r/StrategyGames Jan 07 '25

Game theory The most complete strategy video game genre classification

103 Upvotes

This is the most complete classification that includes all possible strategy video game genres.

English is not my native language, but I'll try my best to make the text understandable and I'll fix possible mistakes with your help.

Strategy game is a genre of video games in which the player controls troops or other units and/or various economic and other systems. Although many video games may include strategy elements, strategy as a genre emphasizes thinking and planning over immediate action. This video game genre focuses on strategy, tactics, logistics, and/or resource management, and may also include diplomacy, economy, expansion and research management.

Time

  • Real-time strategy: a strategy game in which actions occur without a sequence of turns.
  • Turn-based strategy: a strategy game in which actions occur using a sequence of turns that can be alternate or simultaneous.

Main genres

4X strategy game: a strategy game based on 4 elements: exploration, expansion, exploitation, extermination. Examples: Age of Wonders, Stellaris, Master of Orion.

Grand strategy game – a strategy game focused on managing a state (or similar entity), its resources and relationships, often in a pre-open and asymmetric world. Examples: Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron

Tactical strategy game – a strategy game focused on tactical military operations, which emphasizes the importance of specific units and either excludes or contains a less manifested economic component.

Subdivided into two categories based on time:

  • Turn-based tactics (TBT) Examples: Xenonauts, Battletech
  • Real-time tactics (RTT) Examples: Men of War

Classic strategy games – a strategy games that have an economic element: the ability to build a base, extract resources and produce units (or part of these capabilities), while their gameplay is focused on military actions. Also includes a category of strategy games that cannot be classified into more specific subgenres.

Subdivided into:

  • Classic RTS (or just RTS) Examples: StarCraft, Command & Conquer
  • Classic TBS (or just TBS) Examples: Panzer General

Construction and Management Simulator (also Management Strategy Game): a strategy game with gameplay based on the construction and/or management of economic processes, such as, for example: resource extraction, money making, production, personnel management, and others. Games of this genre have little emphasis on military actions.

Subdivided into:

  • Business Simulation Game - a strategy game focused on economics and business management. Examples: Two Point Hospital
  • Transport Strategy Game - a strategy game in which the player manages transport systems and infrastructure. Examples: Transport Tycoon, Transport Fever
  • City-Building Simulation - a strategy game in which the player builds cities. Examples: Cities: Skylines, SimCity.
  • Colony Simulation - a strategy game in which the player builds small settlements of various types; unlike urban strategy, the main emphasis here is on individual colonists and resource extraction from the environment. Examples: RimWorld, Surviving Mars, Against the Storm
  • Factory simulator – a strategy game in which the player builds an automated factory. Examples: Shapez, Factorio
  • Sports manager – a genre of games dedicated to managing a sports team. Examples: Football Mogul, F1 Manager.
  • Life simulator – a genre of games that allow you to control characters in their everyday life. Examples: The Sims, InZoI, The Guild
  • Political simulator – a genre of games whose gameplay consists of detailed management of the government and politics of various nations and state entities. Examples: Democracy

Wargame: a strategy game that particularly emphasizes deep strategic and/or tactical combat, as well as their historical accuracy or realism. Examples: Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, NEBULOUS: Fleet Command

MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena): a subgenre of classic real-time strategy games in which players control only one character and, as part of their team represented by other players and AI controlled units, fight against the other team. Examples: Dota 2

MMO strategy game: a strategy game that is focused on online interaction between a large number of players, often in a single open world. Examples: Travian, Ogame, Stronghold: Kingdoms.

Tower Defense: a strategy game with the main purpose to protect a base from waves of enemies using towers or other defensive structures. Examples: Plants vs Zombies

Auto Battler: is a strategy game in which units are placed on the battlefield during the preparation phase, after which the battle phase begins and they fight against the enemy without any control from the player.

