Strategies. The best military strategies on PC. List of the best war games Strategy with an unlimited number of units

The genre that we will talk about today can hardly be called super popular among gamers, but every year new turn-based strategies and RTS are released in which you can fight with other nations, tribes or aliens. At the same time, among the thousands of games available, there are those that every self-respecting gamer should play. We offer the Top 20 best strategies in history.

Cities: Skylines

Until last year, SimCity 4 was considered the best city-planning simulator without any alternative. In 2013, EA tried to restart the franchise, but it was a real fiasco: fans were dissatisfied with many bugs and the unsatisfactory scale of the new game. After the release of Cities: Skylines in 2015, gamers forgot about the existence of SimCity: new project I was amazed by its scale, customization capabilities, and high level of detail in the cities. Moreover, the developers have released an official modding toolkit, allowing gamers to change the game as they please. Users immediately began to release mods, thanks to which new modes, types of buildings, junctions, cars and much more appeared in the game.

In September, the first update for Cities: Skylines was released, adding dynamic time of day changes, as well as making the economic model more complex and realistic.

Endless Legend

The global strategy, which seamlessly combines elements of fantasy and science fiction, gives gamers the opportunity to play both as a race of carnivorous insects, the Necrophages, and as strange Cultists, expanding their possessions by “absorbing” other factions. In total, there are 8 races available in the game with unique features and mechanics.

The plot of the project in some ways is reminiscent of “Game of Thrones” - gamers will have to fight for survival in the dark era of the decline of the planet Auriga - a harsh winter comes unexpectedly and brings death to all races. The game has all the elements of a classic strategy - huge game world, developed technological tree, scarce resources, system of diplomacy and trade. The developers have provided many main and secondary quests.

Crusader Kings II

Another global strategy in a medieval setting. Gamers transform into a monarch, striving with all his might to expand his influence in medieval Europe (covering the period 769 - 1453). To achieve this goal, he weaves complex intrigues, treacherously attacks his closest allies, and does not hesitate to kill friends and relatives if they get in his way. The game is designed for thoughtful gamers who like to spend hours understanding complex menus, as well as studying terrain features on maps before bloody battles.

At the center of the project are not abstract nations and states, but dynasties. In the game you can meet many real-life historical characters, each of whom has their own strengths and weaknesses. Over time, players become attached to members of the dynasty, who grow up, get married, have children, die.

Civilization V

There is hardly a gamer in the world who has not heard of this game. Civilization is the most famous, popular and successful global strategy in the history of gaming. The developers have added many mechanisms, heroes, resources, units, and technologies to the game that make it exciting and dynamic. At the same time, the authors did not bother with realism: for example, the Mongols and Aztecs could become the most highly developed nations, and the bloodthirsty Gandhi could be the first to press the “nuclear button” and start a war of all against all. However, this ahistorical nature and absurd scenarios are what make the game a real hit.

In the game you will have to make difficult decisions on the development of the economy, military and social spheres, and choose a political regime. All this has a decisive impact on the reputation and development trajectory of a nation. The graphics of Civilization V are significantly improved compared to previous series, and the redesigned combat system makes battles exciting. In addition, strategy fans constantly post new mods and maps on Steam, so you can enjoy the game endlessly.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

In many aspects, Dawn of War is a traditional RTS - gamers will have to build a base, extract resources, and repel enemy attacks. At the same time, in the game you can already see elements that will soon appear in Company of Heroes: new mechanics, factions, unit morale and much more.

The most attractive thing about Dawn of War is the tension that permeates all missions: you need to constantly move forward, capture and hold territories. At the same time, the generators and strategic resources of the captured points are rapidly depleted. Therefore, players often do not have time to catch their breath - they need to be on the move all the time.

The Dark Crusade update introduced new factions and unique mechanics: gamers can play for the Eldar, Orcs and Imperial Guard.

Total War: Shogun 2

The sequel to the popular RTS can be bluntly called the most successful game in the Total War series. The Creative Assembly took into account the mistakes made in the previous project - Empire, which was an ambitious project with a lot of bugs, and decided to polish the gameplay of Shogun 2 to perfection. She succeeded brilliantly: the Shogun map is diverse and will force gamers to solve many tactical puzzles. At the same time, it is relatively small, which will undoubtedly appeal to fans of battles.

In terms of visuals, Shogun II is this moment- the most attractive game in the series. Sure, Rome and Attila boast significantly more realistic graphics, but Shogun II has something much more important - a unique style. The fate of large-scale battles is decided in individual duels, and cherry tree flower petals fly over the battlefield.

Modders have released many new maps, modes, and updates for Shogun 2.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn-based strategy game that pits gamers against an alien invasion. Players send squads of six elite fighters to battle alien forces. Battles take place in fields, cities and on board spaceships.

The central XCOM base is like an ant farm, in which there is a scientific department (responsible for the development of technology), a medical unit (in which characters recover after battles), and an intelligence department (where gamers monitor the movements of aliens). Players themselves decide whether to invest available funds in the development of new types of weapons, the deployment of interceptors, or the conduct of combat operations.

Thanks to the Enemy Within update, which came out a year after the release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the game added a new faction - EXALTA terrorists, as well as new mechanics.

StarCraft II

Sci-fi RTS StarCraft 2 is a game about the confrontation between iron-armored cowboys, disgusting aliens and space elves. This is a classic real-time strategy game where you collect resources, build armies, and try to kill your opponent before he kills you. Often the fate of a battle is decided as a result of one successful strategic move or a series of quick mouse clicks.

Multiplayer is the most important aspect of StarCraft 2. Playing against people is much more difficult than against AI: they control units faster and make smarter decisions. Many tournaments are held for StarCraft 2, and an eSports community has quickly formed around the RTS.

The single-player mode is no less interesting: Blizzard has developed many interesting missions. In 2015, the last part of the StarCraft 2 trilogy, Legacy of the Void, was released.

Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault

In Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault, US forces battle against German forces for control of the Ardennes, a mountain range of critical strategic importance. Unlike the original game and the sequel, in Ardennes Assault gamers will have to go through three non-linear campaigns that unfold on a strategic map. German troops are in constant motion, so battles can be replayed several times, and each time they will take place differently.

You can only play for Americans: in each of the three companies you can upgrade the skills of the characters. Unlike previous projects, in Ardennes Assault the results of battles have an impact on the entire campaign: if in one of the battles players lost several fighters at once, they will begin the next battle with fewer personnel.

Age of Empires II

This classic RTS launched many gamers' careers: Age of Empires II is easy to learn, fun and fast-paced. Users start the campaign with only a few workers, but after an hour of play they will have built a huge city. In the game you need to get food, wood, gold and stone, construct buildings, and create your own army.

The project covers the era from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Gamers can go through multiple campaigns, create their own maps, choose from 13 factions... in general, Age of Empires II will not get boring even after several dozen hours of play.

In 2013, Hidden Path Entertainment released an HD version of the game on Steam. The remake introduced a multiplayer mode and support for mods.

Wargame: AirLand Battle

The Wargame: AirLand Battle project combines elements of the RTS and war game genres: gamers will have to think through the route of movement of units, as well as participate in fierce battles. The game is a sequel to Wargame: European Escalation, dedicated to the confrontation between NATO and participating countries Warsaw Pact during the Cold War.

The authors carefully worked on the detail of the battlefields and special effects. On the strategic map, gamers control the course of hostilities, issuing orders for the movements of units and capturing new territories. However, the highlight of Wargame: AirLand Battle is definitely the ability to control one of hundreds of military vehicles to choose from. The developers tried to reflect in the game the unique characteristics of the cars, their strengths and weaknesses. In the multiplayer mode, you can take part in 10 vs 10 battles.

Tropico 4

Tropico 4 is an atmospheric city-building simulator. Gamers transform into the dictator of a fictional island state who must lead his people to greatness.

Gamers themselves choose the path to prosperity: they can mercilessly exploit natural resources and turn the island into an industrialized state, or attract tourists by taking care of the flora and fauna. Or combine both strategies. Each of the players’ decisions entails certain consequences: for example, if you agree to accept migrants, you will need to provide them with housing and work, and for this you need to improve the economy and service industry.

With the growth of the economic power of the state, there will be a need to negotiate with the leading world powers - the USA, Russia, China and the EU, each of which will try to influence the processes unfolding on the island. They will offer money in exchange for construction military base or waste disposal.

Overall, this is an extremely fun game, blending city building simulation elements with economic and political aspects.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

In Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, like any other similar game, you need to colonize planets, build economies, and establish relationships with other races. However, the main emphasis is on large-scale space battles. They look incredibly impressive: battles take place in 3D, ship hulls are torn apart by missiles and lasers, and gunshot tracks cut through the black space of space.

There will always be a lot of movement in the game: scouts will float from planet to planet in search of new resources and worlds, merchant ships will transport goods, and military cruisers will repel attacks from opponents or Pirates.

The game itself is quite difficult, even if you play against the AI. In total, three races are fighting for world domination - the Industrial Trade Coalition (earthly colonists), the Marchers (cyborgs) and the Vasari (technocratic race). The title provides a developed diplomacy system. Gamers can form alliances with both opponents and neutral factions, or bribe Pirates to attack enemies.

DEFCON is a game in which gamers have to do the impossible: try to win a global nuclear war. The goal of the project is to inflict maximum damage on the enemy while escaping with minimal losses. At the beginning, players choose one of six territories (North America, South America, Russia, Europe, Africa and Asia are available), then place military units and fleets. Gamers are given 18 minutes to think and explore. At the first level of danger (DEFCON 3) units begin to automatically attack enemy equipment (you can use aviation and navy), at the second (DEFCON 2) you can launch bombers with nuclear missiles (although the missiles themselves cannot yet be used), at the third (DEFCON 3) - The nuclear apocalypse begins.

The game quite realistically describes a possible nuclear war scenario - it is impossible to save all units in it. The player who manages to destroy the opponents' missile silos before the missiles are launched usually wins.

Supreme Commander

Supreme Commander is the spiritual successor to Total Annihilation in a futuristic setting. The minimum system requirements of the project, released in 2007, were so high that not every gamer could play this colorful RTS. The Gas Powered Games studio has simplified the resource management system as much as possible (there are only two of them - Matter and Energy) and focused on battles - the main goal of the project is to create the ideal killing machine (experimental units).

The game was amazing in its scale: an army could consist of 1000 units in the air, at sea and on land. As in most similar projects, players must ensure the uninterrupted production of new combat vehicles in order to dominate the enemy. To do this, you need to capture and hold sources of resources.

Supreme Commander was one of the first RTS to support a second monitor. This gave a decisive advantage in battle: on the first display, gamers controlled the movements of the enemy on a scalable map, on the second, they controlled their own units.

Star Wars: Empire at War

This game will appeal to all Star Wars fans: Empire at War is a strategy game based on the original trilogy. Gamers can play on the side of both the Empire and the rebels, control huge armies, send the heroes of the saga into battle (like Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader), and also build the Death Star.

The best part of the game, of course, is the large-scale tactical battles in the Galactic Conquest mode, unfolding in space. Up to five people can play on one map: each participant will have their own space station and fleet, with the help of which they must destroy enemy bases. Ships and heroes have specific features that, when effective use can have a decisive influence on the outcome of the fight. Experienced players will easily discover the weak points of large ships and give the order to attack them. Watching the X-Wing squadrons try to destroy the Star Destroyer will be a treat for any fan of the space saga.

In addition to space battles, the developers will allow gamers to take part in ground operations. This means that players will be able to control air bikes and AT-AT walkers.

Europa Universalis IV

This global and incredibly complex game from Paradox Development Studio was recognized as the best strategy of 2013. Europa Universalis IV is a real breakthrough because the developers took into account previous mistakes and corrected most of the bugs that migrated from series to series. Moreover, they tried to explain in detail all the places that raised questions among gamers (due to the colossal scale of the game, some mechanics remained unclear), improve the interface and optimize the AI. Of course, to understand Europa Universalis IV you will still have to spend dozens of hours on training. But this game is the most understandable and simplest of the EU series.

Nations seek to expand their influence through trade, diplomacy, economics, exploration of new lands, and the development of new technologies. You can try to colonize America, or conquer India, you can start the game as one of the local tribes in North America. In this project, gamers have the power to change the history of mankind - for example, the Venetian Empire can capture the Apennine Peninsula, annex or conquer all the tribes and go to war with the Ottoman Empire. France can enter into an alliance with England and divide Europe into spheres of influence.

Distant Worlds: Universe

Perhaps this is the most ambitious global turn-based strategy in the history of gaming. The developers created an entire galaxy - 1,400 star systems with more than 50 thousand planets, moons and asteroids, as well as various astronomical objects (black holes, gas giants, supernovae).

