1.
Strategy video game
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Strategy video games are a video game genre that focuses on skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory. It emphasizes strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges, many games also offer economic challenges and exploration. They are generally categorized into four sub-types, depending on whether the game is turn-based or real-time, Strategy video games are a genre of video game that emphasize skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory. Specifically, a player must plan a series of actions against one or more opponents, victory is achieved through superior planning, and the element of chance takes a smaller role. In most strategy games, the player is given a godlike view of the game world. Thus, most strategy games involve elements of warfare to varying degrees, in addition to combat, these games often challenge the players ability to explore, or manage an economy. Even though there are action games that involve strategic thinking. A strategy game is larger in scope, and their main emphasis is on the players ability to outthink their opponent. Strategy games rarely involve a challenge, and tend to annoy strategically minded players when they do. Compared to other such as action or adventure games where one player takes on many enemies. Each side generally has access to resources and actions, with the strengths. Although strategy games involve strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges, a strategy game calls for planning around a conflict between players, whereas puzzle games call for planning in isolation. Strategy games are distinct from construction and management simulations, which include economic challenges without any fighting. These games may incorporate some amount of conflict, but are different from strategy games because they do not emphasize the need for direct action upon an opponent, Conflict in strategy games takes place between groups or singular combatants, usually called units. Games vary in how many types of units a player can use, units vary in their movement and speed, as well as the amount of health or damage they can withstand. Units may also have different levels of strength or range. Although units are used for combat, they may also be used for other purposes such as transport. Units that cannot move such as fixed turrets are still treated as units
2.
4X
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4X is a genre of strategy-based video and board games in which players control an empire and eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World, since then, others have adopted the term to describe games of similar scope and design. 4X computer games are noted for their deep, complex gameplay, emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of non-military routes to supremacy. Games can take a time to complete since the amount of micromanagement needed to sustain an empire increases as the empire grows. 4X games are sometimes criticized for becoming tedious for these reasons, the earliest 4X games borrowed ideas from board games and 1970s text-based computer games. The first 4X computer games were turn-based, but real-time 4X games are not uncommon, many 4X computer games were published in the mid-1990s, but were later outsold by other types of strategy games. Sid Meiers Civilization is an important example from this formative era, in the new millennium, several 4X releases have become critically and commercially successful. In the board game domain, 4X is less of a genre, in part because of the practical constraints of components. The Civilization board game gave rise to Sid Meiers Civilization computer game, for instance, has no exploration. Unless extermination is targeted at non-player entities, it tends to be nearly impossible or certainly unachievable in board games. The term 4X originates from a 1993 preview of Master of Orion in Computer Gaming World by Alan Emrich, the four Xs were an abbreviation for EXplore, EXpand, EXploit and EXterminate. Other game commentators adopted the 4X label to describe a genre with specific gameplay conventions. This information gathering binds resources, applies, the players must choose when to invest how many resources into exploration. Usually the game map contains all relevant elements of play, such as production facilities, special resources. Revealing their type and location is vital to be able to plan ahead, in case the game implements the fog of war-concept, it is not enough to explore the map, but players must also observe it. E. g. the game of chess absolutely lacks the element of concealment. Does this make chess less complex, expand means players must increase their potential to generate production points and/or research points and/or maintenance points. Players do this by investing their available resources into population growth or production facilities or research facilities, again the players must choose when to invest how much into what
3.