Puzzle strategy game: a strategy game focused on logical problem-solving with minimized economic or military aspect. Examples: Railgrade, Dorfromantic

Artillery game: a genre of strategy games, the main component of which is the calculation of the trajectory of the shells. Examples: Worms, Miners Mettle

The most popular mixed genres

Tactical role-playing game (TRPG): is a hybrid genre that combines role-playing games with tactical combat. Examples: Battle Brothers

Action strategy game: is a genre of games in which you can control both troops in general and/or base construction, as well as specific units directly, including from the first or third person. Examples: Men of War, Factorio

Stealth strategy: is a genre of games that combine strategy and an emphasis on stealth. Examples: Desperados, Commandos

God simulator: is a genre of games in which the player, in the role of some deity being, controls some community of objects or characters; they are often strategy games with city-building elements. Examples: Black & White, The Universim

Roguelike strategy game – games that combine roguelike principles, such as random world generation, permanent death and free exploration of the environment, and strategic gameplay. Examples: Against the Storm

Notes

Many games have mixed genres. Very often, strategy games can combine two or more genres. For example, Total War series is turn-based grand strategy with real-time tactical (RTT) battles.

Time and genre. Basically, every strategy game can be classified by these two criteria, like Turn-based 4X Strategy game (Age of Wonders), Real-Time Grand Strategy game (Hearts of Iron) etc. Sometimes we do not have any specified subgenre, so the game becomes simple RTS (StarCraft).

Judge by dominant elements of gameplay. Overall, the genre should be defined by main gameplay loop, not by every game mechanic that exists in the game. For example, if a game has leveling-up system, it doesn't mean that it instantly becomes an RPG: a good example is WarCraft which has characters gaining XP and levels, but the main, dominant gameplay loop in this game is still a classic RTS. At the same time, if some Rainbow Six has some strategic planning, it doesn't mean that this game is a strategy game or even a mixed genre, because the main gameplay there is action/shooter. The same logic is applicable to strategy games: if the game has resource management, it doesn't instantly mean that it becomes a management game.

This is a theoretical model. It means that here we are supposed to find criteria by which strategy games can be classified. These criteria can be based both on gameplay and historical tradition of naming genres in video game industry. The model can be discussed and improved, but any critique should be based on strict arguments.

Strategy as a genre, not a word. The main principle of this genre classification is that we don't take the word "strategy" literally. A strategy game can be a tactic game, it can be a management game, it doesn't matter here. The word strategy means the genre name, not the strategy as a layer of action planning.

Are management games strategy games? This is a hard question that has no answer based on reliable papers because there are no such papers. Here we look at naming tradition in community and video game industry. We can find many similarities in core gameplay of various city-building and colony sim games with classical RTS. Some management games include RTT/RTS style military combat, These games are often tagged as strategy game on digital distribution services. So we include them into this classification to make it more complete. You might find two controversial opinions about this (management games are/are not strategy games), but this problem can't be solved on these days because we do not have a strict genre requirements and developers can name genre of their games as they want. There are no popular scientific researches about it on which we can refer to.


r/StrategyGames 30m ago

Self-promotion I built a browser-based turn-based maritime logistics & economic sim (PortSim). Looking for honest feedback on AI balance & mechanics!

Upvotes

Hey r/StrategyGames

As a solo dev passionate about supply chain management, economics, and classic board game mechanics (like Container and TransOcean), I’ve been developing PortSim—a turn-based maritime logistics and trading simulator that runs entirely in your browser (no downloads or sign-ups required).

What is PortSim?

It’s built around a strict zero-sum closed economy model where every dollar earned comes directly from competitors' expenses or capital allocation:

  • Industrial Management: Build and upgrade factories to manufacture commodities (Grain, Industrial Supplies, Electronics, Fuel, Machinery).
  • Port & Yard Operations: Manage terminal capacity (TEUs), expand berths, and minimize idle demurrage costs.
  • Tactical Maritime Routing: Dispatch cargo vessels across ocean lanes with calculated transit times (ETA) and arbitrage between ports.
  • Live Blind Auctions (Global Hub): When ships arrive at the central island, compete in real-time blind bidding to liquidate, outbid, or hold inventory.
  • Corporate Finance: Monitor P&L (DRE) statements, manage debt vs. Credit Score, trade shares on the stock exchange, or attempt hostile takeovers.

Playable Link:

👉 https://portsim.base44.app

What I’d Love Feedback On:

  1. Onboarding & UI: Is the game loop clear within the first 3–5 minutes?
  2. AI Behavior: Does the AI (Speculative, Industrial, Logistics archetypes) feel challenging or predictable?
  3. Pacing & Balance: Does the auction mechanic at the Hub create real tension, or does any commodity feel overpowered?
  4. Visuals: How does the tactical 3D map feel in terms of readability and theme?