Gamers will have to create their own civilization to establish world domination. The authors of Distant Worlds: Universe offer gamers wide customization options: you can start the game on one planet with several light ships, or become the leader of a technologically advanced civilization that has already created a hyperdrive.

The highlight of the game is the ability to automate various processes in the empire: for example, you can not interfere with the economy, concentrating solely on diplomacy and battles. In any case, it won't be easy to beat your opponents: the AI ​​is surprisingly effective.

Age of Wonders III

The project is a reboot of the classic franchise, the last episode of which was released in 2003. This 3D turn-based strategy game takes place in a fantasy world, during an era of fierce confrontation between the Imperial Commonwealth and the Elven Alliance.

In the game you can play as one of 7 races: people, elves, gnomes, goblins, orcs, draconians, halflings. Heroes can belong to one of 6 classes (military leader, theocrat, robber, arch druid, sorcerer or technocrat), and also have a specialization (master of the elements of water, fire, air, earth, adept of creation, destruction, research or construction).

The system of diplomacy and city management are not the strong features of the project. However, the authors managed to make the battles truly exciting: units can be combined with each other and turned into giant armies, and then besiege the enemy’s fortress. The scale of battles is reminiscent of Total War, but the highlight of Age of Wonders III is the ability to use magic.

Order of Battle: Pacific

Everyone knows the importance of the battles that unfolded in the Pacific during World War II. The authors of Order of Battle: Pacific offer to take part in bloody battles on the side of the Japanese Empire or allies.

In this turn-based strategy, which in its style is reminiscent of the good old Panzer General, gamers will have to carefully think through every move. A total of three campaigns are available in which you can change the course of history and, for example, win the war on the side of Japan. Players can control over 500 units such as the legendary M3 Stuart and Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, A6M Zero and F4U Corsair fighters, or the battleships Montana and Yamato.

During battles, you can unlock heroic commanders, who can provide a decisive advantage in battle.

Strategy is a vital part of PC culture. Whether you enjoy fast-paced real-time combat or clever turn-based simulations, great strategy games immerse you in unique, large-scale scenarios that give you the opportunity to rule empires, control space-exploring races, and command cavalry charges against enemy armies.

We present to you our selection of the best strategy games for PC. Whether you like real-time battles or turn-based battles, strategy games allow you to take part in large-scale events, rule empires, control powerful races and fearlessly fight against armies of thousands. That's why we love them. But we love some more than others.

As is the case with our selection of the best first-person shooters, we tried to make the list as diverse as possible and collect the most worthy representatives of the genre, which are still capable of taking your breath away today. The article will definitely be updated as new excellent strategies are released.

Do you agree with our choice? Would you like to add to this list? Share your suggestions in the comments.

Retired from the main list

The game exploits the lack of options very cleverly, often presenting the player with difficult choices. You can only scan six points at a time, while the game regularly throws up opportunities for battle. You need to look for new recruits; engineers must build new communication centers to establish contacts with new territories; resources are needed to improve weapons and armor. You can't get everything at once. You may have to be content with one thing from this list. Back in 1989, Sid Meier described the game as "a series of interesting decisions," and XCOM 2 is by far the most accurate embodiment of these words ever to come out of the hands of Firaxis.

Red Alert is perhaps the least strategy-related title on our list. To win absolutely any battle, it is enough to be the first to build a technical center and send 25 mammoths to the enemy base, or simply send a Chinook, filled to capacity with ordinary Tanyusha girls, right behind enemy lines. In a sense, the lack of balance was one of the reasons for the enormous popularity of this title. And even now the chaos that is happening in the battles there on land, sea and in the air remains attractive. In addition, the game was made free.

By simplifying the XCOM formula, Firaxis has taken a shorter route to the things that have always been at the heart of the series. At its core, this is a squad action game in which you take full care of your favorite and unique squad. Whether you're putting your fighters in bulky war machines or giving them the names of your friends (or both), Enemy Within excels at other strategy games by requiring you to take your decisions very seriously.

For this iteration of Sid Meier's world domination game, Firaxis built a new engine from the ground up. It was the first game in the series to use 3D effects and featured the unique voice of legend Leonard Nimoy. In the wide list of innovations and improvements, smarter, more aggressive AI stood out as a separate line. It's worth noting that this is where modding the game became easier, resulting in some excellent additions created by players. Civilization fans can argue for hours about which entry is the best in the series, but my favorite is the four.

The trick of FS is that both opposing sides make their moves at the same time. You have to not only plan the movement of your squad of cyber soldiers, but also predict the actions of the enemy. Before confirming a move, the game allows you to look at the actions being performed so that the player can avoid the very obvious ones. In one of my best games, I deliberately sent a soldier into enemy fire to distract the enemy while the rest of my soldiers flanked. Study move previews to act with impeccable precision and avoid losses.

BattleTech, which can be described as a mixture board game with XCOM design, it is a deep and thoughtful turn-based strategy game with an impressive campaign system. You control a group of mercenaries, wisely distributing available funds and updating your collection of battle suits and robots.

In battles, it is necessary to aim at specific parts of enemy robots, taking into account the strength of their armor, the rate of fire, the angle at which the fire is fired, and the features of the environment. It's all a bit tricky to figure out at first, as the game isn't particularly beginner-friendly, but if you like strategy games that are rich in detail or are already familiar with this universe, then BattleTech will definitely appeal to you.

The real-time strategy Northgard, set in the Viking Age setting, borrows a lot from projects such as Settlers and Age of Empires, and also invites us to immerse ourselves in a unique expansion system that allows us to gradually increase the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe territories under our control.

Weather also plays an important role in gameplay. You need to prepare especially carefully for winter, but if you select the appropriate branch in the technology development tree, the winter on your lands will be warmer than on enemy territories, which will give you a strategic advantage. The frankly boring story is compensated by the excellent design of story missions and incredibly exciting battles in the battle mode.

An almost perfect tactical action game with robots and chic design from the creators of FTL. In Into the Breach you have to fight off waves of Vek monsters on maps divided into 64 sectors, where various fortresses and plot-important objects are located. Of course, the easiest way to get rid of Vek monsters is to wipe them off the face of the earth with the help of your robots and air attacks, but to do this you will have to think strategically and keep enemies away from your buildings.

Civil buildings provide you with electricity, which serves as a kind of health scale here. Every time an enemy attacks such a building, you are one step closer to defeat. Once you run out of electricity, your team will travel back in time and try to save the world again. This is a fairly complex, compact and dynamic adventure. As you discover new types of robots and upgrades for them, you will gradually learn new ways to fight a merciless enemy.

The first Total War: Warhammer showed that Games Workshop's fantasy universe was perfect for the large-scale battles and amazing battlefield detail that Creative Assembly is known for. In the second part, many improvements awaited us - in the interface, appearance and skills of the heroes, as well as the armies of various factions.

The four factions presented (Skaven, High Elves, Dark Elves and Lizardmen) are strikingly different from each other, and when creating them, the authors thoroughly studied the background of the rich Warhammer universe. If you have long wanted to get acquainted with the world of Warhammer, but did not know where to start, then this game is perfect for you. And if you already have a wonderful original, then one large-scale campaign awaits you, the action of which takes place on a single giant map.

The War of the Chosen expansion brings to the game both a number of minor details and some rather interesting elements, such as colorful, chatty enemies that appear randomly as you progress through the main campaign, each of which has strengths and weaknesses. You'll also find new types of enemy soldiers, thousands of cosmetic changes, zombie-like enemies inhabiting abandoned cities, the ability to create propaganda posters, and much more.

As a result, each campaign in War of the Chosen ends up being a little overcrowded, but all the changes are so well executed that no XCOM 2 fan should pass by.

At first glance, the name of the game sounds simply blasphemous. More than ten years after the release of the last Homeworld, they decided to turn the game, which was remembered for its spaceships and movement in 3D space, into another land strategy about tanks? Is this also a prequel? However, despite all the concerns that arose, Desert of Kharak turned out to be successful in all respects.

Not only is it an amazing RTS that sets itself apart from the rest of the genre's contemporaries, but it's also a great representative of Homeworld, reimagining the series and clearly capturing its magic.

The best game in the series at the moment, which has so many different details that it seems as if it was immediately released complete with a couple of additions. The region system allows you to build huge cities and motivates you to think through your actions several steps ahead. The amazing design of the game deserves special praise - yes, it takes a while to get used to the local cartoon style, but over time it becomes clear that this decision benefited the project.

It will be very interesting to see what new additions will bring to this already rich game, which is the absolute peak of the entire legendary series.

“I hope future patches and additions will fill the gaps,” one journalist wrote on the day of its release. And although the sci-fi project from Paradox still has room to grow, the high level of updates and their regular release are definitely beneficial for the game.

For example, with the Utopia expansion, the game's internal political system underwent significant changes (not to mention a hundred other small innovations), which gave us another hundred hours of gameplay. In addition, it is now possible to build Dyson spheres around stars in order to pump energy out of them, dooming nearby planets to icing. A cruel but fascinating sight.

Endless Legend was one of the unexpected breakthroughs last year. Following on from Amplitude's Endless Space, EL's fantasy 4X strategy game was very good, but still didn't fully realize the developer's potential. Its release went unnoticed due to the entry into the market of the high-budget Civilization:, but EL rightfully became the best game in the genre since the fourth Civilization.

It is deeper and more diverse, it has amazing asymmetrical factions, subraces, heroes, quests, etc., etc. And she looks, besides, simply gorgeous.

As much a social experiment as it is a strategy game, Neptune's Pride pits people against each other in the battle for a star system. The rules are simple: develop your systems, build ships and send them to conquer new systems. The war unfolds slowly, over a week or so, and requires attention, which can slightly spoil your real life.

Simple but elegant mechanics encourage the making and breaking of alliances, which can result in an insidious attack on your systems by yesterday's friends. Naturally, at about three in the morning, while you are watching the second dream. An accessible game that produces a ton of amazing drama.

I still love the first two Red Alerts, because there are practically no bad titles in the C&C series from Westwood, but this is the part where everything is perfect: it has the most interesting campaigns, the best units, great maps and, of course, great cutscenes.

The factions differ from each other in all respects and have much more uniqueness than they had in the original game - take, for example, the Soviet octopuses and dolphins, acting on the side of the allies. Here the authors found the perfect balance between self-irony and sincerity in cutscenes, and therefore the game was both captivating and brought a smile at the right moments.

Which, alas, cannot be said about the natural disaster represented by Red Alert 3 from EA.

If you've ever dreamed of conquering space at the head of an armada of customizable colossus starships, this strategy game is for you. It has smart, creative AI, and one full game can take weeks to complete.

You will have to monitor the economy, technology, diplomacy, culture, build up military power, forge alliances, fight in wars and dominate other nations of the galaxy. Reminiscent of the games in the Civilization series, but only larger and, in some places, much deeper.

Mechanically, Homeworld is a phenomenal strategy game with a fully three-dimensional game space. She was among the first representatives of the zharn to tear it out from one single plane.

What's more, the game boasts gorgeous atmosphere and sound design, from the Adagio for strings in the opening missions to the heart-pounding drumming of the multiplayer battles. If you like the rebooted Battlestar Galactica, be sure to play Howmeworld.

The scale of battles in Supreme Commander is rivaled only by Total War. So you give an order to a specific engineer, then spin the mouse wheel - and you watch the battlefield from a bird's eye view. And a couple of seconds later you are already looking at the face of another soldier, several kilometers from the first. Even my head is spinning.

The clash of armies, consisting of slender columns of hundreds of robots, rewards the player with the most amazing firefight that the processor can handle. SupCom is one of the very few RTS that combines sea, land and air in one battle. And even more - with artillery, tactical nuclear weapons and experimental robots of titanic proportions.

In addition to being the successor to the best competitive strategy game of the past decade, SC2 has earned accolades for reimagining the traditional RTS campaign structure. Heart of the Swarm is a good example of this, but it was the “human” Wings of Liberty that started it: an intricate adventure that brings a mixture of working formulas to the table with each new mission.

From a scenario of defending against a zombie invasion to a planet being flooded with lava every few minutes, SC2 forces the player to relearn all of their basic elements.

Not the most obvious candidate for this list, Tooth and Tail attracted us with its simple take on an RTS (and the game was clearly created for controllers), which retained all the components of a great strategy. The game is even closer in spirit to Pikmin than Halo Wars - units here gather around your character and carry out simple orders, and the creation of units occurs automatically, based on the population limit and available resources.

Battles last no more than 10 minutes, and the action takes place against the backdrop of a well-written political conflict between factions of anthropomorphic animals.

A game remembered today as the originator of Warcraft III, Warcraft III was primarily an inventive and ambitious strategy game that introduced many players to cinematic fantasy.

