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Gaming 101: Strategy Games

In this series, we are learning how different aspects of video games work by playing games that offer an easy introduction to this one concept. This is designed for people new to gaming and aims to identify games with the least barriers. In this entry, we are looking at Strategy games.

Strategy games may include other aspects but the main focus is on collecting materials and making careful decisions about how you use to generate and deploy resources. Build armies before heading in for an offensive, planting a farm to generate the best crops, planning a network of roads or laying out an amusement park.

Strategy games have in common the focus on making premeditated decisions to gain the outcome you need. These games are further divided between those that are turn-based and allow the player as much time as they need to make decisions, or in real-time where you have to make decisions with limited delay.

This list includes 25 games from the last 13 years, with 354 likes. They come from a range of different genres and play-styles and are all good games if you want to play your first strategy game.

List Details

PEGI Ratings: PEGI 3 to PEGI 16
ESRB Ratings: ESRB EVERYONE to ESRB TEEN
Australian Ratings: G to MA 15+
Genres: Action, Adventure, Battle, Brain Game, Collecting, Communication, Creative, Fighting, Narrative, Platform, Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Rhythm, Role-Play, Sequencing, Shooting, Simulation, Stealth, Strategy, Traversal and World Building
Total Likes: 354

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Mini Metro

Release Date: 06/01/2015

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Grid

Mini Metro is a sequencing strategy game where you create an ordered, efficient underground train system. It sounds like hard work, but the simple Tube-map visuals, calm music, and streamlined interactions make this relaxing, like sudoku. Dip your toe...

Slime Rancher

Release Date: 14/10/2016

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night and Open World

Slime Rancher is a farming simulation with a difference. Rather than chickens, sheep or cows, you farm slimes. As you gather more slimes and species, you collect more types of plorts from them, which can be used to upgrade your farm and your gear. It...

Hundred Days, Winemaking Simulator

Release Date: 13/05/2021

Out Now: Android, PC, Stadia, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cards and Grid

Hundred Days, Winemaking Simulator is a strategy game about making wine. You control every aspect of a new Winery, choose vines, and learn how to grow them and when to harvest. You make decisions about the process with a simple interface that takes you...

Triple Town

Release Date: 14/10/2010, updated in 2012

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC and iOS

Components: 2D Overhead, Grid and Pixels

Triple Town is a puzzle game where you expand an empire by building cities in a limited space. You combine lower value pieces into better ones to improve your city and make best use of available space. It's simple and quick to pick up but requires...

Bad North

Release Date: 31/10/2018, updated in 2018

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Blocks and Grid

Bad North is a stylised strategy fighting game. You control an army defending an island and must train and develop your forces efficiently. The simple visuals and knife-edge Viking combat along with the jeopardy of losing precious troops make this a lot...

A Dark Room

Release Date: 10/06/2013, updated in 2019

Out Now: Switch, Web and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: Open World and Text

A Dark Room is an adventure where you try and survive in the wild. The world is depicted with just text but leads you into a dense narrative with intriguing visitors and a steadily expanding world. It has a simple start – a single option to stoke a...

Reigns

Release Date: 11/08/2016

Out Now: Amazon Fire, Android, Mac, PC, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On, Hand-Made and Text

Reigns is an adventure strategy game where you take charge of a kingdom, one decision at a time. Each choice is presented to you as a playing card with some advice or a question from one of the 38 different characters. Swipe left or right to make a...

Balance - Power Grid

Release Date: 05/08/2016

Out Now: Android, Mac and iOS

Components: 2D Side-On

Balance - Power Grid is a puzzle game about power grids. You place cables, pylons and power generators to make sure there are no blackouts. Through a series of challenges you build power grids that are functional, and that produce the right amount of...