Multiplayer online battle arena
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The objective is to destroy the opposing teams main structure with the assistance of periodically spawned computer-controlled units that march forward along set paths. Player characters typically have various abilities and advantages that improve over the course of a game, MOBA games are a fusion of action games, role-playing games and real-time strategy games, in which players usually do not construct either buildings or units. Because of the influence, the term DotA is sometimes used to refer to the genre as a whole. It was followed by the two successors, League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth, and eventually a sequel, Dota 2. The roots of the genre can be traced back decades to one of the earliest real-time strategy titles and it has been cited as a precursor to, or an early example of, the MOBA genre. It used a formula, where each player controls a single command unit in one of two opposing sides on a battlefield. In 1998, Future Cop, LAPD featured a strategic Precinct Assault mode similar to Herzog Zwei, Herzog Zweis influence is also apparent in several later MOBA games such as Guilty Gear 2, Overture and AirMech. In 1998, computer game company Blizzard Entertainment released its best-selling real-time strategy game StarCraft with a suite of game editing tools called StarEdit, the tools allowed members of the public to design and create custom maps that allowed play very different from the normal maps. A modder known as Aeon64 made a map named Aeon of Strife that became very popular. Aeon64 stated that he was attempting to create gameplay similar to that of Future Cop, in the Aeon of Strife map, players controlled a single powerful hero unit fighting amidst three lanes, though terrain outside these lanes was nearly vacant. In 2002, Blizzard released Warcraft III, Reign of Chaos, both the MOBA and tower defense subgenres took substantive shape within the WC3 modding community. A modder named Eul began converting Aeon of Strife into the Warcraft III engine, Eul substantially improved the complexity of play from the original Aeon of Strife mod. Shortly after creating the custom DotA map, Eul left the modding scene, with no clear successor, Warcraft III modders created a variety of maps based on DotA and featuring different heroes. Called DotA, Allstars, it was inherited after a few months by a modder called Steve Guinsoo Feak, the changes conducted by IceFrog were well-received and the number of users on the Dota, Allstars forum is thought to have peaked at over one million. By 2008, the popularity of DotA had attracted commercial attention and that year, The Casual Collective released Minions, a Flash web game. Gas Powered Games also released the first stand-alone commercial title in the genre, in late 2009, Riot Games debut title, League of Legends initially designed by Feak, was released. Riot began to refer to the genre as a multiplayer online battle arena. Also in 2009, IceFrog, who had continued to develop DotA, Allstars, was hired by Valve Corporation, in 2010, S2 Games released Heroes of Newerth, with a large portion of its gameplay and aesthetics based on DotA, Allstars
4.
Tower defense
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This typically means building a variety of different structures that serve to automatically block, impede, attack or destroy enemies. Tower defense is seen as a subgenre of strategy video games, due to its real-time origins. Strategic choice and positioning of elements is an essential strategy of the genre. The tower defense genre can trace its lineage back to the age of arcade video games in the 1980s. The object of the arcade game Space Invaders released in 1978 was to defend the territory against waves of incoming enemies. The 1980 game Missile Command changed that by introducing a strategy element, in the game, players could obstruct incoming missiles, and there were multiple attack paths in each attack wave. Missile Command was also the first of its kind to use of a pointing device. The innovation was ahead of its time and anticipated the genres later boom, additionally, in Missile Command, the sole target of the attackers is the base, not a specific player character. For these reasons, some regard it as the first true game in the genre, while later arcade games like Defender and Choplifter lacked the strategy element of Missile Command, they began a trend of games that shifted the primary objective to defending non-player items. In these games, defending non-players from waves of attackers is key to progressing, ataris 1982 title Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back was one of the first tie-ins to popularize the base defense style. The concept of waves of attacking the base in single file proved a formula that was subsequently copied by many games as the shift from arcade to PC gaming began. Players were now able to choose different methods of obstructing attackers progress. By the mid 1980s, the elements began to further evolve. Rampart, released in 1990 is generally considered to have established the tower defense. Rampart introduced player placed defenses that automatically attack incoming enemies, in addition, it has distinct phases of build, defend and repair. These are now staple gameplay elements of games in the genre. It was also one of the first multiplayer video games of its kind, while Rampart was popular, similar games were rarely seen until the widespread adoption of the computer mouse on the PC. The DOS title Ambush at Sorinor was an exception from this era
5.
Real-time tactics
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Real-time tactics or RTT is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics. This contrasts with other current strategy game genres, for instance, in large-scale turn-based strategy games battles are generally abstracted and the gameplay close to that of related board games. As suggested by the name, also fundamental to real-time tactics is real-time gameplay. The genre has its roots in tactical and miniature wargaming, where battle scenarios are recreated using miniatures or even simple paper chits and these board and table-top games were out of necessity turn-based. Only with computer support was turn-based play and strategy successfully transposed into real-time, while some publications do refer to RTT as a distinct subgenre of real-time strategy or strategy, not all publications do so. Nonetheless, efforts have made to distinguish RTT games from RTSs. For instance, GameSpy described Axis & Allies as a true RTS, a developer for Close Combat said their game never aspired to be an RTS in the classic sense, but was rather a real time tactical simulation, lacking such features as resource collection. In the context of video games, however, the difference often comes down to the more limited criteria of either a presence or absence of base building. Real-time strategy games have been criticized for an overabundance of tactical considerations when compared to the amount of gameplay found in such games. Taylor then went on to say that his own game featured added elements of a strategic level. In an article for GameSpy, Mark Walker said that developers need to begin looking outside the genre for new ideas in order for strategy games to continue to be successful in the future. In an article for Gamasutra, Nathan Toronto criticizes real-time strategy games for too often having only one means of victory—attrition—comparing them unfavorably to real-time tactics games. He also says that building and managing armies is the definition of real-time strategy. Wargaming with items or figurines representing soldiers or units for training or entertainment has been common for as long as organised conflicts, today, miniature wargaming, where players mount armies of miniature figurines to battle each other, has become popular. Since most established rule sets were for turn-based table-top games, the leap to translate these categories to real time was also a problem that needed to be overcome. Likewise, Free Fall Associates 1983 title Archon can be considered an early real-time tactics game, built upon Chess but including real-time battle sequences. Another predecessor was Bits of Magics Centurion, Defender of Rome, in which, similar to the recent Rome, Total War game, however, though the battles were in real-time they were of small scope and player interaction was limited to deciding the initial troop disposition. Lords of the Realm, released in 1994 by Impressions Games, around 1995, computer hardware and developer support systems had developed enough to facilitate the requirements of large-scale real-time tactical games
6.