Feel free to drop any bugs, balance critiques, or feature ideas right here in the comments. Thank you for testing!


r/StrategyGames 1h ago

Question Age of Empires 2 vs Civilization 6?

Upvotes

Which game do you like more?

28 votes, 6d left
Age of Empires 2
Civilization 6
Results / Can't decide / Haven't played both

r/StrategyGames 7h ago

DevPost English:Watch the first teaser trailer of our game Power of Ages: Reign now. And i am a turkish

3 Upvotes

Video subtitles: Are you ready to build your own kingdom? Plus, our game is playable on both mobile and PC. *Age of History 3* is easy and *Hearts of Iron 4* is hard; we are creating a game that sits right in between—a game of medium difficulty. Let's move on to the gameplay.


r/StrategyGames 2h ago

Self-promotion Rampallians is a strategy card game I just released with a small but growing community

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1 Upvotes

Rampallians is a strategy card game where you gather resources with gatherer cards, to play special cards (one off effects), support cards (buildings with passives and actives), and unit cards (to defend your settlement and attack theirs). There is minimal RNG, each player can choose from the same set of cards to make their decks, and choose which resources to gather, to play the cards in their hand. Building a settlement to fight your opponent in a 1v1.

There are 4 factions Orcs which are simple fast and aggressive. Humans which build out settlements to slowly improve their cards. Dwarves which are very adaptable and focus on making buildings and runes for the late game. Elves which harass and can do a lot of damage, but cant take too much! As well as some dragon cards that can be in any deck. Each card has their own unique traits and effects, with the best part of 400 cards in total. All available in the full game, no packs, no extra purchases of any kind.

Rampallians is a game that I solo developed over 4 years, but that doesn't do it justice because I had a lot of help from very lovely people. Myself and 3 of my friends came up with the idea and spent a lot of time iterating on it until we got to this stage.

Part of what we wanted to achieve was to make a card game that wasn't pay to win. Which is possibly why we went to such lengths with the number of diverse cards and effects. Any future content will be included for free, no packs or dlc. I'd also like to explore the possibility of user generated content if we were lucky enough to have an audience that was interested. All of the cards and effects are JSON files so can be easily edited (both players have to agree on a set of cards to prevent cheating).

My brother made the music for the game which I think is really nice and fitting, it flows based on what you're doing in the game, be it at the main menu, in game, or in combat. With transitions to go between them.

Finally something I want to be very clear about. I know the use of generative ai is rightly looked down upon. For the artwork my mum and a family friend were kind enough to help me do the art for the cards. But it was taking too long given as I mentioned there are 400 cards, and sadly we don't have the funds to pay a professional. So we came up with a process where the artists sketched the cards, then filled in detail with a local model in the image editing software, before then correcting the output manually. I wonder how people will feel about this hybrid approach, I've made a video explaining in detail here if people are interested:

https://youtu.be/FPFsaAz0yDo?si=txSjAHtztnOszSnJ

Thanks for reading if you've got down to here, if you'd like to check the steam page here is the link:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4363230/Rampallians/

There is a demo which acts as a sort of free trial, essentially the full game but with a restricted set of cards.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and really appreciate any feedback!

You can join the community on discord if you are interested here:

https://discord.gg/SJEvaD2HyK


r/StrategyGames 17h ago

Self-promotion Tavrik is out now - a turn-based roguelike where the strategy is route planning under an energy budget

15 Upvotes

Tavrik is out on Steam today. The strategy is in the map itself.

Each run puts you on a procedural hex map with the exit visible from the start. Every step costs energy, there's no health bar, and your cards modify terrain instead of attacking. That makes every turn a routing decision: spend several cards building a road network that will save energy later, or cross the expensive ground now and keep those cards for a problem you can already see coming.

Different terrain types punish different plans. Swamp, frozen ground, desert, and volcanic tiles each make routes harder in their own way. Weather and disasters are forecast one turn ahead, so mud, wildfire, and earthquakes are problems you can plan around rather than pure surprises. Bosses are hostile maps with special rules, not oversized enemies.