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

Release Date: 29/08/2017

Out Now: Switch

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cartoon and Grid

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is a chess-like strategy game where you control cartoon rabbits (the Rabbids) and Nintendo characters in turn-based battles with fantastical weapons through four different worlds.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

Release Date: 20/10/2022

Out Now: Switch

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On, Cartoon and Grid

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is a strategy game where you control Ubisoft's Rabbids (cartoon rabbits) and Nintendo's Mario team in turn-based battles. It expands upon the previous game by adding a wider...

Home Quest

Release Date: 05/09/2021

Out Now: Android and iOS

Components: 2D Side-On and Text

Home Quest is a strategy game where you incrementally build a town, recruit an army and manage your economy. Like other idle games, it's a familiar set-up where you tap buttons to assign resources and then wait for the results. However, the unusual...

Isle of Arrows

Release Date: 08/09/2022

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On, Cards, Grid and Hand-Made

Isle of Arrows is a strategy game where you defend a magical crystal from waves of enemies. Using randomly assigned pieces and cards that grant you bonus abilities, you construct the invader's path and then fortify it to travel on with weapons, traps,...

Sons of Valhalla

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On, Day and Night, Pixels and Weather

Sons of Valhalla is a strategy base building game. You play the son of a Viking Jarl aiming to conquer England and save the love of your life. Like Kingdom, you incrementally upgrade your fortifications, farming and armies to defend...

Wargroove

Release Date: 01/02/2019

Out Now: PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cartoon and Grid

Wargroove is a fantasy war game, similar to Advanced Wars from the Gameboy era, where players take turns in a variety of battles. Computer-controlled and human opponents compete to achieve objectives and be the last player remaining.

Ground Divers!

Release Date: 30/06/2022

Out Now: PS Vita and Switch

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Pixels

Ground Divers! is a traversal game where you guide a sleepy robot as he mines through the crust of a distant alien world in search of its hidden secrets. You must ensure you don't run out of energy, otherwise you fall asleep and have to start over....

Gridland

Release Date: 25/08/2014

Out Now: Android, Web and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Grid and Pixels

Gridland (also Super Gridland on mobile) is a puzzle strategy game where you build a town by day and defend zombie attackers at night. Unusually, resources are gathered by completing match-three puzzles. This puzzle switches from building to defending...

Hearthstone: Battlegrounds

Release Date: 12/11/2019

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC and iOS

Components: 2D Side-On, Cards and Grid

Hearthstone: Battlegrounds is a strategic fighting game mode in Hearthstone, where you collect and upgrade cards and pit your deck against 7 other players. Buy and sell the best cards, upgrade their abilities and more as you uncover winning strategies...

Swordy Quest

Release Date: 10/12/2020

Out Now: iOS

Components: 2D Overhead and Grid

Swordy Quest is a role-play game where you craft, gather and hunt your way through a fantasy world that gradually unlocks over time. What's unusual is the simple interface that creates an accessible way for anyone to experience the surprisingly deep...

Slime Rancher 2

Release Date: 22/09/2022

Out Now: PC and Xbox Series X|S

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Day and Night and Open World

Slime Rancher 2 is a farming simulation game where rather than chickens, sheep or cows, you farm slimes. You explore the oceanic world to find slimes to use on your farm to generate income and steadily upgrade your land. It stands out for whimsical...

Ratatan

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC, PS5, Switch and Xbox Series X|S

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Cartoon

Ratatan is a rhythm game from the team behind Patapon, where you tap buttons in time with the beat to control your little army in a real-time battle. In this way, you use instruments to issue commands to your troops as they defeat powerful enemies and...

The Last Friend

Release Date: 30/09/2021, updated in 2022

Out Now: PC and Switch

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cartoon and Grid

The Last Friend is a strategy fighting game where you defend your team of dogs from the waves of baddies and bosses on a mission to save all the doggos. Play is a combination of managing your turret defences and running around beating up the onslaught...

Warpips

Release Date: 21/04/2022

Out Now: PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead

Warpips is a quick-to-learn strategy war game where you deploy units to beat enemies in a surprisingly deep tug-of-war battle. You work to pick the right mix of soldiers, tanks, helicopters and planes to beat the enemy forces. Unlike other war games...