Here, for the first time, RPG elements were introduced in the form of heroes and neutral units, which had not been seen in any strategy before, and the large-scale campaign told an amazing story that completely captured the player thanks to impeccable execution. As a bonus, funny phrases were included from units that responded to the call.

The series' transition to full 3D marked the crossing of a milestone beyond which the gradual accumulation of problems led to instability at Empire's release and long-lasting AI problems that plagued players in later games in the series.

The original Rome presented us with a simple but exciting look ancient war, and did it masterfully. A magnificent excursion into one of the most curious eras of military history, interesting to this day.

It was tempting to put the first part of Dawn of War on this list, but it was decided to stick with its experimental sequel, which replaced large squads with a handful of the coolest space scumbags with sets of killer abilities.

To deal with the Orc hordes, you have to control these genetically modified special forces, coordinating their actions with the attacks of the Stormtroopers, the targeted fire of the Scouts and the cover of heavy weapons squads. And the Last Stand co-op mode was great too.

SSE uses some 4X strategy techniques, but makes them work in an RTS wrapper. This is a game about star empires that grow, prosper and fade away in the distant space of the distant future. Well, and about how the huge starships of these empires emerge from hyperspace towards the burning worlds.

Diplomacy is also available, but these are huge starships! Play the Rebellion expansion and see how these same ships grow to truly incredible sizes.

CKII is a political strategy. It's not only about the player leading his troops into battle, but also about the wedding of his imbecile niece. Each character matters, each has their own goals and desires. Yes, it is difficult (blame the feudal system for this), but you can get your own personal drama, right here and now.

The situation often drives the player into a corner, into hopeless situations, forcing him to do terrible things for the sake of power. Once I had to execute a newborn baby so that his older and smarter sister could rule. The Middle Ages were still a time.

The ominous blue map of the world in DEFCON was the perfect setting for a creepy tale of the outbreak of nuclear war. First, you prepare for Armageddon by stocking warehouses with supplies, placing launch silos, nuclear submarines, and setting up missile defenses. This organizational stage of the game itself is interesting for its strategic component, but the real cool thing about DEFCON is when the missiles are sent into the sky.

Blurring blurs of explosions, counting victims as city after city turns into radioactive ashes. When the dust settles, few will care about the formal victory. The multiplayer, where a complete nightmare is happening, is simply amazing.

Some games try to distance themselves from the emotional side of a war that just ended. But not Company of Heroes. It's intense, complex and brutal.

Of course, the game uses pure Hollywood techniques (the mud plumes of artillery fire are carried straight from Saving Private Ryan), but the result is the most intense strategy game in the world, perfectly capturing the tactical imbalance of World War II.

The deep strategic component and transparent turn-based combat system made Xenonauts a model among reboot games. If you're an old fan of the X-COM series, forget about your ancient discs and fossilized graphics from twenty years ago. The best way remember the glory days - turn on “Xenonauts”. If you are not familiar with X-COM, this game will give you the chance to enjoy the origins of the series with improved mechanics and details.

After Rome, the series quickly went to a dead end, carrying a heap of problems. But Shogun 2 still managed to be the game that Total War fans wanted to see again. A chic setting, polished mechanics and the honor of your leader, balancing between Buddhism and Christianity. Real difference between the clans (Chosokabe archers are the best!), and some particularly fun special units, like the Kisho ninja bombers.

Shogun 2 also offered the cool thing of a two-player co-op campaign, a great (if slow) way to conquer a continent. The follow-up to TWS2, Rome 2, was extremely ambitious, but never achieved the balance and mechanical polish that Creative Assembly achieved in Shogun 2. The second expansion, Fall of the Samurai, offered players a fantastic campaign set in the era of gunpowder, the very mid-19th century. Guns, swords, ninjas - everything your heart desires is there.

In 2012, strategy expert Tim Stone described the game as a "fresh and friendly" wargame, praising the game's impressive AI. To defeat computer generals, you will have to take full advantage of the advantages of the battlefield and diversify your tactics.

A simple and accessible interface reduces the barrier to entry, which is usually high in wargames. And after studying the intricacies of the system, you will discover incredible depths of mechanics.

Age of Empires gave us the opportunity to experience centuries of progress in half-hour play sessions, but RoN went further, cleverly incorporating elements of turn-based strategy games like Civilization. Instead of directly leading your troops into battle, you expand the state by building new cities.

When the borders of countries collide, a technological race begins between nations, a war for influence, punctuated by missile strikes and spear throws. Can you ever get tired of crushing archers and knights with tanks and stealth bombers?

The list could not do without this game, even taking into account the fact that Rise of Nations developed all the ideas contained here to the maximum. Age of Empires II still looks quite decent on PC today thanks to the HD re-release, for which add-ons are still being released. The latest was Rise of the Rajas, released at the end of 2016. Not bad for a game that's almost 20 years old.

Create huge armies, upgrade them, collect resources and enjoy exciting campaigns in this RTS. And if you get tired of the proposed campaigns, you can always download amateur add-ons or even create your own scenarios. We are looking forward to the release of the fourth part of the game.

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Strategy games occupy a special place in the list of genres. They are not designed for a mass audience, because they often do not have outstanding graphics and whirlwind gameplay, and the classic “swoop” passage can unpleasantly surprise the player.

Here you need to think, plan and solve the problem gradually, step by step moving towards victory.

The best military strategies on PC

We present our top best military strategies for PC, which have already become classics and should definitely be on the list of completed ones for everyone who calls themselves a fan of the genre.

Red Alert Series

• Release date: 1996-2009
• Developer: Westwood Studios, EA Los Angeles

The Red Alert series is a separate series of games within the popular Command & Conquer franchise. The action takes place in an alternate reality in which Hitler was defeated using a time machine invented by Einstein. This led to unforeseen consequences in the form of the USSR gaining enormous military power and declaring war on the United States and its allies. A little later (in the third part of the series), another side joins the confrontation - the Empire of the Rising Sun.

Despite the fact that the setting of the game is clearly humorous (just look at the fighting bears that are parachuted onto the battlefield), the gameplay is quite interesting and varied. In the story mode there are both classic missions with the development of the base and collection of resources, as well as original tasks. For example, in Red Alert 2 there is a stealth mission in which the player is given a limited number of spies and the goal is to bring at least one to a strategic objective. As for the multiplayer mode, it, unfortunately, died a long time ago, but on fan sites you can find a company to play through Hamachi and similar programs.

Cossacks Series

• Release date: 2001-2016 (3 games + addons)
• Developer: GSC Game World

Ukrainian developers from GSC Game World managed to create one of the best historical strategies covering the period of the 17th-18th centuries. Players will not get tired of the classic gameplay with developing a base and increasing combat power for a long time, because each faction represented in the game has its own key features and tactics. For example, Algeria has cheap light infantry and archers, but it is much inferior to European countries in technology and science, Russia has the strongest spearmen in the game, with which you can make an early visit to the enemy’s base and, if he is not prepared for this, demolish it I'll clean it up.

Having decided to consolidate the financial success of the first part, GSC released several good add-ons that expanded and supplemented the world with new factions, maps and units, after which they began developing a full-fledged sequel. In it you can see improved graphics and a new game mode that replaced the story campaign. The player chooses the country he likes, after which he begins to capture Europe, moving around the global map (something similar can be seen in the Total War series).

The third part, released in 2016, did not offer anything radically new. These are practically the same as the first Cossacks, only with better graphics and a number of their own bugs, which the developers have been correcting with patches for the second year now. But the game has live multiplayer - several hundred players play simultaneously on Steam, which allows you to easily find a worthy opponent or partner in the battle against bots.

Warcraft series

• Release date: 1994-2003
• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

The series of fantasy strategies from Blizzard can rightfully be considered a breakthrough for the RTS genre. If the first two parts were a natural development of the ideas of the famous Dune, offering more thoughtful gameplay, a wide variety of units and tactics, as well as good multiplayer (Warcraft II), then the third part was a real breakthrough. A separate class of units has been added to the game - “heroes”, who have the opportunity to increase their level, acquiring new abilities and improving characteristics, and have an inventory of eight slots. All game mechanics organically woven into the plot, which here reached Hollywood proportions.

In addition to the story campaign and battles between players on various maps, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne offered a number of tools for creating custom modifications. Over the course of several years, hundreds of unique gameplay modes were released - RPG adventures, tower defense, arenas, etc. The most popular map was the famous Dota Allstars, which actually became a “game within a game” and overshadowed the success of Warcraft itself.

Blitzkrieg series

• Release date: 2003-2015
• Developer: Nival Interactive

The military strategy Blitzkrieg historically accurately depicts the period of World War II, allowing players to take part in battles on the side of three different factions - the United States, Germany and the Soviet Union. Completing missions rewards players with various bonuses and prize-winning equipment. Unlike most other RTS, there is no full-fledged base construction, which allows you to rivet an unlimited number of soldiers and equipment for battle - at the beginning of each mission, a fixed number of combat units and small reinforcements are issued that can be called upon along the way. Therefore, gamers will have to make every effort to save them. To do this, you need to correctly position and move troops.

In the third full-fledged part of the series (if you don’t take into account a bunch of addons for the first and second Blitzkrieg), Boris was first introduced - the world’s first artificial intelligence for real-time strategies, created on the basis of neural networks. Now the computer behaves almost like a real opponent, showing the ability to adapt to various game situations and focusing exclusively on information received from visible areas of the map.

World in Conflict

• Release date: September 18, 2007
• Developer: Massive Entertainment

Another strategy on the theme of confrontation between the USSR and the USA. This time there were no time machines or other fantastic elements. The plot plays out a completely possible scenario in which cold war between the Union and Western countries turned into a real confrontation. Of course, the overabundance of cranberries and American patriotism in the storyline sometimes makes you want to cover your face with your hand, but the gorgeous gameplay makes up for everything. Players need to approach troop management correctly - simply clicking the right mouse button on enemy troops will not achieve victory.

In any case, the highlight of World in Conflict is not the campaign, but the multiplayer, which is unusual for the genre. Here the gamer is not given control of individual factions, but is divided into two teams, in each of which the player takes control of a separate branch of the military - armored vehicles, aviation, infantry or support. Knowledge of the strong and weaknesses each class, as well as teamwork skills will be the key to defeating the enemy in various online modes.

R.U.S.E.

• Release date: September 10, 2010
• Developer: Eugen Systems

A stylish and large-scale RTS project with classic gameplay brought to perfection. There are bases (here they are called headquarters), there are mines used for extracting resources, and there are buildings with units that are purchased for the extracted currency. Several types of troops, both vehicles and infantry, can receive various improvements and upgrades. Battles take place like in a game of “rock, paper, scissors” - infantry in open areas are scattered to pieces under tank fire, armored vehicles are destroyed by anti-tank guns, which are easily dealt with by ordinary soldiers.

The ability to deceive and bluff brings significant variety to the gameplay. For example, you can deploy fake buildings and units on the map, thereby disorienting the enemy, or cover your base with special camouflage. Spies will help shed light on the situation in your rivals' camp. They will temporarily highlight the desired area of ​​the map. All this makes online battles with real opponents a real test of your abilities as a commander. Only the most experienced and skillful strategists will be able to advance to the top of the rankings.

SeriesTotal War

• Developer: The Creative Assembly
• Release date: 2000-2017

It's hard to find a more famous series of war games than Total War. Back in 2000, when many of our readers were running under the table, the world saw the first project of the series - Shogun. The player had to face Japan during the period of feudal fragmentation and, taking control of one of the Japanese clans, bring it to power over the entire island state.

Total War: Warhammer

But it was Rome: Total War that instilled love for the series, which amazed with its detail, depth of strategic capabilities and exceptional charm. Today the collection has the opportunity to fight in any time period. We can try to lead one of the nations of the Ancient World to greatness, lead the invasion of barbarians in the Dark Ages, build a medieval empire, wage wars and discover new lands in the Modern Age, and even plunge into a fantasy world in the game Total War: Warhammer. The series is worth spending hundreds of hours on and having a lot of fun with.

Starcraft II

• Developer: Blizzard
• Release date: 2010
• Link: http://eu.battle.net

Fans have been waiting for the second part for 12 years. And their hopes were completely justified. A new round of confrontation between the three main races in space awaits us: Terrans, Zergs and Protoss. People rely on their firepower in the form of flamethrowers, tanks, heavy cruisers. Zerg are a highly developed swarm, where each member of the hive is only a tool for solving a specific task that faces the main brain. The Protoss are an ancient race standing on the edge of psionic ascension, but still resolving their internal conflicts.