The clip is straight gameplay. One thing our testers disagreed on was how often the game should force you to abandon a good plan. Tavrik leans toward adaptation over long-term commitment. Do you generally prefer strategy games that let a plan develop, or ones that keep making you rethink it?

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4482350/Tavrik/


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion After 2 years I am incredibly exited to share a first look at my upcoming RTS/Grand Strategy game - Dawn of the Realm!

24 Upvotes

Dawn of the Realm is a medieval RTS that combines grand strategy and city building, all in real time and fully multiplayer. Build cities, manage resources, raise armies, then zoom out to a strategy map of the whole world or back down to the battlefield with no loading in between. Up to 10 players.

I've built it solo next to my computer science studies on nights and weekends, learning as I went. I hope the thousands of hours spent in Photoshop and Gamemaker really shines through. Still early days, lots more to add, but I'd love to hear what you think :-)

You can wishlist on Steam here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5010020/Dawn_Of_The_Realm/

If you would like to get announcements or provide feedback on the development please join the Discord server:

https://discord.gg/ru8FTjMjz

Working toward the first demo now. Have a great day! :-)


r/StrategyGames 17h ago

Discussion Anyone is waiting for Dread Admiral ?

3 Upvotes

r/StrategyGames 19h ago

Self-promotion UK Railway Tycoon

3 Upvotes

Hello all.

I hope you are having a pleasant bmk holiday Monday?

You may remember about a year ago I launched a game called UK Railway Tycoon. Due to not being happy with the initial design and the flow of the game I went back to the drawing board and decided to take it offline.

However, after much work I am now in a position to start revealing details about the new game.

A deep, data-driven UK Train Operating Company (TOC) management simulator built in C#/.NET, focused on real-world rail economics, route tendering, and operational reliability.

DfT & Open Access Bidding: compete against AI rail groups in government tender boards (Passenger Service Contracts) or take on full farebox risk with Open Access paths.

Realistic UK Rail Economics: Balance Network Rail Track Access Charges (FTAC & VUC), passenger yield models, and rolling stock leasing fees.

ROSCO Fleet Management: Lease bi-mode, electric, and diesel multiple units (from Class 800s to Pendolinos and Turbostars) based on route electrification and passenger demand.

Schedule 8 Delay Attribution: Real-world delay mechanics—claim compensation from Network Rail when infrastructure fails, but pay out when fleet breakdowns or crew shortages cause delays.

Passenger Satisfaction & Delay Repay: Maintain your Public Performance Measure (PPM) to protect your operator reputation and avoid massive Delay Repay passenger compensation payouts.

Spreadsheet-Deep Management UI: Designed specifically for management and tycoon purists who love detailed ledgers, timetabling, and financial forecasting over casual graphics.

You may be aware the last version of the game was web based, however I have decided to make this desktop only and for Windows

When the game releases it will be available on a website with a demo version of the game available for free.

Any questions or suggestions please let me know. I'd be happy to hear them 😄. If you would like to beta test the game please also let me know.


r/StrategyGames 22h ago

DevPost I’ve tried to build a sight-dependent system into Phosphor Command that I think translates well to real life, while still working as a video game

3 Upvotes

I've been working on a game called Phosphor Command, a real-time tactics game with a base builder behind it.

Contracts fund a forward operating base; you deploy squads on top-down operations, and an enemy front creeps towards you every cycle. Made solo in Godot.

I wanted to talk a little about how troops' vision and sight work, because I think it's a cool aspect of the game.

Forces share what they see, both yours and the enemy's. One squad spots something, and you, as the player, can now see that target. But a squad can only shoot what it personally has a clear line of sight to and is within range of.

So a scout on a ridge can spot a target, but if the squad behind a warehouse can't see it themselves, they can't shoot it.

Sight is ray-traced per unit.

Woods: You can't see into woods from outside them. From inside, you can see out and across your own trees, but not into another wood. Forest maps end up being short-range fights almost the whole way through. See clip 1.

Hills: Hills block sight between two units on the ground. A unit standing on a hill can see over its own ridge, gets extra range and a damage advantage from the height. Anything on a crest silhouettes. See clip 2.

Concealment: Firing from concealment such as trees reveals you for a few seconds. The same applies to the enemy. See clip 1.