Kingdom Rush

Release Date: 06/01/2014, updated in 2023

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Hand-Made

Kingdom Rush is a strategy tower defence game where you defend your kingdom against waves of orcs, trolls and evil wizards. You do this by placing (and developing) your arsenal of towers and spells to kill them before they reach you.

Lueur and the Dim Settlers

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: Mac and PC

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Grid and Pixels

Lueur and the Dim Settlers is a simple-looking strategy game where you create a thriving town and reclaim the land from darkness. You expand your settlement by selecting different tiles to meet the resources and people you need. The simple tile-choosing...

Trackline Express

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cartoon, Day and Night, Grid and Hand-Made

Trackline Express is a strategy game where you build and resource a train on an adventure through an unforgiving desert. Play involves running around to gather scarce materials to create the resource you need - coal, ore and wood for starters. It...

Curated lists:
Game genre:
Style of Play:
Components:

How long to play:
User-generated content:	No
Accessibility features:	Yes

Controls
Gamepad:
Mouse And Keyboard:
Touchscreen:
Motion:	Motion Aiming Motion Pointing Motion Tilting Motion Gesture Motion Camera
Remap Controls:
Button Combinations:	Holding Down Buttons Optional Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional No Simultaneous Buttons
Controller Vibration:
Sensitivity:

Getting Started
Onboarding Before Play:
Assistance Getting Starting:	Tutorials Practice Area View Control Mapping Assistance With Controls Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Adjust Speed No Jump Scares
Assistance For Progressing:	Guaranteed Progress With God Mode Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints Assisted Progress With Boosts Assisted Progress With Hints Assisted Recall for Characters Assisted Recall for Narrative and Dialogue Save Progress Anytime

Reading
Reading Level:
Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text High Contrast Text
Subtitles:
Captions:
Voice Acted:

Navigation
Clarity:
Head-Up Display:
Menu Navigation:

Visual
Contrast:
Interactive Elements:
Visual Distractions:
Audio Cues for Visual Events:
Narration for Visual Elements:
	Motion Sickness Friendly
Colour Options:
Play Without Sight:
Violence:

Audio
	Balance Audio Levels
Audio Events:
	Play Without Hearing

Communication
Player-to-Player Online Communication:
Online Communication Assistance:

Difficulty
Difficulty Options:	Simple and Full Version No Memorisation Advantage No Hidden Information No Deceit Advantage No Colour Advantage No Mathematics Advantage No Weighing Decisions

Getting Started
Assistance Getting Started:	Clear Manual Electronic Version of Manual Electronic Version of Manual for Screen Readers Getting Started Video Digital Version Reference Aid
Assistance Progressing:	Play Order Tokens (Or play order doesn’t change) Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Low Impact Catch Up Rule

Reading
Reading Level:
Necessary Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text on Board (Or no text required) Large Clear Text on Cards (Or no text required) High Contrast Text (Or no text required) QR Code For Text (Or no text required) Primary and Secondary Text Distinguishable (Or no text required) Information Orientation Clear Icons

Physical
Pieces:	Components are Distinguishable by Touch Components are Replaceable No Non-Standard Dice (Or No Dice) No Tiny Pieces No Paper Money No Sprawl
Cards:	Large Card Size Standard Card Shape Limited Hand Management No Excessive Card Shuffling No Right-Handed Advantage
Placement:	No Unbound Placement Player Components Not Shared No Fiddly Placement Easily Verbalised Actions

Visual
Printed Visibility:	Colour Blind Friendly Design Double-Coding Colour High Contrast Colours
Component Identifiability:	Outline Key Elements No Busy Backgrounds Easily Verbalised Game State No Close Inspection Disadvantage Playable Without Sight

Audio
Communication:	Audio Cues Mirrored Visually (Or no critical audio signals) No Pressured Reveals No Pressured Communication Playable Without Hearing

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Gaming 101: Strategy Games

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