Starcraft II is based on a very interesting plot, the development of which does not get boring to follow from mission to mission. And the tasks themselves are extremely diverse, have many side tasks, and non-trivial solutions. Many people can really call Starcraft II the best military strategy and they will be right in their own way. It’s not for nothing that immediately after its release it was included in the eSports Olympics in Korea.

SeriesHeroes of Might and Magic

• Developer: New World Computing, Nival, Black Hole Entertainment
• Release date: 1995-2015

You can't list the top strategic war games and miss out on the legendary Heroes of Might and Magic series. Having been released in 1995, the game has gone through more than 20 years of history. The third part of the series remains the most successful so far, despite the graphics being outdated today. The second most popular is the fifth part, created by domestic developers.

They will tell us about a fairy-tale world where there are constant wars. Almost all the mythical and legendary creatures that are present in the myths of the peoples of the world fight here: genies and wyverns, gremlins and trolls, demons and orcs. This is a turn-based military strategy, each session of which is unique. Everything depends on the player’s decisions; each campaign can be played in a style unique to that particular player. It’s hard to even imagine how interesting it is to play multiplayer. This is a lot of sleepless nights spent storming fortresses.

The best military strategies of 2016

With a nostalgic touch, let's move into modern times and remember which military strategies are worthy of attention in 2016. In fact, the gaming industry has delighted fans with a wide variety of games.

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada

• Release date: April 21, 2016
• Developer: Tindalos Interactive
• Link: Steam

Real-time strategy in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. Takes us into space, where we will fight in armadas against enemy fleets. Among the advantages, it is worth highlighting the very beautiful graphics. Probably, the space landscapes from here are the best in the industry. If you've played HomeWorld, you can imagine the gameplay, with the only difference being that for some reason starships obey the laws of physics that apply to those on Earth. Imagine a naval fleet transported into space. You will receive Battlefleet Gothic: Armada.

Battlefleet: Gothic Armada

As you'd expect from the Warhammer 40,000 universe, everything here is epic. If this is a flagship, then it is the largest warship in the galaxy; if there is a battle, then this is the most general battle that decides the fate of space. And there is enough pathos, so inherent in the setting.

In general, all games created in the Warhammer 40,000 universe will be of interest to those who are interested in the setting. Others can install and play, maybe this is the project you like.

• Release date: October 21, 2016
• Developer: Firaxis Games
• Link: Steam

There is probably hardly a gamer who has not heard of Civilization. This is a global strategy game in which you choose your people and lead them to world domination through the centuries from the Stone Age to the Space Age. It can confidently be called a military strategy, since rarely does any player fight for a religious or cultural victory. Basically, all tasks are performed with hot iron and atomic bombing.

Compared to previous parts, several major innovations can be noted. First, and most noticeably, the graphics have become much more cartoonish. At first this seems like a counterintuitive decision, given that with each new Civilization the game became more and more realistic. But after playing one or two games, you begin to like the design of the game.

The second global change is the emergence of districts - suburbs, which are responsible for specific areas. Now cities can specialize, so you can develop a city that will bring science and culture by building a campus and a theater square there, or you can build a powerful economic and military port by combining a shipyard and a trading area.

And finally, the third noticeable change is the two technology branches. The first ones are researched at the expense of science points - these are the main inventions. The second ones are social and are researched using culture points. It will no longer be possible to play barbarians riding on tanks; you will have to delve into the culture.

The principle of combat operations was carried over from the fifth part, where the war resembles a classic wargame with a hexagonal layout. Civilization 6 is an excellent successor to the entire line. Replayability and many hours spent playing are guaranteed.

• Release date: May 9, 2016
• Developer: Paradox Interactive
• Link: Steam

Stellaris is a global military strategy in which the player is tasked with taking the reins of power over one of the civilizations that has just entered space, and by any means necessary to make it dominant in the galaxy. Usually in games we are offered a limited set of races, but here, thanks to the designer, you can create hundreds, if not thousands, of them.

This is a star empire simulator. The player will have to solve all the problems that the ruler may face. Starting from providing food for your subjects, ending with controlling science and inventing new engines for ships or building a dome over colonies on planets poorly suitable for life of your race.

And don’t forget that you are not the only race in the galaxy and you will have to fight, even if you are playing a pacifist who is generally against any conflicts. After all, your planets are a tasty piece of the pie for some race of militaristic bulls.

A whole review is not enough to talk about this game, so you just need to play it. This is truly a masterpiece and the best military strategy of 2016.

The best military strategies of 2017

The whole of 2017 was not as generous with military strategy games on PC as the previous year. But still, we have selected several worthy products for you.

• Release date: August 11, 2017
• Developer: Kite Games
• Link: Steam

The revival of the legendary line, which domestic gamers know as “Confrontation”. It takes us back to the events of the Second World War and poses difficult tasks with the help of tanks and guns to decide the outcome of the conflict. Previous parts received dozens of modifications and unofficial add-ons, which are still being created, more than 10 years after the official releases.

The new product offers us three campaigns: For the Axis, the USSR and the Allies. In each mission you are given a certain number of troops: infantry, tanks, artillery, support. And with this limited supply of military resources, you will need to complete the mission. You can only hope for help in cases specified by the script.

The assessments are quite twofold. Many swear by the radical simplifications compared to other parts, while others, on the contrary, call it a worthy successor to the genre.

Halo Wars 2

• Release date: February 21, 2017
• Developer: 343 Industries, Creative Assembly

Continuation of the popular strategy in the world of Halo. It all started with an action game in which you moved into the Master Chief robot and smashed aliens on the surface of the Ring World. In 2009, a strategy based on the setting appeared. And now we can see the continuation.

Halo Wars 2 is a classic RTS with base building, resource extraction and rushing towards the enemy base. But how beautifully done it is! The graphics in the game are truly at the level of a 2017 military strategy game. The animation, drawing, effects from explosions and the use of various energy weapons are simply amazing. There are many units to choose from, from small soldiers to huge walking robots.

The only thing that may seem like a failure are some simplifications of the gameplay introduced for the sake of simplifying controls on consoles. Yes, the project was originally developed for X-Box. For amateur console players it will be a real find in the genre of military strategies.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 3

• Release date: April 27, 2017
• Link: Steam

And again we have the Warhammer 40,000 universe in front of us, but this time on earth, and not in space. The game features three races: Space Marines, Orcs and Eldar. And they are fighting for possession of a superweapon that can change the balance of power in the Galaxy.

Warhammer 40000: Dawn
of War_III

Before us is the classic Dawn of War with a new storyline and beautiful graphics. The variety of troops has also been added, units are chopping each other up more and more efficiently and beautifully. Compared to the previous game in the series, the number of units that can take part in the battle has expanded. But if we take into account that the units are still highly specialized and have many skills and abilities, mass battles will not work. At best, it is convenient to control two or three squads, delivering tactical, well-calibrated attacks on enemy positions.

The game turned out great. Fans of the setting are delighted, and all fans of military strategies on PC have already bought the game and spent many hours playing it.

The best military strategies about World War 2

Since we are talking about military strategies, I would like to separately talk about the best military strategies dedicated to the years 1941-1945. After all, if we don’t talk about fantasy universes, then it is in this subgenre that one can observe the maximum variety of solutions from developers.

Company of Heroes series

• Release date: 2006-2013
• Developer: Relic Entertainment

A strategy on the theme of World War II with very beautiful graphics and an extensive arsenal of tactical capabilities.

You can very finely customize each unit that will participate in the battle. Fighters upgrade, gaining new abilities, improving their shooting speed, accuracy and other important abilities.

Company of heroes2

The game is not massive, you control a small number of vehicles, so Company of Heroes can be called a tactical strategy.

The game invites us to fight both on the side of the Allies and the Red Army. For the second part of the project, several add-ons were released that expand the capabilities of the game, offering new missions, weapons, and units.

Series “Behind Enemy Lines”

• Release date: 2004-2016
• Developer: 1C, Digitalmindsoft, Best Way

A series of tactical military strategies dedicated to the Second World War of 1941-1945. You take control of a sabotage group that operates behind German lines. The saboteurs are tasked with a variety of tasks: destroying bridges, eliminating important officers, and much more.

Behind enemy lines

The player has a sniper, a machine gunner, a demolitionist, and other highly specialized fighters under his command. There will be no mass rush-zergs here, only well-considered tactical decisions, and the loss of every fighter is not just a decrease in the combat effectiveness of the squad, but a failure of the mission.

In total, two games were released in the series, with many add-ons and re-releases for each of them. So there’s plenty of room to wander around while getting to know it.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

• Platform: PC (Steam)
• Release date: May 23, 2019
• Developer: Creative Assembly

Another game in the famous series of historical strategies, this time changing the scene to ancient China. In a difficult time for the country, when the territory is divided into many independent provinces that have waged an endless war with each other, it needs a strong leader with remarkable organizational skills more than ever. And you can become this leader, uniting disparate clans and building a new empire with their help. The choice is made from 12 famous commanders with their own strengths and weaknesses - some are good at diplomacy, others prefer military action.

The gameplay, judging by the information presented about the game at the moment, does not deviate much from the classic formula. As before, it is divided into two components - the first is turn-based tactics on a global map, where players must prioritize and think about which region to attack, which to protect, and which to bypass. The second component is spectacular battles of huge armies, storming of fortress walls and other traditional medieval activities. Troops will have to be controlled in real time, with squads requiring micromanagement. You won’t be able to simply select the entire crowd and right-click to destroy the enemies - you’ll definitely lose. You need to think, and only then act (this, however, is why players love Total War so much).

King Arthur II

• Platform: PC (Steam)
• Release date: September 20, 2011
• Developer: Neocore

Continuation of an exciting strategy with an emphasis on the role-playing component. Compared to the first part, the battles have become a little simpler and clearer: there is a certain piece of terrain, the enemy is doomedly wandering around it, and as long as he is alive, the battle is not won. Yes, there are still key objects on the map that give the invader a bonus or a free spell - but they do not affect any abstract “morale” or “victory points”. There are not even time limits: until the archers shoot the last infantryman, and the rangers find and kill the horseman lost in the forest, the battle will not end. Some confusion is caused only by heroes running across the field, performing typical feats: either the leader will heal all nearby soldiers with a wave of his hand, then the warrior will send seven people to the next world with one swing of his sword, then the magician will burn all the enemy shooters along with the remnants of the allied cavalry, which finally broke through to them.

Thanks to the heroes and their abilities, the most challenging tactical puzzles can be solved. For example, the battle for London, when the enemy has a dozen quickly recharging totems with lightning, and an ordinary squad dies from just two hits. It would seem that the mission is impossible, but only certain characters can overcome it, for example, those who have invulnerability to lightning or the ability to quickly replenish their health. Of course, the impression of the game for many was spoiled by countless bugs and crashes, as can be judged by the many negative reviews on Steam, but in all other aspects the game is very good.

Kingdom Wars 2: Definitive Edition

• Platform: PC (Steam)
• Release date: second quarter 2019
• Developer: Reverie WS

Good news for fans of the Kingdom Wars series - the developers decided to modernize one of their main hits, transferring it to a new engine that supports all technological standards, and use them to the maximum. The changes affected the graphical component, the interface was redesigned to make it more convenient, and several significant changes were made to the gameplay balance, which fans have been asking for since the last part. Now being in this fantasy world filled with elves, orcs and other bizarre creatures has become much more interesting to spend time, especially considering that co-op and survival mode have been added to the game.

The gameplay formula of the game is quite diverse. There are economic elements, a city-planning simulator, and epic battles of huge armies in real time. The result was a kind of Warcraft 3, but significantly improved and with deeper gameplay. There are also powerful units here - heroes who, with the help of their powerful abilities, can mow down entire squads of ordinary mortals, as well as wizards who control the forces of nature and have the ability to summon a destructive hurricane or thunderstorm. Special units can be strengthened using an advanced item crafting system, for which you will have to collect resources and recipes. Some of them will be difficult to obtain.

Steel Division 2

• Platform: PC (Steam)
• Release date: May 2, 2019
• Developer: Eugen Systems

A sequel to the game of the same name, scheduled for release in May 2019. Unlike its predecessor, where we were given the opportunity to play as the Americans, the new Steel Division will tell the story of events in eastern Europe from the point of view of the USSR. However, you will also be able to play as other factions, but even without them the gameplay is quite varied. All the necessary units for combat are present here: infantrymen (machine gunners and riflemen, officers, etc., performing various tactical tasks), tanks (from light to heavy), artillery (mortars, anti-tank artillery and howitzers), air defense, aviation. Bombers and attack aircraft, according to the instructions given by you, will bomb targets, reconnaissance aircraft will conduct aerial reconnaissance, fighter aircraft will fight enemy aircraft.

