Pike's List of The Top Ten Strategy/Tactics Games of All Time

[Del Murder]

Ugh, that's too much work!

[Skyblade]

Ugh, that's too much work!

Actually, the problem for me is that most of those don't have characters. You never deal with more than the face of an empire, there's never a personal connection to any of them. From Civilization and Ghandi threatening me with nuclear weapons to XCOM and my army of mute mooks, the personal connection is just always missing.

I don't have a problem making my own story, I have a problem getting invested in a world of nonentities. Which is why TRPGs are always way more interesting than straight strategy games.

The best straight strategy game I've played was Master of Orion 2 (and a lot of that is because it's the best empire building sim of all time, in addition to being a great strategy game).

So go pick up Fire Emblem Awakening. You'll like it way more than any straight strategy game.

[Bolivar]

So go pick up Fire Emblem Awakening. You'll like it way more than any straight strategy game.

It's on its way from Amazon! You can expect your PM box to be filled in a few days

[Skyblade]

So go pick up Fire Emblem Awakening. You'll like it way more than any straight strategy game.

It's on its way from Amazon! You can expect your PM box to be filled in a few days

Forget that, we can make a thread for it. I was planning to soon anyway. By my calculations, we only have three more Thursdays before the last of the DLCs is out, and I was going to make a thread for it then to discuss them (they're awesome), but we can launch it earlier if I have someone to talk to about this game. And we'll drag Del into it too!

[HasteInTime]

Oh wow number one at the top is also my all time PC fav SMAC. Pike you rock...

[Pike]

Oh wow number one at the top is also my all time PC fav SMAC. Pike you rock...

Why thank you It's my all time favorite game as well. Tied with Morrowind and Deus Ex.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I just want to say that I am getting SMAC as we speak. I haven't really played anything of that genre of games, but I looked back at this thread for some reason and decided I needed to play SMAC. I see it mentioned all the time so I figure it's a good investment.

[Pike]

I'm going to congratulate you but also warn you that if you have never played a 4X before and you're going for SMAC as your first then you are in for one hell of a learning curve.

Good luck!

[Del Murder]

What's 4X?

[Pike]

It's the genre that games like Civilization fall under. It means a turn-based strategy game that is focused on making a big empire, I.E. exploration, expansion, exploiting and exterminating - which is where the term 4X comes from!

[Del Murder]

Which would be the best first game to try if you've never played these before?

[Pike]

I'd go for Civ IV or Civ V. IV is the better game but V is supposed to be friendlier to newbies.

[kotora]

Your opinion is wrong, Brood War oughta be way higher. Otherwise, good list, but missing a shoutout to Total Annihilation/Supreme Commander! I don't think any other game has attempted RTS on such a grand scale.

[Pike]

Brood War is my favorite RTS but this is covering all sorts of strategy/tactics genres, not just RTS, so some concessions had to be made.

Haven't played Total Annihilation/Supreme Commander yet.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

You are right; I have no idea what I am doing, haha. I am looking into getting Civ IV in the future when I have some more money. I just got SMAC because it was $5 and I figured I might as well give it a go. Do you have any advice for playing SMAC?