A strategy game is a genre of video games in which planning and strategic thinking are the key to victory. They can contain different themes: military (Total War), economic (Caesar), social science (Civilization) simulations, etc.
Turn-based strategies originate from board games where players take turns. Such board games as Go, chess, and Monopoly are considered to be the forerunners of strategy video games.
Subspecies
Strategies are divided into two main subtypes: “turn-based” and “real-time” strategies. It is also possible to combine them – a turn-based solution on a strategic map with real-time battles on a tactical map.
Turn-based strategy (TBS) – players take turns making moves.
Real Time Strategy (RTS) – players can take simultaneous actions, usually has more dynamism and a greater emphasis on tactics rather than strategy.
Global strategy – a subgenre of strategy video games in which the player takes on the role of a ruler on a large scale: a country, empire, planet or galaxy.
If we try to summarize the entire strategy genre, we can identify several key features:
- Management of conditional masses. In strategies, there are usually many units, buildings, and other resources available for the player to manage.
- The scale of open spaces. Battles or city construction take place
- on relatively large maps, up to the whole planet or space system.
- The presence of an economic component. In many strategies, players will have to manage some valuable resource, extracting and correctly distributing it for all needs.
- The importance of planning. Unlike shooters, racing simulators, arcades, or fighting games, tactics, drawing up an action plan, and constant analysis of the battlefield are crucial in strategies and constant analysis of the battlefield.