In the game, as in real combat, very close attention is paid to the morale of the infantrymen. Thus, once surrounded, the morale of the squad drops (with the exception of paratroopers) and, if rescue is not carried out, the infantrymen will begin to surrender. Your infantry will also not run into a bayonet attack, under fire from German machine guns, unless it is motivated. An officer can lift the spirit of soldiers. The game pays a lot of attention to terrain: by placing scouts on tall buildings, you can detect the advancing enemy in advance, and by hiding behind cover, you can get an additional level of protection.

Oil Rush

• Platform: PC (Steam)
• Release date: January 25, 2012
• Developer: Unigine Corp.

Cutting down gameplay has long been the norm among real-time strategies. It seems that this genre was born too heavy, therefore, so that the player is not torn between three things at once, good developers will either cut off direct control over units, or cut off the extraction of resources, or prohibit the production of new combat units. Developers from the Russian-Czech studio Unigine Corporation took a different route: they cut off everything, but a little at a time. Therefore, on the post-apocalyptic Earth of the future, where the game takes place, fighting has become as simple and fun as possible.

It is quite possible to do without minerals: new ships, planes and helicopters are produced completely free of charge, you just have to capture the appropriate platform. It is impossible to build new factories or repurpose existing ones, but even a nuclear warhead cannot destroy the structure. That is why there is a constant struggle around all resource extraction rigs and platform plants - and the winner in it is often determined by oil. Black gold is needed both to activate special skills and to provide factories with autonomous security in the form of turrets. The end result is a rather interesting version of the strategy, where the lives of the wards mean almost nothing, and there is no point in accumulating resources (especially since there is a maximum limit above which you cannot store oil even if you wanted to), but the price is a cavalry charge and daring raids to the rear enemy. Thanks to them, games are played extremely dynamically.

Courtesy of the magazine gambling addiction

Igor Savenkov

Basics

"The Lost World", like Settlers, is an economic-strategic toy with a clear emphasis on economic activity. That is, before it comes to waving swords and fists, you have to go through a rather long path of economic development and build a decent city with 2-3 dozen buildings. However, unlike Settlers, you are given the full opportunity to control your own units: you can “take any of them by the scruff of the neck” and “stick your nose” into what he needs to do if he himself is not smart enough. (In fact, we have a good article on this topic in our issue by Malleus, who is a Magician in the “Rift Territory” - approx. ed.)

monetary mechanism

The main resource in the game is coins. Money is spent on constant content buildings, and are also required for scientific research, teaching citizens crafts and training warriors. In addition, part of the money can be used to increase motivation their subjects (then they work faster). The main source of cash income is taxes from citizens (each citizen brings 7 coins per month). You can also earn money by trading with friendly races.

Motivation

Your subjects do not work out of pure love for their benefactor and, naturally, demand the satisfaction of their natural and not entirely natural needs. Always give them food, and as the city develops they begin to demand more: a newsstand, a circus, a temple - details in the "USELESS BUILDINGS" section. If the subjects lack something, they begin to fall motivation. This means, first of all, the absence of residents in newly built houses. Citizens also begin to work more slowly and are more negligent in their duties. As a result, production and construction slow down, and buildings begin to gradually collapse (lose “hit points”). In addition, crime begins to increase, as a result of which some residents become bandits. Bandits do not pay taxes at all and prevent civilians from working, driving them away from their jobs and taking away their food. To fight bandits, all you need to do is build police station and train policeman. The policeman will catch the bandit and “straighten” his brains, thanks to which the bandit will cease to be such and will return to his former profession. (Usually one police officer is enough for an entire city, no matter how large it is, although residents as the population grows may require the construction of several police stations.)

To increase motivation, it is necessary, naturally, to build what the residents demand (newsstand, temple, circus). In addition, there is a lever on the resource panel, which is called - motivation. By moving it to the right, you can increase the level of motivation, but at the same time spending some of your Money. It’s also useful to move this lever when there are no problems in your city - it’s always nice to see that your subjects are spinning faster. However, this is realistic only at the final stage of the game, when all (or all the necessary) research has already been done and you need to put together a decent army as quickly as possible - then the money spent on science can be transferred to motivation.

Food

Food This is perhaps the second most important resource (after coins), which is also usually in short supply. After all, your subjects are not fools to eat, and to eat plenty. Lack of food leads to decline motivation.

The easiest way to get food is to pick berries from bushes. Do it porters. However, not a single porter will pick berries until you “poke his nose” into the bush. However, the porter will have enough sense to start picking berries from a nearby bush after the first one runs out of berries. Each bush brings 5 ​​units of food. The berries slowly “regenerate” over time, so don’t forget to periodically inspect already picked bushes (you don’t have to click on the bush - the presence of berries is indicated by beaded berries).

A miner's helmet combined with a mini bikini is a cool outfit from Versace.

In picking berries, you have competitors - wild animals, from rabbits to giraffes and hector lizards. All these creatures are completely harmless to your subjects, however, they also feed on berries. But this is not so bad, since these animals themselves can serve as food (each animal provides from 4 to 12 units of food). Animals can only be slaughtered hunters. But all hunters are rather “short-sighted” and begin to track down their prey only when it sneaks under their very noses. Therefore, hunters usually have to target game. Although you can use one trick here - post hunters as guards to the berry bushes. It will turn out as in the proverb - “the beast runs to the catcher,” and then there is almost no need to target the hunters “manually.” Note also that hunters are the only civilians who have weapons. And although they cannot be compared with regular troops, they are quite capable of fighting off visiting “touring” hunters of hostile races, so it is recommended to have at least 3 hunters before you have professional warriors.

There is a third way of obtaining food, and it is good because it allows you not to depend on the mercy of Mother Nature. But for this you need to build special farms, which are called differently by different races. For example, elves can build mushroom farms and grow on them mushrooms(dryads - cocoa, anty - tobacco). These mushrooms can then be processed into I'm going or schnapps(Dryads process cocoa into chocolate; Ants have tobacco in cigars). Processing mushrooms into food is completely free and automatic - you just need to indicate the “percentage of processing” on the resource panel. (For example, 75% means that 3 out of 4 mushrooms are used for food, and the fourth mushroom is “stocked” for the production of schnapps.) To produce schnapps, you will have to build winery, in which 2 units. mushroom + 1 unit forests are processed into 1 unit. schnapps. (An extortionate “rate”, considering that 1 unit of mushroom yields 2 units of food.) At the same time, schnapps is not formally considered “food,” but its presence is necessary to increase the motivation of residents.

City Hall is the heart of the city

In the literal sense of the word. Destruction city ​​hall or the death of the one sitting in it founder city ​​usually means automatic loss. The City Hall also serves as a warehouse: it can store up to 25 units of each resource. (But you can also build ordinary warehouses, each of which increases the maximum storage limit of each resource by 25 units.)

In most cases you are given the opportunity to teach at a university founder cities. With its help, you can found a second city in any place you like. Do this as early as possible. You will feel the benefits of “splitting” immediately. You don’t even have to develop the second city properly, turning it into a “cash appendage.” But you can also specialize cities: let, for example, one city be focused on the production of weapons (this is a long, expensive chain), and the second at this time will extract the necessary resources. By the way, resources that fall into one warehouse are automatically available from another distribution point in the same city, so it becomes very convenient to serve the needs of megacities.

Construction

All construction is carried out architect and help him porters, promptly bringing the necessary materials - forest And stone(some cool buildings also require iron or rarer resources like weapons). The porters are smart guys: if one of them was idle, then immediately after the call “Construction of the building has begun,” he will immediately go to stock or in city ​​hall for the necessary materials. At the same time, porters who are busy picking mushrooms or berries will give up what they think is a useless occupation. But if there were no “free hands” (for example, you gave all the porters the task of building another building), then you will have to “manually” point the burly fellows to a higher priority task. You can have two or more architects, and then they will work faster on one building or carry out parallel construction. But, as experience shows, at first one architect is enough. Later, when you have to build several buildings at the same time, for example, for a production chain, two builders will be more than needed. Moreover, as soon as the porters take everything necessary to one construction site, they will begin delivering materials for the next one.

Buildings can only be built within the city limits, determined by the distance from city ​​hall(mines are an exception; they can be installed outside the city). The city border can be moved further and further using outposts And fortresses.

The architect also repairs damaged buildings, and the same porters bring materials. To repair buildings, there is a special button on their panel. Nearby there is a button that allows you to demolish the building. (Sometimes this can be useful: for example, to replace a building with a more advanced one or to clear a place.) At the site of a demolished building, a pile of stones remains, which is automatically removed by porters. There are exactly as many stones there as were spent on construction (the spent units of wood and iron simply disappear). Considering that stone is the only irreplaceable resource, in huge cities it is sometimes necessary to demolish a building in order to make way for a more advanced construction.

Education

But it is not enough to build a building - it is also necessary to provide it with labor (otherwise the building will not function). For example, an innkeeper is required to operate a tavern, a priest is needed in a temple, etc. (Although some buildings do without labor: these are a university, a warehouse, an outpost, a fortress, a barracks, a fur farm and a magic tower.) All crafts are taught in university— you just need to enter the university and choose the appropriate specialty. After this, the tuition fee is deducted from your treasury (usually within 40-100 coins), and the nearest available porter will go as a student. If there are no available porters, then you will have to send the student “manually” (by the way, this does not have to be a porter; you can, for example, retrain a lumberjack into a stonemason). If you suddenly run out of stone and porters are not needed at all, you can drive them to the university, and later retrain them into someone useful. The same applies to other buildings that require the production of a free unit for needs.

“Woman with a Basin” is a new composition.

Now the sacramental question - where do the porters come from? But here the storks seem to have nothing to do with it: each new House gives three new porters (depending on the motivation at the time of construction, one porter is immediately populated, and after some time two more appear). A residential complex provides shelter for 9 porters at once. The construction of a residential complex is clearly more profitable than the construction of ordinary houses, since its maintenance costs 8 coins cheaper than the maintenance of three houses accommodating the same 9 residents (not to mention saving space). You just need to get to the opportunity to build a residential complex and get some iron, so the complexes are usually available only towards the end of the mission.

Almost any building can be “turned off” for a while: to do this, it is enough to remove the employee from it (there is a special button on the building panel). This can be useful when there is a shortage of funds. For example, if you have studied all available technologies, then you can withdraw professors (by the way, saving on students - then you can transfer it to bank) from the laboratory and library, thereby depriving them of the state budget and saving 15+50=65 coins.

Absolutely necessary specialties required throughout the game are lumberjack And stonemason, supplying you with the necessary building materials. Only both need to indicate their place of work.

Research

From the very beginning of the game, only 3-4 types of buildings are usually available to you. Everything else needs to be explored. To do this you need to build laboratory and send a professor to it. Then select the desired science/technology, and on the resource panel indicate the percentage of money spent on research (using the engine research right under the engine you already know motivation). The names of the technologies speak for themselves, and the necessary explanation appears underneath them. For example, “embassy” makes it possible to build an embassy, ​​“temple” - a temple, etc. At the same time, the corresponding specialty required to work in the building automatically becomes available to you (at the embassy - a diplomat, in a temple - a priest).

Later it becomes available to you library, allowing you to significantly speed up the remaining research. Just keep in mind that maintaining the library costs a tidy sum: 50 coins, after all.

"Useless" buildings

As the city grows, the demands of its residents begin to grow, so more and more “useless” buildings need to be built. They are “useless” in the sense that they do not provide any new resources, technologies, opportunities or other “bonuses”. These buildings are needed only to maintain motivation residents at the proper level.

You will encounter the first such problem when the number of inhabitants reaches 15 individuals. Then you will be required to build tavern. Then you will soon need newsstand And police station. Then - the “specialty dish” of the race. For example, elves will demand schnapps. A little later - temple, and at the end - circus/theater/arena(for elves/dryads/ants). Although the temple is not a completely useless building, since priest can treat the wounded. It should be taken into account that each building provides only a certain number of inhabitants. Therefore, approximately at the same time as the temple, the subjects will demand a second tavern.

Diplomacy

Initially, all races are in neutral relations. If someone attacks someone, this means an automatic declaration of war. Hostile actions can be stopped through diplomatic relations by concluding truce or world. To do this, you need to build embassy and train diplomat Then you need to call the embassy panel, mark the required agreement and click on the “conclude agreement” button. After this, the diplomat will leave your embassy and go straight to the embassy of the desired race. There the fate of the proposal will be decided - they can either agree or refuse. However, if another race does not have its own embassy, ​​then it will not be possible to establish any relations with them other than those that were by default.