Tactical role-playing game
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A tactical role-playing game is a genre of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and emphasizes tactical rather than high-level strategic gameplay. In Japan these games are known as Simulation RPGs and this subgenre of role-playing video games principally refers to games which incorporate elements from strategy video games as an alternative to traditional role-playing game systems. Like standard RPGs, the controls a finite party and battles a similar number of enemies. And like other RPGs, death is usually temporary, but this genre incorporates strategic gameplay such as tactical movement on an isometric grid. Unlike other video game genres, tactical RPGs tend not to feature multiplayer play, a distinct difference between tactical RPGs and traditional RPGs is the lack of exploration. For instance, Final Fantasy Tactics does away with the typical third-person exploration to towns and dungeons that are typical in a Final Fantasy game, instead of exploration, there is an emphasis on battle strategy. Players are able to build and train characters to use in battle, utilizing different classes, including warriors and magic users, depending on the game. Battles will have specific winning conditions, such as defeating all enemies or surviving a certain number of turns, in between battles, players can access their characters to equip them, change classes, train them, depending on the game. Tactical RPGs are descendents of traditional games, such as chess, and table-top role-playing and war games, such as Chainmail. The format of a tactical RPG video game is also like a traditional RPG in its appearance, pacing, likewise, early table-top strategy wargames like Chainmail are descended from skirmish wargames, which were primarily concerned with combat. A year later, in 1983, Ultima III, Exodus used a combat system. The game revolves around a king who must recruit soldiers and lead his army against overwhelming forces, while each unit gains experience. It is also considered to be an early prototype real-time strategy game, according to Takahashi, Silver Ghost was a simulation action type of game where you had to direct, oversee and command multiple characters. Unlike later tactical RPGs, however, Silver Ghost was not turn-based and it also featured a point-and-click interface, to control the characters using a cursor. A similar game released by Kure Software Koubo that same year was First Queen, combining the basic concepts from games like Dragon Quest and simple turn-based strategy elements, Nintendo created a hit, which spawned many sequels and imitators. During the 16-bit generation, among the first imitators was Langrisser by NCS/Masaya and it was translated for North American release and retitled Warsong. The Langrisser series differed from Fire Emblem in that it used a general-soldier structure instead of controlling main characters, Langrisser, too, spawned many sequels, none of which were brought to North America. Langrisser set itself apart from other tactical RPGs in its time with larger-scale battles, since Der Langrisser in 1994, the series offered non-linear branching paths and multiple endings
7.