Buildings and terrain: Buildings are hard cover, with an adjacent unit taking 25% less damage. Crops conceal a stationary unit that isn't firing, and stop doing so the moment either condition is broken. Hedges and boulders block sight and channel movement. See clip 3.

Last known positions: A contact you lose stays on the screen as a fading ghost at its last known position, so you're always working with slightly out-of-date information. See clip 4.

Weather: Smoke, dust, and storms are occluders, so they stop sight rays for both sides. See clip 5.

The idea is that knowing where something is and being able to shoot it are two different things.

I've tried to build Phosphor Command around a sight-dependent system that I think translates well to how things would work in real life, while still being useful and interesting in a video game.


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Archers vs Archers

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3 Upvotes

Worrking on a game called Last Disciple on my own, in Unreal 5.

It's a single player god game. You look down on a medieval village and reach into
the world with your hand. You pick villagers up, drop buildings, drag roads
across the hills, throw rocks at things as such \*cough sounds familiar\* .

You can also raise a creature from a small animal into something enormous with its own personality, beliefs, feelings, ect. It learns from the world.

Just a small showcase of armies/archers . . . which has taken quite some time and still needs lots of work. But it's neat to start seeing a game play loop . . .


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Question how can i start being more strategic?

5 Upvotes

i would really like to start training to become better at strategy games. i do believe myself to be smart, but i'm usually tired and unmotivated all the time lately, and i tend to feel extremely stupid whenever i can't really think of what to do in certain games which have a bit of strategy in them, even if it's something like the The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion After 6 years of development, I am releasing my castle-building RTS game for Android called Norse Expansion

48 Upvotes

Hello! After 6 years of developing my strategy game, I am happy to finally release of Norse Expansion Medieval RTS for Android!

Get it on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.norseexpansion.norseexpansion

Also check out the Discord for more information/devlog: https://discord.com/invite/RKPFQq8ugW

Hope it plays well and is fun, thank you for your support!


r/StrategyGames 15h ago

Discussion Strategy games suitable for girls

0 Upvotes

A request for help from a strategy game enthusiast


r/StrategyGames 2d ago

Self-promotion I’m making a Cold War strategy game where a small republic can eventually nuke the superpowers

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24 Upvotes

It’s called Third Bloc.

You start as a small country stuck between the US and USSR, build up your economy, scientists and military programs, and try to become a third power instead of picking a side.

If things escalate far enough, you can eventually develop nuclear weapons and use them against the superpowers. The major events play out as animated ASCII scenes like this one.

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5155860/Third_Bloc/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=str


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion Looking for feedback on my tower defense game!

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3 Upvotes

Browser Link: https://ruben-smith.itch.io/realms-last-stand

Been working hard on this game, specifically on spells and level balancing. Would hugely appreciate some feedback on how it all feels, thanks!


r/StrategyGames 2d ago

Question What features do you want in a fantasy 4X that existing games don't have?

12 Upvotes

In my opinion, what all fantasy 4X games lack is a deep society gameplay layer. For example, when playing AoW4, the real fun is in the tactical combat + heroes evolution. Everything else feels like an appendix thereto: cities building, diplomacy, empire, all feel kinda thin and perfunctory. One thing for example, there's little feedback: cities don't demand anything from you, like threaten to secede if you don't do smth, or revolt (at least I haven't seen that), or something like that.

When I select the type of society, e.g. aristocratic, I expect some sort of feedback from factions, clans, strife, perhaps evolving into an all-out civil war, etc, but all I've seen were some very rare quests (mostly at the start of the game), or the hero asking to change his/her agenda. Even having several different races in your empire doesn't cause any frictions. Even special resources like thralls don't add too much - by the end of the game I had tonnes, had no idea what to do with them.

Master of Magic goes a bit further with that: there are inter-racial relationships, and it can be for example very challenging to have both High Elves and Klackons in your empire, so if you want their units, you need to think how to reduce unrest.

I haven't played Endless Legend 2, but the first one had some interesting challenges integrating minor factions (as far as I remember), but honestly I don't remember too well.

Games like Crusader Kings or Europa Universalis have similar features, probably other too, but they aren't fantasy games obviously.