Trade

Peaceful coexistence is also useful because it allows trade between races. At the same time, you have a great opportunity to “push” to competitors what you already have in stock (usually timber), and get paid for it. To trade you need to build market square and train merchant. Then you need to open the market panel and indicate what you want to sell, as well as the minimum selling price and the minimum quantity of goods that must always remain in your warehouse (and the same for purchases, if you want to purchase something). After this, you can send the trader to a competitor’s market, and the trade will be completed if you agree on a price (you can always look at the competitor’s prices if you have an agreement with him world - To do this, just click on its market). To increase profits from trading, you can build bank, however, its maintenance costs 50 coins, so the bank pays for itself only with a decent trade turnover. On the other hand, the bank in any case brings money even without trade - after its construction you receive a bonus to the total profit of 50 coins, plus taxes will increase depending on the residents.

Generally speaking, you should not rely on trade as a solid source of capital, especially since diplomatic ties are a rather fragile thing. The only thing where trade can be guaranteed to help is interracial relations, if you have several cities. Then, with the help of market areas, you can easily transfer resources to where they are lacking.

Mining ore

At the final stage of the game you cannot do without gland. It is needed for the construction of a number of “cool” buildings: a temple, a bank, a residential complex, a fur farm and a fortress. In addition, iron is required for the production weapons, absolutely necessary for training at least somewhat decent warriors (without weapons your entire fighting army will consist only of archers and hunters).

First of all, you need to study metallurgy. This will make it possible to install mines. Mines can only be built in the mountains - these are characteristic hills of gray and white color. At the same time, the mine can be located outside the city (this is the only building that can be built outside the city limits). A stonemason is required to operate the mine. The mine produces 1 unit. iron with 2 units. forest, which is automatically brought by free porters (in fact, it turns out that the mine is the place where 2 units of forest are made into 1 unit of iron). It is convenient to place a warehouse next to the mine - this way the turnover of “wood in there, iron in there” will increase significantly.

Expanding our holdings

From the very beginning the games are available to you watchtowers . The towers do not have any weapons, and their only purpose is to provide a large viewing radius (which is useful at least for tracking down wild animals). However, the towers themselves are “blind”, and for them to “see the light”, it is required scout. The Scout is also very useful in a "mobile state" for revealing the map, as it has the longest vision range.

Heirs of the Settlers

Everyone knows The Settlers. The first part of this toy appeared before the boom in the RTS genre, which is usually associated with the release of Command & Conquer (the first Settlers were called SerfCity, and now you are unlikely to find the game in stores - approx. ed.). Settlers is a distinctive strategy that focuses on economic development; second distinguishing feature— units cannot be controlled directly, telling each one what to do. However, in the third part, as well as S4, which is preparing for release this fall, direct control partially takes place. This second feature of the game irritated many, and not so long ago a “modernized version” of “Settlers” appeared called Knight & Merchants (“War and Peace” in the Russian localization of “Snowball”). It was already possible to directly command troops. Well, it would be logical to take the next step and give the player the opportunity to control all units. This is what was done in Die Volker (“The Peoples”), a toy developed again by a German company (this time NEO Software). The idea, as well as its implementation, turned out to be so successful that it was immediately transferred to English language and published under the name Alien Nations. Why are we worse? So Snowball made a Russian version of the game called "The Lost World". In principle, he did the right thing - the toy turned out to be quite good, rated 8.6 according to the Mania rating...

However, you can move the city line back (in the literal sense of the word - the line is indicated by such small “columns” of the color of your race) only with the help of outposts And fortresses. In addition, two archers can sit in an outpost, and three archers in a fortress and pour fire on the enemy nearby. The enemy can get to the archers only after destroying the outpost/fortress itself, so the actual “strength” of the entrenched archers is greatly enhanced. Fortresses and outposts automatically push back the city limits, regardless of whether there are archers in them or not. If you are faced with a severe shortage of money, you can, as a last resort, destroy the outpost/fortress and thereby “rescue” +20/30 coins that were previously used for their maintenance. City limits At the same time, it will move to its original location, but all buildings outside the city will continue to work.

Let's go to war

Available to you from the very beginning of the game hunter, who, at worst, can pass for a warrior (all other civilians do not possess any weapons at all). But this is not serious. For more serious combat operations, at least barracks. The easiest warrior you can train there is archer(the Ants call it pyrotechnician). Archers are also good because they can be placed in an outpost or fortress, from where they will pour fire on the enemy, while remaining under the protection of thick walls. This is already something, but still not very solid.

To fight to your heart's content, an additional resource is required - weapon, without which it is impossible to train solid warriors (training archers requires only forest, not counting money, of course). So here you will have to expand the production chain: first set up a mine to extract iron, from which then to forges will be done weapon(note in parentheses that the dryads and ants call the forge weapons factory). It is impossible to do without a solid economic base.

But let's get back to our sheep... I mean, to the warriors. In addition to archers, you can also train in the barracks swordsmen, improved swordsmen ( hammerman/swordmaster/berserker) and saboteurs (elf-007 / dryad-008 / ant-714). With swordsmen, as well as with their improved version, everything is clear: these guys are cool in close combat, but saboteurs can blow up enemy buildings (if, of course, they get there, because they themselves are very frail and can be shot at by sharp-eyed archers at once). In addition, dryads can train in the barracks crossbowwoman - other races have no analogues (with balance, quality and quantity everything is in order: all races, as will be seen later, have 9 types of warriors).

In addition to the barracks, there are two more buildings that produce warriors. The first of them is the “magic building” ( magic tower / alchemist's laboratory / altar). It produces “magicians”, who also have different names: sorcerer / alchemist / spellcaster, but the essence of the matter does not change. All these “magicians” shoot something like “fireballs” and are very vulnerable in close combat. There is also an “improved version of magicians”: great sorcerer / master of alchemy / mantis.

Racial differences are especially pronounced in the third building. For elves and ants it is fur farm(although the Ants call it Morro Farm), and among dryads - Armory. Elves and antes produce approximately equivalent animals: 2 cool melee warriors each (elves - draboduc And crocodile, anty - Spitpack And guardian) and on a kamikaze fuse ( explodus And garak-buduk, respectively), which, when it explodes itself, hits all units around it. Dryads have a fur farm instead weapon workshop, in which they are produced catapults And guns(no comments needed). Thus, dryads are dangerous at a distance and lose their advantages in close combat. Only the dryads still need to be caught up - they are the fastest of all races.

Where to begin?

Typically, you start the game with one architect and two porters, with only a dozen units of wood and stone. And here you can indicate the optimal starting path. Let's indicate it for the elf race (for other races the plan is slightly modified, since dryads, for example, require more forest).

First you need to build a residential building, which will immediately give you 1 more porter (the other two will arrive a little later). Then immediately build a university and train a stonemason there. Direct a stonecutter to extract stone, since several units of this resource will be missing to build a laboratory. In the meantime, let all the porters pick berries. As soon as there is enough stone, build a laboratory, immediately transferring almost all the porters to the architect's assistants. Send one porter to the university and make him a professor. Send a professor to the laboratory and study forestry. (In the meantime, let all available porters collect berries.) Train a lumberjack and send him to harvest the forest. In the meantime, study hunting. As soon as you have enough resources, build a second residential building. Train the hunter and guide him to the hunt.

Further, not everything is so simple. Your immediate plans are to train two more hunters (necessary to protect the city from early attacks by enemy hunters) and one stonemason (since stone is usually required twice as much as forest). Learn agriculture as quickly as possible to build a farm and stop depending on nature for food. The future strategy is even more vague. Here we can advise you to act like this. Focus on the construction of residential buildings, since this immediately and directly provides extra labor and adds 3*7-5=16 coins of income at a minimum. Do this until the residents demand another "useless" building. Stop here and try to achieve the necessary technologies as quickly as possible, while there is money, and build what is required. Then get back to work on residential buildings, etc. Just don’t forget to reveal the map with the help of scouts and adjust your plans according to the level of development and the expected intentions of the enemy.

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Table 1 Elven buildings

House 3 porters - 2 l, 5 to 5University Training - 2 l, 4 to 5Laboratory Technologies Professor 2 years, 6 to 15Watch tower Large viewing radius Scout 2 l, 5 to 10Embassy Diplomatic relations Diplomat 6 l, 8 to 15Stock+25 to the reserve of each resource - 4 l, 8 to 5Mushroom farm Mushroom planter 4 l, 10 to 15Tavern Increases motivation Innkeeper 5 l, 8 to 20Market Square Opportunity to trade Merchant 3 l, 10 to 15Police station Pacifies bandits Policeman 5 l, 10 to 30Newsstand Increases motivation Correspondent 4 l, 10 to 30Barracks Warriors - 5 l, 10 to 5Winery 1 schnapps from 2 mushrooms + 1 forest Winemaker 8 l, 14 to 25TempleForge 1 weapon from 2 l + 1 w Gunsmith 10 l, 18 to 15Mine 1 iron from 2 l Stonemason 10 l, 25 to 20Outpost Expands the boundaries of possessions - 8 l, 10 to 20BankResidential complex 9 porters - 4 l, 10 k, 3 f 7Circus Increases motivation Trainer 20 l, 25 to 50Fur farm Animal warriors - 15 l, 20 k, 8 f 10Magic Tower Charodeev - 10 l, 15 k, 25 w 10Library Accelerates research Professor 20 l, 22 to 50Fortress Building What gives Who works Price Content

(l - forest, k - stone, w - iron)

table 2 Dryad buildings

House 3 porters - 2 k, 5 l 5University Training - 2 k, 4 l 5Laboratory Technologies Professor 2 k, 6 l 15Watch tower Large viewing radius Scout 2 k, 5 l 10Embassy Diplomatic relations Diplomat 6 k, 8 l 15Stock+25 to the stock of each resource - 4 k, 8 l 5Cocoa plantation Cocoa Sadovnik 4 k, 10 l 15Tavern Increases motivation Innkeeper 5 k, 8 l 20Market Square Opportunity to trade Merchant 3 k, 10 l 15Police station Pacifies the bandits Policeman 5 k, 10 l 30Newsstand Increases motivation Correspondent 4 k, 10 l 30Barracks Voinov - 5 k, 10 l 5Confectionery 1 cake from 2 cocoa + 1 forest Baker 8 k, 14 l 25Temple Increases motivation Priestess 10 k, 15 l, 1 f 15Armory 1 weapon from 2 l + 1 f Gunsmith 10 k, 18 l 15Mine 1 iron from 2 l Stonemason 10 k, 25 l 20Outpost Expands the boundaries of possessions - 8 k, 10 l 20Bank Increases profit from trading Professor 12 k, 16 l, 5 f 50Residential complex 9 porters - 4 k, 10 l, 3 f 7Theater Increases motivation Actress 20 k, 25 l 50Weapon workshop Catapults and cannons - 15 k, 20 l, 8 w 10Alchemist's laboratory Alchemists - 10 k, 15 l, 25 w 10Library Accelerates research Professor 20 k, 22 l 50Fortress Expands the boundaries of possessions - 15 k, 20 l, 3 f 30 Building What gives Who works Price Content

Table 3 Ant buildings

House 3 porters - 3 l, 4 to 5University Training - 3 l, 3 to 5Laboratory Technologies Professor 3 years, 5 to 15Watch tower Large viewing radius Scout 3 l, 4 to 10Embassy Diplomatic relations Diplomat 7 l, 7 to 15Stock+25 to the reserve of each resource - 6 l, 6 to 5Tobacco plantation Tobacco Planter 7 l, 7 to 15Sofa Increases motivation Manager 8 l, 5 to 20Market Square Opportunity to trade Merchant 5 l, 7 to 15Police station Pacifies the bandits Policeman 8 l, 7 to 30News hole Increases motivation Herald 6 l, 8 to 30Barracks Warriors - 7 l, 8 to 5Cigar room 1 cake from 2 cocoa + 1 forest Tobacco master 10 l, 12 to 25Temple Increases motivation Priest 10 l, 15 k, 1 f 15Armory 1 weapon from 2 l + 1 f Blacksmith 15 l, 13 to 15Mine 1 iron from 2 l Stonemason 20 l, 15 to 20Outpost Expands the boundaries of possessions - 9 l, 9 to 20Bank Increases profit from trading Professor 12 l, 16 k, 5 f 50Residential complex 9 porters - 7 l, 7 k, 3 f 7Arena Increases motivation Gladiator 20 l, 25 to 50Morro Farm Beast warriors - 18 l, 17 k, 8 f 10Altar Spellcasters - 12 l, 13 k, 25 w 10Hole of Wisdom Accelerates research Professor 22 l, 20 to 50Fortress Expands the boundaries of possessions - 15 l, 20 k, 3 f 30 Building What gives Who works Price Content

(k - stone, l - forest, w - iron)

20.05.2016 16:56 | XGO

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Top best strategies on PC that can be played online or online with friends and random opponents, description of ways to play

Strategies are games in which you can feel like a king, ruler, and even God. They do not feature dynamic gameplay (as in shooters), but they force the player to think logically, develop tactics, and make various decisions. Victory in them depends on the user's ability to foresee the future actions of the opponent, coordinate the actions of his army and calculate his strength.