Turn-based tactics
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The gameplay of turn-based tactics game is the stop-action counterpart to that found in the real-time tactics genre, and as such contrasts with other current wargame genre. As suggested by the name, also fundamental to turn-based tactics is turn-based gameplay. The genre has its roots in tactical and miniature wargaming, the recreation of battle scenarios using miniatures or even simple paper chits using relatively intricate rules, further, in most turn-based tactics games a players force is maintained between battles. During the 1980s, as microcomputers and personal computers became powerful and more common. Some early tactical wargames for the computer included Gary Grigsbys series of games for the Commodore 64 and Apple II, Panzer Strike, Battle Isle is a series of games developed starting in 1991 by Blue Byte Software. Set on a planet, Chromos, and inspired by the Japanese game Nectaris. Battle Isle also spawned a man-to-man wargame, Incubation, Time Is Running Out, two sequels followed, Steel Panthers II, Modern Battles in 1996 and Steel Panthers III, Brigade Command 1939-1999 in 1997. Another group, SP-Camo, developed and released Steel Panthers, World War II, the SP-Camo games were based on the Steel Panthers II engine. Both the Matrix Games and SP-Camo versions had many fans and resulted in several releases with enhanced graphics, program code changes, another game originally scheduled to be a computerized Squad Leader/ASL was Combat Mission. While not the first 3-D tactical warfare game, it set a standard for realism. Combat Mission, Beyond Overlord received critical acclaim upon release in 2000, two follow up games were released in 2002 and 2004, which improved the infantry game with better suppression and automatic fire modelling. The game featured a WEGO system, where orders were entered sequentially, and this type of system had been what the original board wargame designers of Firefight et al. had dreamed of, but were restricted to creating manually. Tactical wargames are a type of wargames that models military conflict at a level, i. e. units range from individual vehicles. These units are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry and this subgenre is principally used to refer to RPG-derived games as an alternative to the traditional turn-based system. In such titles, the system has been tailored to incorporate role-playing game characteristics, there are several turn-based tactical games with multiplayer online gameplay featuring large numbers of players, such as Dofus, Gunrox, and Poxnora. Darkwind, War on Wheels, an auto racing simulation, is the only turn-based tactical game currently to have a persistent world. It is also one of the few games to simulate turn-based auto racing, some role-playing video games, such as The Temple of Elemental Evil and the Gold Box games of the late 80s and early 90s, also feature tactical turn-based combat. Some turn-based tactics titles, such as Jagged Alliance 2 and the X-COM series, feature a strategic layer in addition to tactical turn-based combat
8.
Artillery game
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Artillery games are early two or three-player video games involving tanks fighting each other in combat or similar. Artillery games have been described as a type of shooting game, early precursors to the modern artillery-type games were text-only games that simulated artillery entirely with input data values. A BASIC game known simply as Artillery was written by Mike Forman and was published in Creative Computing magazine in 1976. This seminal home computer version of the game was revised in 1977 by M. E. Lyon and Brian West and was known as War 3, War 3 was revised further in 1979 and published as Artillery-3. These early versions of turn-based tank combat games interpreted human-entered data such as the distance between the tanks, the velocity or power of the shot fired and the angle of the tanks turrets. The Tektronix 4051 BASIC language desktop computer of the mid-1970s had a program called Artillery which used a storage-CRT for graphics. A similar program appeared on the HP2647 graphics terminal demo tape in the late 1970s, an early graphical version of the artillery game for personal computers emerged on the Apple II computer platform in 1980. The Apple II variant also took wind speed into account when calculating the result of the fired shot. Lines on the screen showed the players the paths that previous shots had taken toward their target, similar games were made for home computers such as the Commodore PET by 1981. In 1983, Amoeba Software published a game called Tank Trax and this was again the classic version of the Artillery Game, however you could change the height of the hill in between the players to either a mountain or a foothill. The players also had the names of General Patton and Monty. Video game console variants of the game soon emerged after the first graphical home computer versions. A two-player game called Smithereens. was released in 1982 for the Magnavox Odyssey² console in which two catapults, each behind a fortress wall, launched rocks at each other. Although not turn-based, the game use of the consoles speech synthesis to emit sarcastic insults when one player fired at the other. The first widespread artillery-based video game was Artillery Duel, Artillery Duel was released in 1983 for the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision video game consoles as well as the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 home computer platforms. The game featured more elaborate background and terrain graphics as well as a simple graphical readout of wind speed, with the increased presence of IBM-compatible PCs came the arrival of artillery games to the platform. In 1988, Artillery Combat, or EGAbomb, was released by Rad Delaroderie, written in Turbo BASIC, following in 1990, Tank Wars was released by Kenny Morse and published by Microforum for MS-DOS-based PCs. Tank Wars introduced the concept of buying weapons and multiple AI computer-player tanks to the artillery game, in 1991, one artillery style game in particular got widespread attention when Gorillas was distributed as part of QBasic with MS-DOS5
9.
