, so it’s inherited by their children and, in turn, strengthen your dynasty. It comes with many different expansion packs, released at different dates, each allowing certain additions and powers to the player. Also, there is the downloadable content (DLC) that you can purchase for additional features.
5. Alpha Centauri
A sequel to the Civilization series, this game is considered the best 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) video game by many video game lovers. Alpha Centauri is set in the 22nd century and comes with a science-fiction storyline. It is about rival factions attempting to gain control of the Planet Orion in the Alpha Centauri star system. The game provides, both, a single-player mode and a multiplayer mode with many customizations. The plot is quite exciting and innovative, very different from the wars and conquest-based strategy games that dominate the market. It also has an expanded version called Alien Crossfire with more features.
6. Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
Civilization VI is a 4X turn-based strategy game that is part of the Civilization games series. The plot is similar to previous installments where you use various strategies to build a civilization from a small settlement to control the entire world, spread across many millennia. In this installment, there are specific changes to the map and ways to obtain points. There is also more depth assigned to the ‘technology tree’ to make it more interesting for players. Two significant expansions of the game – Civilization VI: Rise and Fall and Civilization VI: Gathering Storm were released.