At other times, strategies are not only battles between thousands of troops. Behind the entertainment lies complexity economic system, the development of which will also bring you victory in the game. And sometimes there are no battles at all - some developers release exclusively economic strategies based on some kind of business (or in other areas).

In any case, the strategies can keep you glued to the screen for a long time. In this article we presented TOP best strategies on PC of all time, in which you will find decent games. They can be played with friends, teaming up against AI, alone, or against other users. For convenience, the strategies are presented in the form of a list that describes their main advantages.

Of course, you can express your opinion in the comments on the articles, and those who don’t have time to download strategies on a PC can look at the list of the best rated online browser strategies that you can start playing right now.

Selection of games:

The best strategies for the computer

Warcraft III - online

Out: 03.06.2002

Genre: real-time strategy with RPG elements

The essence of the game lies in the uniform construction of a base, pumping up heroes and recruiting an army. For each game stage and situation, different actions are prioritized, of which there are an inexorable variety, which in itself determined the incredible success of the game among gamers. It is worth noting that different races have different priorities, which creates a certain abstract balance.

Of course, the game achieved success primarily because the history of Warcraft is quite old, and the first game in the series was released back in 1994 on DOS, which allowed it to win crowds of fans at the dawn of the gaming industry. The entire Warcraft series has a deep and thoughtful history, on which the plot of Warcraft III is based, although it is not important here, it is necessary for the full perception of the game.

For the most part, the game received recognition for its good balance of races and atypical gameplay for those years, which marked the beginning of a new era of strategies.

• Balanced hero leveling system;
• Balanced economic system;
• Interesting solo company;
• Balan races;
• You can play online;
• The graphics are outdated.

You can play Warcraft online on servers: Tangle, Garena, iCCup.

Heroes of Might and Magic III - online

Out: 28.02.1999

Genre: Turn-based strategy with RPG elements

Although the series of “heroes” is quite old, it has never acquired a significant plot. First of all, in the games of the series, the gameplay and gaming component are valued, and the plot is not at all important.

The gameplay itself boils down to the fact that the player needs to destroy all opponents on the map. Initially, the player has an undeveloped castle and one hero under his command. The castle is gradually upgraded by constructing new buildings, which opens up access to hiring new creatures. The hero can be upgraded in battle, or by distributing gold from chests to your troops. To win, it is enough to destroy all enemy heroes and capture all castles.

There are a total of 9 races in the game (specifically in the third part), including:

• Castle – people;
• Stronghold - elves;
• The tower is the residence of magicians;
• The fortress is a swamp;
• Citadel - barbarians;
• Inferno - demons;
• Necropolis - undead;
• Dungeon - command underground creatures;
• Conjugation - command the elements of the elements.

Each race has its own orientations, advantages, and special skills. For example, necropolis can raise the dead, inferno can turn its defeated fighters into demons, and so on.

Only the 3rd and 5th parts of the game are in demand among players, while the rest either fall short in gameplay or have too good graphics that make your eyes bleed out. We are talking about the excessive detailing of the 6th and 7th parts of the game, which played a disservice. The players did not like the fourth part because of the terrible models and textures.

It is the third part of the heroes that is considered the genius of the series, which is why large tournaments are still held for it and there is a significant gaming community. The problem with online play in Heroes 3 is the length of the matches, because some games lasted up to a month in real time.

If you want to try your hand at online play, we recommend visiting the heroesworld portal, which contains all the useful information.

• Expanded economic system;
• Developed leveling of heroes;
• Balance of gaming needs (in leveling, construction, hiring creatures, etc.)
• You can play online;
• Balanced combat;
• The presence of an unofficial team that is constantly improving the game.

Civilization Series

Out: 1991-2016

Genre: global turn-based strategy

Initially, the game captured the minds of players with its interesting gameplay, which boils down to balancing the army, economy and development (and later culture) of the nation. The game also has a certain historicity, because all nations actually existed.

To win this game you need to skillfully create cities, build trade networks between them, enter into alliances and betray allies, create an army balance that matches your economic development and wisely develop technology.

A simple example: if you only invest in the army, there may come a time when your soldiers will fight with sticks, and the enemy will already have tanks. You can also invest only in development, but then your civilization can be destroyed by ordinary barbarians, and you will never have time to develop.

It is precisely because of the diversity of the gameplay and the variability of development that many call Civilization the best strategy of all time.

At the moment, an online game with random participants is available on Steam, allowing you to test your strengths and skills.

• Unique economic system;
• Unique research system;
• Balance of nations and play styles;
• Advanced multiplayer;
• Expanded political system.

In 2016, a continuation of the legendary series was released, Civilization 6 became the best turn-based strategy of the year on PC.

XCOM series

Out: 1993-2016

Genre: step-by-step strategy

The famous strategy about protecting the earth from the invasion of alien invaders. You are a special squad of professionals, the only stronghold of humanity in the struggle for survival. Study alien technologies, take them into your arsenal and destroy your enemies!

The gameplay of the game is tied to the tactical and economic components. Tactical includes battles with opponents, flights to the landing site or landing site of alien ships, development of fighters, choosing the right perks for them, and so on. Economic – development of the base, right choice technology, additional rooms, waste of resources and other things. Also, after the battle, the player receives trophies from the dead, which can then be sold on the black market or used independently in battle.

Many highlight XCOM as one of the best strategy games on PC.

• Interesting system leveling up fighters;
• A variety of game cards;
• Many battle strategies;
• An interesting system of research and leveling up the base;
• Extraordinary endings.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Out: 1996-2008

Genre: real time strategy

The so-called “cranberry” strategy. For reference, cranberries are considered to be an unrealistic presentation of the inhabitants and ideology of the USSR, including its territory after the collapse. The game is built on this non-existent ideology. The action takes place in a parallel universe where there was no World War II, so all nations, including the USSR, were able to develop and become incredibly strong.

Later, a time machine was invented that allowed one to change the course of history. For example, the third part of the game takes place when the Russians decide to kill Albert Einstein in the past. Sending to the past was successful, the USSR captured almost all of Europe, but the war did not end - it was just the beginning.

The gameplay is standard for games of this genre, namely, you need to develop your base, hire soldiers, equipment to completely destroy opponents on the map.

• Fascinating plot;
• Balance of Nations;
• Unique combat units;

Space Rangers

Out: 23.12.2002

Genre:“epic game” with elements of RPG, turn-based strategy, arcade, text quest.

A game about a war in intergalactic space between intelligent races. The player can play almost all races, except for the Klisans and Dominators - hostile semi-intelligent races that receive orders from the main ships, which control their behavior. The entire plot of the game tells about the war of the peaceful races of the commonwealth against the above-mentioned invaders.

The main advantage of the game is the gameplay. As you may have noticed, the game does not have a specific genre, since it is absolutely difficult to classify it into any genre. But the game is often singled out as the best strategy game because players spend most of their time controlling their spaceship in separate systems. There are also arcade elements in the game, namely, when flying between systems, you can stumble upon hostile nodes, where the game turns into real-time battle.

RPG elements manifest themselves in leveling up the skills of your captain, playing the role of a good ranger or an evil pirate smuggler. Elements of a text quest appear in some tasks that NPCs give to the player, or, for example, during visits to prisons, where the player balances between being released as quickly as possible and not dying at the hands of fellow inmates. In the latest versions of the game there are also battles with robots on planets in real-time strategy mode.

As you can see, the potential of the game is incredibly high, and it can rightfully be called one of the best RPGs of all time, not only due to the unique gameplay, but also nice graphics, random generation of maps, planets, tasks and other things, which allows you to start the game again and again .

• A unique game world that is randomly generated in each new game;
• Developed system for playing a game role;
• A good mix of many genres;
• Exciting text tasks;
• Nice graphics.

Stronghold: Crusader

Out: 2002-2014

Genre: real time strategy

A classic strategy game in which you act as the ruler of a small city. Your task is to equally develop military and economic power. In gaming companies you can play both the role of the cruel Arab ruler Saladin and the role of the King of England Richard the Lionheart.

The gameplay, as mentioned earlier, lies in the equal development of the army and the economy. Due to its unusual gameplay, the game received recognition. Some of the game's features include:

• Your servants need to build personal houses that provide the maximum number of army;
• It is necessary to develop the food industry, because your entire military machine may perish simply because of hunger. This also creates the possibility of prolonged sieges of castles, forcing the enemy to decay from hunger;
• Almost all fighters cannot be hired just like that - they need to create weapons and armor, and for this it is necessary to collect resources.

If you play against the computer, you will notice that it creates monotonous castles, which, however, are not so easy to break through if the enemy is one of the strong ones. Still, this is one of the disadvantages that can quickly discourage the desire to play. The main potential of the game is revealed in multiplayer maps, which can be played online using Hamachi or Tangle. It is also worth noting that a clear disadvantage is that the player is tied to the starting point - it is impossible to build buildings near the enemy’s castle.

• Unique production and economic system;
• Expanded construction capabilities;
• Not a bad company;
• You can play online with friends.

Kings bounty

Out: 2008-2014

Genre: real-time strategy role-playing game with turn-based battles

The unusual combination of the genre makes the game quite interesting for beginners, and the beautiful graphics without excessive detail are pleasing to the eye. It is worth noting that in the later parts of the game it is possible to enable a 3D game mode, which must be played with appropriate glasses.

The player can choose between three classes: warrior, paladin and mage. Each of them conducts battles in their own way. For example, a warrior has an increased number of creatures, a mage attacks opponents with spells, and a paladin is something in between.

The game takes place in a fictional fantasy world, which is inhabited by fairly canonical magical creatures such as vampires, demons, and elves. The player acts as a treasure hunter, on whose shoulders rests the fate of preserving the world. First, he will have to become a great hero, recruit an army of mystical creatures in order to fight the evil henchmen.

The gameplay looks something like this: you walk around the world map in real time, and when you come across enemy units, a turn-based battle mode starts, where the hero can use a book of magic and spirits. Looks like a classic turn-based battle. As you walk around the map, you can communicate with the characters that inhabit the world, complete tasks for them, receive rewards, hire troops, buy items, and so on.

• Interesting character leveling system;
• Many artifacts and unique creatures;
• Interesting combat system;
• Not boring quests;
• Nice cartoon graphics;
• Many games in the series are made in the same style.

StarCraft II - online

Out: 26.06.2010

Genre: real time strategy

An equally exciting game from the creators of Warcraft – Blizzard. The plot of the game tells about the battle of three cosmic races: the Zerg, the Protoss and the Terrans. Unlike Warcraft, the game is more dynamic and lacks heroes, which completely changes priorities in battles.

StarCraft also has a rich story, but it is presented to players during story cutscenes, making you merely an observer rather than a maker of the story.

Each playable race has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, Protoss units have a lot additional abilities, which must be used at the right time, otherwise the army will be quite weak. Considering that the game itself is very fast, to succeed in the game you need to have skills quick game and thinking.

StarCraft can rightfully bear the title best strategy on PC for all time.

The game can be played online through the Blizzard game downloader.

• Race balance;
• Balanced economy;
• Fast pace of the game;
• You can play online;
• Regular tournaments from official developers.

Warhammer 40,000 series of games

Out: 1999 - 2009

Genre: real time strategy

Warhammer is a fairly popular game not only in computer form, but also in card form. The history of the game appeared long before the development of the computer sphere (in 1983) in America, which determined the success of the series.

The history of the world tells of bloody wars for control of the galaxy, grandiose betrayals and ascensions, and so on. The games in this series are not tied only to the strategy genre, because there are both CCG and action branches.

The most famous games in the series for the general public: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, tell the story of a war for control of one designated planet between the game races. The player chooses one of the sides in the war, which has unique units and battle tactics. In the future, your task will be to seize control of the entire planet. Some games in the series divide the gameplay into two stages: global turn-based control and real-time strategy. The first mode is simply choosing a point of attack, and the second is the actual battle. In battle, you need to rebuild your base, capture key points that bring one of two resources - influence, strengthen them and attack enemy bases. It is worth noting that the main objective of the game is to destroy all enemy buildings.

Almost all Vakha strategies can be played through hamachi.

• Deep history;
• Race balance;
• Each race has its own unique characteristics;
• Interesting system for improving units;
• Interesting company.

Out: 2004-2006

Genre: Real-time strategy, fantasy

A series of strategies based on Tolkien’s novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” as well as Peter Jackson’s film universe of the same name. The storyline follows strictly the originals, and this is one of the main advantages of the games. Familiar heroes, events and most importantly - epic battles.