Wargame (video games)
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Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical accuracy. The genre of video games is derived from earlier forms of wargames. The games thematically represent the hobby, although they tend to be less realistic in order to increase accessibility for more casual players. The amount of realism varies between games as game designers balance an accurate simulation with playability, the computer gaming industry generally evolved with minimal reference to board games, so the term wargame is not traditionally used in the context of computer games. In February 1980 Strategic Simulations, Inc. was the first to sell a serious, professionally packaged computer wargame and it and Strategic Studies Group were computer game companies that continued the genre by specializing in games that borrowed from board and miniature wargames. The companies enjoyed a certain popularity throughout much of the 1980s, talonSoft started in 1995 with a similar focus, until purchased and later closed down by Take-Two Interactive in 2002. The popular direction of the current market is towards real-time strategy games exemplified by StarCraft and these games are strategic in the gaming sense, but tactical in the military sense. These are generally high-action games that include a number of conveniences that enhance gameplay, the primary gameplay mode in a wargame is usually tactical, fighting battles. Wargames sometimes have a mode where players may plan their battle or choose an area to conquer. Because it is difficult to provide an intelligent way to delegate tasks to a subordinate, units are usually scaled to be disproportionately large compared to the landscape, in order to promote effective gameplay. These games usually use a faster time line than reality. Many contemporary computer strategy games can be considered wargames, in the sense that they are a simulation of warfare on some level, the mechanics and language have little in common with board and miniature games, but the general subject matter is popular and provides a thematic link. Tabletop wargames are usually categorized according to the scale of the confrontation, the qualifiers real-time and turn-based are not taken into account as all tabletop wargames are, by necessity, turn-based. However, sometimes video wargames are also described according to the scale of conflict, while it has been argued that computer wargame video games lack the realism of traditional games, they may include features that are impractical for tangible games. One such approach is using fog of war, whereby players are unable to see the landscape beyond the simulating viewing distance of their units. This is made practical in digital games by the difference of competing against artificial intelligence or remote competitors with their own view of the playing field. Computer Bismarck - - generally credited as the first serious computer war-game, eastern Front - Called the first war game that competed with pencil-and-paper games and one of the best selling programs on the Atari 8-bit family. Introduced scrolling maps, pondering AI, morale, supply considerations, panzer General - - recognizably a traditional wargame next to Close Combat
10.
History of video games
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The history of video games goes as far back as the early 1950s, when academic computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations as part of their research. Since the 1980s, video gaming has become a form of entertainment. One of the games was Spacewar. Which was developed by computer scientists, early arcade video games developed from 1972 to 1978. During the 1970s, the first generation of consoles emerged, including the popular game Pong. The 1970s was also the era of computer games. The golden age of video games was from 1978 to 1982. During the 1980s, gaming computers, early online gaming and handheld LCD games emerged, from 1976 to 1992, the second generation of video consoles emerged. The third generation of consoles, which were 8-bit units, emerged from 1983 to 1995, the fourth generation of consoles, which were 16-bit models, emerged from 1987 to 1999. The 1990s saw the resurgence and decline of arcades, the transition to 3D video games, improved handheld games, the fifth generation of consoles, which were 32 and 64-bit units, was from 1993 to 2006. During this era, mobile phone gaming emerged, during the 2000s, the sixth generation of consoles emerged. During this period, online gaming and mobile games became important, the seventh generation of consoles was from 2005 to 2012. In 2013, the generation of consoles emerged, including Nintendos Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, Microsofts Xbox One. PC gaming has been holding a market share in Asia. The term video game has evolved over the decades from a technical definition to a general concept defining a new class of interactive entertainment. Technically, for a product to be a game, there must be a video signal transmitted to a cathode ray tube that creates a rasterized image on a screen. From a technical standpoint, these would more properly be called games or computer games. Today, however, the video game has completely shed its purely technical definition
11.
Strategy game
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A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decision tree style thinking, the term strategy comes ultimately from Greek, meaning generalship. It differs from tactics in that it refers to the scheme of things. In abstract strategy games, the game is loosely tied to a thematic concept. The rules do not attempt to simulate reality, but rather serve the internal logic of the game, a purists definition of an abstract strategy game requires that it cannot have random elements or hidden information. This definition includes such games as chess, Go and Arimaa, a smaller category of non-perfect abstract strategy games incorporate hidden information without using any random elements, for example, Stratego. One of the most focused team strategy games is contract bridge and this card game consists of two teams of two players, whose offensive and defensive skills are continually in flux as the games dynamic progresses. Some argue that the benefits of playing this team strategy card game extend to those skills and strategies used in business, eurogames, or German-style boardgames, are a relatively new genre that sit between abstract strategy games and simulation games. They generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction, the games emphasize strategy, play down chance and conflict, lean towards economic rather than military themes, and usually keep all the players in the game until it ends. This type of game is an attempt to simulate the decisions, most of the rules are chosen to reflect what the real-world consequences would be of each player action and decision. Abstract games cannot be divided from simulations and so games can be thought of as existing on a continuum of almost pure abstraction to almost pure simulation. Wargames are simulations of military battles, campaigns or entire wars, players will have to consider situations that are analogous to the situations faced by leaders of historical battles. As such, war games are usually heavy on simulation elements, popular miniature wargames include Warhammer 40,000 or its fantasy counterpart Warhammer Fantasy. Popular strategic board wargames include Risk, Axis and Allies, Diplomacy, advanced Squad Leader is a successful tactical scale wargame. Strategy video games are categorized based on whether they offer the continuous gameplay of real-time strategy, Game of chance Game of skill Mind sport
12.