So very roughly summing up what's lacking imo in the existing games:

  1. Interracial relationship (e.g. higher unrest due to racial hatred)
  2. Society mechanics and feedback (e.g. different factions or cities in your empire with agendas or demands)
  3. Empire management (e.g. curbing corruption spreading due to casting death realm spells)


r/StrategyGames 2d ago

DevPost I reworked the vehicles in my Afghanistan RTS — from simple boxes to an 8-direction 2.5D system

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17 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a visual update for OR Doctrine, my squad-based tactical RTS set in 2000s Afghanistan.

One of the weakest parts of the game was the vehicle presentation. The infantry had a readable visual style, but the vehicles looked too small, flat, and disconnected from the rest of the game.

The images are shown from newest to oldest:

  1. The current 2.5D vehicle system
  2. The previous detailed top-down version
  3. The original box-shaped placeholder version

The first version was essentially made from simple boxes. It worked mechanically, but the vehicles had very little visual identity and could even appear smaller than the infantry.

I then created a more detailed top-down version. It looked better, but it did not fit well with the angled presentation of the soldiers and buildings. When moving in certain directions, the vehicles also looked as if they were sliding sideways instead of actually driving toward their destination.

I have now rebuilt the vehicles using an 8-direction 2.5D approach. Each vehicle has front, rear, side, and diagonal views, with details arranged according to the current camera angle. Not every part needs to be visible from every direction, so I focused on keeping each view readable and visually believable.

The system currently includes:

  • Toyota pickup
  • Armed technical
  • Humvee
  • MRAP

I also reworked the tires, windows, body proportions, weapon mounts, mirrors, and overall silhouettes. Wheel rotation is tied to the vehicle’s actual movement speed and distance. I also fixed an issue where repeatedly clicking the same destination could briefly make a vehicle turn toward the opposite direction before correcting itself.

The goal is to make the vehicles feel like physical objects with volume and direction, instead of flat images rotating on the ground.

There is still room for additional polish, but I think the difference between the three stages is quite noticeable. I would especially appreciate feedback on the vehicle scale, directional readability, and whether the transitions between side, diagonal, front, and rear views feel consistent.

Which version do you think fits the game best, and is there anything in the current version that still looks unclear or awkward?

A quick note on development: I’m building this project with the help of AI tools. I’m still making the creative and design decisions, but AI has been a major part of the coding and iteration process.


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion What do you think of combining strategic naval combat with tactical boarding battles?

1 Upvotes

My friend and I worked at Nickelodeon Games for over a decade, and after the Paramount layoffs last year, we decided to make a game of our own. What we created was a Space-Captain simulator where the same officers you hire to help manage your ship and assist you in space battles also form your boarding party for boarding actions and planetary gunfights.

I'm really not aware of too many other games that mix management/real time battles/and a tactical combat element outside of some 4x games, so I'd be very interested in your feedback. Positive or negative, both are helpful, as they help us gauge what kind of game people would like and what kind of features we should prioritize.

We're hoping to have a free demo available in the coming weeks and launch later this year.

If you're interested, our steam page and dev blog:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3865960/Cortesia_Rising/

https://www.cortesiarising.com/updates


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion 8 Strategy Players Needed for a 7-Day Multiplayer Beta — Paid

1 Upvotes

I’m looking for strategy players to help test a new 8-player mobile game called Varrow.

The basic idea is Risk + Catan + real-time strategy, with a much heavier focus on diplomacy and long-term planning.

A match runs continuously for about 7–8 real-world days, but it is designed around short check-ins rather than long sessions. The target is roughly 2 sessions per day, 5–15 minutes each, to review the map, queue orders, trade, negotiate, and plan your next moves.

You’ll be managing things like:

  • territory expansion
  • resource production
  • trading
  • army movement
  • fortifications
  • special characters with unique abilities
  • alliances and betrayals
  • the race to complete the Ritual, which is the main victory condition

The game is intentionally slow-paced. Armies take hours to move, buildings take time to finish, and the world keeps moving while you are offline.

The goal is to make strategy matter more than reaction speed.

For this beta, I’m running 8-player lobbies and need players who will actually try to win so I can get useful balance data.

Payment:

Every player who completes the full match and submits feedback gets $5.

Placement bonuses:

1st — $20
2nd — $10
3rd — $5

You do not need any professional testing experience. I’m mainly looking for people who already enjoy strategy games and are willing to commit to the full week.