As for the gameplay, these are the usual strategies, but with some distinctive details. At the beginning of each task, the player, as befits the canons of the genre, needs to extract resources and build various buildings: farms, barracks, forges, and more. Next, you create units, replenish your army with them, and set off to destroy your opponents.

Under your control will be “unique heroes” - familiar characters from The Lord of the Rings. They have unique abilities: defensive, offensive and others. Heroes can be upgraded - this way they will become stronger and will be able to deal with a squad of enemies alone.

In addition to the single-player story campaign, there are customizable missions, as well as multiplayer in which you can fight with other real players.

• One of best games based on "The Lord of the Rings";
• Thoughtful, epic strategy;
• The atmosphere of Middle-earth, familiar characters;
• Multiplayer.

Spore

Out: 2008

Genre: God Simulator, Real Time Strategy

Spore is an unusual game that combines several genres. In short, you will develop your character from scratch, when he is just an atom in a giant ocean. Ultimately, he will become the leader of an entire civilization that will conquer other planets and reach the center of the Universe.

At the beginning, the game acts as a god simulator. You create your being and begin development in the depths of the world's oceans. The task is to absorb weaker creatures, while becoming stronger and increasing in size. Having achieved some progress, you will go onto land and begin to explore a new area, while the gameplay changes dramatically.

Gradually the game develops into a strategy. While on land, you will need to find a partner for your character to mate with. This way you create a whole tribe. As in the strategy, you will build buildings, hire people and participate in wars with other tribes.

The final stage is the conquest of the Universe. Having built spaceship, you will be able to travel to other planets and capture them.

• Unique gameplay combining several genres;
• Colorful graphics;
• Replay value;
• Unusual end-game content.

Out: 1999-… (still coming out)

Genre: Step-by-step strategy

A turn-based fantasy strategy that became the ideological successor to the game Master of Magic. Players will have to compete for power on the global map, having previously chosen a race. There are quite a lot of them, and some are traditional for the fantasy genre: people, elves, gnomes, orcs, halflings, lizard people and others.

The player will have his own city, which must be improved to receive various bonuses and open up new opportunities. To construct buildings you will need resources - everything as befits a strategy.

The battles are turn-based. Each unit has a limited number of movement points. They are spent, accordingly, on moving the unit. Combat is also a step-by-step process, with you personally choosing which attacks or abilities to use. In this case, the unit may miss - this happens randomly.

You can test your skills not only with a virtual, but also with a real opponent. There is multiplayer in which you can challenge several players at the same time, teaming up with friends.

The series has not yet been shelved. The fourth part, subtitled Planetfall, has been announced, this time in an unusual direction - science fiction. The release is expected in 2019.

• Turn-based combat system;
• Construction of cities;
• Abundance of races;
• Construction of the castle.

Out: 2004-2016

Genre: Real Time Strategy, Action, RTS

A series of military strategies united by one theme - Second World War(excluding the game “Saboteurs: Vietnam”). The games feature various single-player campaigns based on the events of the war, as well as a multiplayer mode for battles between several players.

Unlike other strategies, “Behind Enemy Lines” does not pursue spectacular and large-scale battles. Thinking through strategy comes to the fore, and as a result, reconnaissance, preparation for battle, and more. You will not control an army, but several soldiers, each of whom performs their own role (sniper, attack aircraft, etc.). In battle, you can use cover and terrain features.

What else is interesting in the games:

• Realism. Ammunition and fuel reserves are taken into account; when shooting at long distances, fighters miss more often, and so on;
• Physics engine. Thanks to it, there is destructibility that affects the course of the battle;
• Well-thought-out damage system. For example, tanks cannot be penetrated with a machine gun, and the caliber and type of shells used play a large role in penetrating armor;
• Manual control. As mentioned earlier, each soldier is under your control. He can be prohibited from shooting or personally aiming and making shots using the mouse.

Out: 2003-2017

Genre: RTS

Blitzkrieg is a series of military real-time strategy games, mainly dedicated to the events of the Second World War. The player is asked to choose a side: the Allies, the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany, and go through storyline. In addition to these factions, there are others, non-player ones:

Italy, France, Poland. Each campaign includes several chapters and covers specific events of the war.

Unlike other strategies, Blitzkrieg does not have the ability to build bases. At the beginning of the mission you receive a certain amount of equipment and infantry. The task is to conduct reconnaissance, learn about the main forces of the enemy and capture the base. Of course, it is impossible to achieve success without well-thought-out tactics. In addition to the main forces, the player can sometimes receive reinforcements.

In addition to the single-player game, multiplayer is available for multiple players. You can compete with friends or join forces against a group of other players.

The game engine served as the basis for many user modifications. For example, a mod that transfers the action of Blitzkrieg into the Warhammer universe.

• Military strategy without base construction;
• Custom modifications;
• Tactical component.

Company of Heroes

Out: 2006-2009

Genre: real time strategy

The plot of the game follows such films as “Saving Private Ryan”, “A Bridge Too Far” and the television series “Band of Brothers”. The action takes place during the Great Patriotic War.

The gameplay is a classic RTS with wargame elements. Many note that the game is reminiscent of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series due to the fact that the player can independently choose the weapons with which his platoons will fight. Troops also have a combat morale scale, which affects the effectiveness of soldiers. For example, if a platoon comes under machine gun fire, its morale drops sharply, which reduces its shooting and running speed. In addition, when a squad member who was holding a weapon dies, it does not disappear, but remains on the ground where it can be picked up. The next feature of the game is the system of squad ranks, which with each increased level fighters allows you to improve their characteristics, which creates a certain convention that the units are not just meat.

Wargame elements also include the fact that the player can install defensive structures himself, increasing the effectiveness of fighters. All the ditches, sandbags, etc. can be occupied by your fighters to increase their effectiveness. Since the game can maintain a small limit, and the combat speed is quite low, the result is an entertaining combat simulator. Of course, this game is not singled out as the absolute best strategy, but it deserves to be at least a nominee.

• Interesting game missions;
• Unusual gameplay;
• The feeling of real battles is created;

Cossacks Series

Out: 2001-2016

Genre: economic strategy

The game stands out for its gameplay, which is based on the balance of economic and military force. The correct construction of the economy has a key role in the game, because even if you skillfully use military forces, skillfully withdraw them, divide them into groups, opening the horizon for a volley of guns, then sooner or later, with a weak economy, you will lose to the player who is more focused on economic component. Firstly, a player with a strong economy can simply spam units - he does not need to think about their safety, because there are always resources. Secondly, the availability of resources such as coal and iron determines the ability of shooting units to attack. If there is no coal or iron, the fighters cannot shoot. Food also plays an important role, as it is a constantly consumed resource. Therefore, if your population is growing, then your food infrastructure should grow accordingly.

The game also stands out in that each player can recruit a huge number of troops, which allows the use of diverse gaming strategies. Among the types of troops you can find: cavalry, melee units, ranged units, artillery. In addition, the game has technical development that allows you to recruit stronger and more technologically advanced troops.

Many players are betting that the third part of the series will be the best strategy game of 2016!

• Dependence of military power on the economy;
• Many battle strategies;
• The need to balance economics and military strength.

Anno 1404

Out: 2009-2010

Genre: economic strategy

The plot is tied to a parallel reality, which, however, repeats real historical prototypes, such as the Crusades, the dawn of early forms of capitalism, and so on.

The gameplay is tied to economic warfare and the development of colonies and settlements. You, as an effective ruler, need to correctly calculate the distribution of resources for the development of cities and conduct diplomatic relations. The combat component of the game is divided into sea and land battles, however, the opportunity to wage war is not immediately open, but later becomes one of the elements that helps to defeat opponents.

All states are divided into two types: European and Eastern. A European country cannot fully develop without spices and quartz, produced only in the east, which naturally determines the need for active trade, which is also one of the main ways to earn gold. One of the key tasks in urban planning is the construction of large cultural elements such as cathedrals or mosques.

• Developed economy;
• An interesting process of urban planning;
• Advanced diplomacy system.

Total War series

Out: 2000-2015

Genre: global strategy

Some semblance of historical strategy. Actions take place on the global world map in different periods of time - it all depends on the part of the game. The player can choose any of the presented countries and subsequently capture the entire map, depending on the established victory conditions.

But it is not for its plot and historical component that this game is singled out as the best strategy on PC, but for its gameplay. It is built on the step-by-step movement of armies, the development and capture of cities in various countries. Battles take place in real time, where the player acts as a commander, places his troops on the map and directly leads the battle. There is also a politics mode where the player makes alliances, declares wars, exchanges resources, and so on.

• Interesting policy system;
• Interesting in-game battles in real time;
• A developed system of internal events (crusades, jihads, etc.);
• An advanced system for improving cities, depending on their location.

Disciples

Out: 1999-2010

Genre: turn-based strategy with RPG elements

The game takes place in the cruel fantasy world of Nevendaar, where dark forces constantly strive to awaken. Companies for all nations are available to the player to complete. It turns out that the player himself weaves the whole story. There are a total of five nations available in the game, including:

• Hordes of undead - servants of the ancient goddess of death Mortis;
• The Empire is a race of people under the protection of the supreme angels;
• Legions of the Damned - Betrezen's demonic minions;
• The Elven Alliance is a united army of elves led by Queen Ellumiel;
• Mountain clans are harsh foothill people led by a high king.

The gameplay is classic strategy. The player’s task is to intelligently explore the territory and upgrade the army. Oh yes, unlike other strategies, here you can only hire minions of lower levels, who then need to be upgraded, gaining experience in battle. Overall, the combat system in Disciples is unique, which is what made the game so successful. At the beginning, the player starts with one capital and a hero. The capital is a unique city guarded by a very strong creature, so it is almost impossible to break through the capital from the very beginning. The war is being waged over sources of magic - one of the resources and separate outposts that allow you to hire troops far from the capital.

• A unique system for leveling up creatures;
• Races are not alike;
• Race balance;
• An interesting system for using magic;

Age of Empires game series

Out: 1997-2007

Genre: real time strategy

Quite an old game that can also claim to be the best PC strategy of all time. The main advantage of this game is custom tournaments with large prize pools reaching up to 100 thousand dollars. The reason for such sums for such an old game is its fans from rich countries who can afford to spend such sums on organizing tournaments.

The gameplay itself comes down to a balance between technology, economy and army. Each nation can move between 5 eras in battle:

• Age of Exploration;
• Age of Colonization;
• The Age of Fortresses;
• Industrial Age;
• Age of Empire.

Each era opens up new research, types of troops and buildings. If you switch between eras early, without spending money on an army, then most likely you will be crushed by “homeless people”, and if you focus only on hiring troops, then most likely the enemy will crush you with a more high-tech limit.

Many players argue that to play effectively in AOE, you just need to be able to move your troops away from volleys of siege weapons and archers, which leads to low army losses and increased economic development, due to reduced resource consumption to maintain the combat limit.

Play AOE online with friends or random players via Steam, Tangle or Hamachi.

• The need for skillful balancing of all game aspects (economy, troops, research, construction);
• Balance of all races (in the latest version);
• Tournaments with large prize pools;
• Average game speed.

Age of Mythology

Out: 01.12.2002

Genre: Real-time strategy

Age of Mythology is somewhat similar to the game described above, but still has different roots and features that allow you to build a more interesting game.

The key feature of the game is the replacement of eras with the worship of gods, which bestow special powers and new mythical creatures with special characteristics and skills, such as fire or poisonous breath, freezing a key unit, etc.

Unlike AOE, where the player has only a human and siege limit, AOM also has a mythic limit, consisting of mythical creatures such as giants, dryads, rocs and others. AOM does not have such significant prize pools as AOE, but it also has its own community, among which relatively regular tournaments are held.

You can play AOM online via Steam, Tangle or Hamachi.

• It is necessary to correctly balance all game aspects (economy, troops, research, construction);
• Balance of all races and deities;
• You can play online;
• Average game speed.

Settlers 7

Out: 23.03.2010

Genre: RTS, city planning simulator

A simulator of building cities that subsequently create a vast kingdom. The main task of the game is to correctly place buildings, create transport connection between them. The player can develop his kingdom in three directions, including:

• Military production;
• Scientific approach;
• Trading perspective.

Each development path will ultimately lead the player to victory. For example, if you choose the military path, then the focus of your development will be the army, which will subsequently try to crush your enemies. Scientific path will help to defeat opponents with technology, and trade will help to capture the best trade routes on the entire map, which will provide an advantage over opponents. Each development path includes unique units.

Critics highlight good artificial intelligence, but a weak storyline.

• Good artificial intelligence;
• Expanded urban planning capability;
• Equality of development paths (economics, military development and technology).