Wargaming
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A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the dedicated to the play of such games. When used professionally by the military to study warfare, war game may refer to a theoretical study or a full-scale military exercise. Hobby wargamers have traditionally used wargame, while the military has generally used war game, business wargames exist as well, but in general, they are only role-playing games based on market situations. Wargames are generally categorized as historical, hypothetical, fantasy, or science fiction, Historical games by far form the largest group. These games are based upon events and attempt to represent a reasonable approximation of the actual forces, terrain. Hypothetical games are games grounded in fact but concern battles or conflicts that did not actually happen. Fantasy and science fiction wargames either draw their inspiration from works of fiction or provide their own imaginary setting, highly stylized conflict games such as chess are not generally considered wargames, although they are recognized as being related. Games involving conflict in other arenas than the battlefield, such as business, the modern wargaming hobby has its origins at the beginning of the 19th century, with von Reiswitzs Kriegsspiel rules. Later, H. G. Wells book Little Wars ushered in the age of miniatures games in two or more players simulated a battle as a pastime. During the 1950s the first large-scale, mass-produced board games depicting military conflicts were published and these games were at the height of their popularity during the 1970s, and became quite complex and technical in that time. Like all games, wargames exist in a range of different complexities, some are fundamentally simple—often called beer-and-pretzel games—whereas others attempt to simulate a high level of historical realism. These latter games typically require extensive rulebooks that encompass a variety of actions. These games often require a study of the rules before they can be played. Wargames also feature a range of scales, from games that simulate individual soldiers, Wargames are generally a representational art form. Usually, this is of a fairly concrete historical subject, the Cold War provided fuel for many games that attempted to show what a non-nuclear World War III would be like, moving from a re-creation to a predictive model in the process. Risk could be considered a wargame, it uses a map of the Earth and is unabashedly about sending out armies to conquer the world. However, it has no readily-discernible timeframe, and combat is extremely abstract, leading many to not consider it as an actual wargame, the highest percentage of war-themed games that are not wargames come from the video game industry
13.
Board game
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A board game is a tabletop game that involves counters or pieces moved or placed on a pre-marked surface or board, according to a set of rules. Some games are based on strategy, but many contain an element of chance. Games usually have a goal that a player aims to achieve, early board games represented a battle between two armies, and most modern board games are still based on defeating opposing players in terms of counters, winning position, or accrual of points. There are many varieties of board games and their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme, like checkers, to having a specific theme and narrative, like Cluedo. Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history, the Pilgrims and Puritans of New England frowned on game playing and viewed dice as instruments of the devil. In Thoughts on Lotteries Thomas Jefferson wrote, Almost all these pursuits of chance produce something useful to society, but there are some which produce nothing, and endanger the well-being of the individuals engaged in them or of others depending on them. Such are games with cards, dice, billiards, etc. and suppress the pursuit altogether, there are some other games of chance, useful on certain occasions, and injurious only when carried beyond their useful bounds. Such are insurances, lotteries, raffles, etc and these they do not suppress, but take their regulation under their own discretion. As the US shifted from agrarian to urban living in the century, greater leisure time. The American home, once the center of production, became the locus of entertainment, enlightenment. Children were encouraged to board games that developed literacy skills. The earliest board games published in the United States were based upon Christian morality, the Mansion of Happiness, for example, sent players along a path of virtues and vices that led to the Mansion of Happiness. The missionaries are cast in white as the symbol of innocence, temperance, and hope while the pope and pagan are cast in black, the color of gloom of error, and. grief at the daily loss of empire. Commercially produced board games in the century were monochrome prints laboriously hand-colored by teams of low-paid young factory women. Advances in paper making and printmaking during the period enabled the production of relatively inexpensive board games. The most significant advance was the development of chromolithography, an achievement that made bold. Games cost as little as US$.25 for a small boxed card game to $3.00 for more elaborate games, American Protestants believed a virtuous life led to success, but the belief was challenged mid-century when Americans embraced materialism and capitalism. The accumulation of material goods was viewed as a divine blessing, in 1860, The Checkered Game of Life rewarded players for mundane activities such as attending college, marrying, and getting rich
14.