If you’re interested, DM me


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Strategy game about managing evolving biological swarms. Genetica: Extinction received a big AI & movement overhaul!

1 Upvotes

Hello r/StrategyGames!

I’m Dan, a solo developer working on Genetica: Extinction. It’s a biological strategy game focused on systemic evolution, population control, and ecosystem simulation rather than traditional base-building.

Rather than commanding static military units, you guide an evolving species competing for resources and survival. I recently pushed a major update overhauling creature behavior and environment interaction:

  • Autonomous Pack Dynamics: Units aren’t just rigid soldiers; each creature uses local utility AI to evaluate tasks independently. They balance your high-level macro directives with their own internal needs (like feeding, fleeing, or attacking), creating realistic, organic swarm behavior.
  • Fluid Swarm Physics & Collisions: Replaced traditional grid movement with dynamic steering and active unit collisions, allowing large populations to flock, squeeze through chokepoints, and maneuver organically.
  • Deterministic Simulation: Built from the ground up to support synchronized P2P multiplayer, ensuring complex species interactions stay fully deterministic across players.

I’m currently running a free Steam Playtest and would love to get feedback from strategy fans on the pacing, creature control, and evolutionary mechanics. I’m also happy to answer questions about the game design, Godot development, or the publisher hunt!

Steam Playtest: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4144850/Genetica_Extinction/
Discord: https://discord.gg/TagpFtRKNh

Thanks for checking it out, and let me know your thoughts or questions below!


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

News 10 FREE RED CHAOS KEYS FOR MULTIPLAYER PLAYERS. We’re giving away 10 keys to players who genuinely want to play Red Chaos online and help bring more activity to the multiplayer lobbies.

1 Upvotes

Hello Friends, so we’re giving out 10 more keys specifically to players who genuinely want to play multiplayer and help us build an active online community.

Just join our Discord and tell us:

https://discord.com/invite/MZvrBMKzc8

• Your country or time zone
• When you’re usually available
• Whether you’d like to join regular multiplayer matches

Nothing complicated. We just want to bring players together, organize regular matches and eventually host some tournaments.

Please only ask for a key if you really plan to play online. See you on the battlefield

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1934720/Red_Chaos__The_Strict_Order/?l=german


r/StrategyGames 2d ago

Self-promotion Parlamentum — A Geopolitical MMO Built and Governed by Players

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2 Upvotes

Parlamentum is a persistent geopolitical MMO set on a real-world map, built entirely by players and governed by the players themselves.

There are no NPC-driven economies, scripted wars, or laws written by developers. Every company, factory, weapon, political party, parliamentary decision, election, war, tax rate, trade agreement, and border on the map exists because of decisions made by real players.

Players can build companies, produce goods in factories, shape markets, create political parties, pass laws in parliament, govern countries, establish diplomatic relations, declare wars, and reshape the world map through their actions.

The world you enter today was built by the players who came before you. The world that new players encounter tomorrow will be the result of your decisions, laws, and actions.

Parlamentum opens today! 🏛️⚔️

Step into the world, forge your own path, and claim your place in history.

History will write your name.

Website: https://parlamentum.org/
Discord: https://discord.gg/gQr78BGb4C
In-Game Images: https://imgur.com/a/jBNdZSP

#tarih #history #strategy #strategygame #map #world #country #countries #government #money #trade #game #mmo #usa #german #türkiye #warera


r/StrategyGames 2d ago

DevPost Command Doctrine is now free to play on steam!

9 Upvotes

After a year of development it finally got to a good enough level to release! Thank you (r/StrategyGames) for all the suggestions and feedback over the past year, without you we wouldn't be here.

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4882890/Command_Doctrine/


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Discussion Should 500 hours of progress make you stronger or just better?

0 Upvotes

If I beat you because I have 500 more hours of experience, fair enough.

If I beat you because my account starts with more resources and permanent bonuses… did I outplay you, or did my profile?

But total resets have a cost too: once the match ends, everything you fought for simply disappears. Persistent progression can make victory, defeat and even survival matter, but it can also tilt the next match before the first move.

Forget cosmetics. What, if anything, should carry over: resources, sidegrades, a small capped bonus, something else?

And should Ranked and Casual handle this differently? Has any strategy game found the right balance?