Chess
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Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a chessboard, a checkered gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Chess is played by millions of people worldwide, both amateurs and professionals, each player begins the game with 16 pieces, one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six piece types moves differently, with the most powerful being the queen, the objective is to checkmate the opponents king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. To this end, a players pieces are used to attack and capture the opponents pieces, in addition to checkmate, the game can be won by voluntary resignation by the opponent, which typically occurs when too much material is lost, or if checkmate appears unavoidable. A game may result in a draw in several ways. Chess is believed to have originated in India, some time before the 7th century, chaturanga is also the likely ancestor of the Eastern strategy games xiangqi, janggi and shogi. The pieces took on their current powers in Spain in the late 15th century, the first generally recognized World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886. Since 1948, the World Championship has been controlled by FIDE, the international governing body. There is also a Correspondence Chess World Championship and a World Computer Chess Championship, online chess has opened amateur and professional competition to a wide and varied group of players. There are also many variants, with different rules, different pieces. FIDE awards titles to skilled players, the highest of which is grandmaster, many national chess organizations also have a title system. However, these are not recognised by FIDE, the term master may refer to a formal title or may be used more loosely for any skilled player. Until recently, chess was a sport of the International Olympic Committee. Chess was included in the 2006 and 2010 Asian Games, since the 1990s, computer analysis has contributed significantly to chess theory, particularly in the endgame. The computer IBM Deep Blue was the first machine to overcome a reigning World Chess Champion in a match when it defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997, the rise of strong computer programs that can be run on hand-held devices has led to increasing concerns about cheating during tournaments. The official rules of chess are maintained by FIDE, chesss international governing body, along with information on official chess tournaments, the rules are described in the FIDE Handbook, Laws of Chess section. Chess is played on a board of eight rows and eight columns. The colors of the 64 squares alternate and are referred to as light, the chessboard is placed with a light square at the right-hand end of the rank nearest to each player
15.
Reversi
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Reversi is a strategy board game for two players, played on an 8×8 uncheckered board. There are sixty-four identical game pieces called disks, which are light on one side, Players take turns placing disks on the board with their assigned color facing up. The object of the game is to have the majority of disks turned to display your color when the last playable empty square is filled, Reversi was most recently marketed by Mattel under the trademark Othello. The game Reversi was invented in 1883 by either of two Englishmen, Lewis Waterman or John W. Mollett, and gained popularity in England at the end of the nineteenth century. The games first reliable mention is in the August twenty-first 1886 edition of The Saturday Review, later mention includes an 1895 article in The New York Times, Reversi is something like Go Bang, and is played with 64 pieces. In 1893, the well-known German games publisher Ravensburger started producing the game as one of its first titles, the modern version of the game — the most regularly used rule-set, and the one used in international tournaments — is marketed and recognized as Othello. It was patented in Japan in 1971 by Goro Hasegawa, then a 38-year-old salesman, Hasegawa established the Japan Othello Association on March 1973, and held the first national Othello championship on April 4,1973 in Japan. The Japanese game company Tsukuda Original launched Othello in late April,1973 in Japan under Hasegawa’s license, the green color of the board is inspired by the image of the general Othello, valiantly leading his battle in a green field. It can also be likened to a competition, since players engulf the pieces of the opponent. Othello was first launched in the U. S. in 1975 by Gabriel Industries, reportedly, Othello game sales have exceeded $600 million and more than 40 million classic games have been sold in over 100 different countries. Hasegawa also wrote How to Othello in Japan in 1974, which was translated into English. Kabushiki Kaisha Othello, which is owned by Hasegawa, registered the trademark OTHELLO for board games in Japan, all intellectual property regarding Othello outside Japan is now owned by MegaHouse, a Japanese toy company that acquired PalBox, the successor to Tsukuda Original. Each of the two sides corresponds to one player, they are referred to here as light and dark after the sides of Othello pieces. The game may for example be played with a chessboard and Scrabble pieces, with one player letters, the historical version of Reversi starts with an empty board, and the first two moves by each player are in the four central squares of the board. The players place their disks alternately with their color facing up, a player may choose to not play both pieces on the same diagonal, different from the standard Othello opening. It is also possible to play variants of Reversi and Othello wherein the players second move may or must flip one of the opposite-colored disks. Convention has initial board position such that the disks with dark side up are to the north-east and south-west, if the disks with dark side up are to the north-west and south-east, the board may be rotated by 90° clockwise or counterclockwise. All reversed pieces now show the side, and dark can use them in later moves—unless light has reversed them back in the meantime
16.
Draughts
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Draughts or checkers is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. The name derives from the verb to draw or to move, there are many other variants played on an 8×8, and Canadian checkers is played on a 12×12 board. The 8×8 variant of draughts was weakly solved in 2007 by the team of Canadian computer scientist Jonathan Schaeffer, from the standard starting position, both players can guarantee a draw with perfect play. Draughts is played by two opponents, on sides of the gameboard. One player has the pieces, the other has the light pieces. A player may not move an opponents piece, a move consists of moving a piece diagonally to an adjacent unoccupied square. If the adjacent square contains a piece, and the square immediately beyond it is vacant. Only the dark squares of the board are used. A piece may move only diagonally into an unoccupied square, capturing is mandatory in most official rules, although some rule variations make capturing optional when presented. In almost all variants, the player without pieces remaining, or who cannot move due to being blocked, uncrowned pieces move one step diagonally forward, and capture an opponents piece by moving two consecutive steps in the same line, jumping over the piece on the first step. Multiple opposing pieces may be captured in a single turn provided this is done by successive jumps made by a single piece, in English draughts men can capture only forward, but in international draughts and Russian draughts they may also capture backwards. As with non-king men, a king may make successive jumps in a single turn provided that each jump captures an opponent man or king. In international draughts, kings move any distance along unblocked diagonals, flying kings are not used in English draughts, in which a kings only advantage over a man is the ability to move and capture backwards as well as forwards. Once a game has been gridlocked, where back and forth moves between same locations on the board avoid jumps, the player with the majority of free space wins the games. In most non-English languages, draughts is called dame, dames, damas, the pieces are usually called men, stones, peón or a similar term, men promoted to kings are called dames or ladies. In these languages, the queen in chess or in games is usually called by the same term as the kings in draughts. A case in point includes the Greek terminology, in which draughts is called ντάμα, the World Championship in English draughts began in 1840. The winners in mens have been from the United Kingdom, United States, Barbados, the womens championship in English draughts started in 1993
17.
Hare games
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Hare games are two-player abstract strategy board games that were popular in medieval northern Europe up until the 19th century. In this game, a hare is trying to get past three dogs who are trying to surround it and trap it, Hare games are similar to Bear games and hunt games. One side has more pieces than the other with the side attempting to hem in the smaller side. The smaller side though is usually compensated with more powers, where Hare games differ is that the hares can only move forward or sideways, and not backwards. The hunters in the Bear games can move in all directions, furthermore, the dog in the Hare games cannot capture any of the hares, unlike the tigers, leopards, jaguars, and foxes in the hunt games which can capture their respective prey counterparts. There are several different Hare game boards depending upon the country of origin, many preferred the narrow double-ended spearhead-like boards with orthogonal and diagonal lines running through them. There were several variations on this design, however, one in Denmark used a round board, and another design is found in Latvia. Hare games are referred to by different names, in 19th century France, a hare game that was popular among the military was called The Soldiers Game. The dog is referred to as a hound, and hence the alternative title to this game as Hare. Other names are French Military Game, Game of Dwarfs, The Devil among tailors, as the rules of the game are simple to program, there are many electronic implementations of the game. Online versions are written in Java. The second link below allows you to play this game, in this computer game, the hares and hounds are reversed. Instead, it is the hounds attempting to surround and immobilize the hare, the three hounds attempt to surround and immobilize the hare. The hare attempts to pass the hounds, and/or reach the end of the board. There are a variety of Hare game boards, the more common one is a two-ended spearhead-like board with orthogonal and diagonal lines running through it. Three pieces representing the hounds are of one color, and one representing the hare is of another color. Players decide which animal to play, Hounds can only move straight forward, diagonally forward, or sideways. They cannot move backwards in any way and they can only move one space per turn onto a vacant point, and follow the pattern on the board
18.
Go (game)
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Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent. The game was invented in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago and it was considered one of the four essential arts of the cultured aristocratic Chinese scholar caste in antiquity. The earliest written reference to the game is recognized as the historical annal Zuo Zhuan. The modern game of Go as we know it was formalized in Japan in the 15th century CE, despite its relatively simple rules, Go is very complex, even more so than chess, and possesses more possibilities than the total number of atoms in the visible universe. Compared to chess, Go has both a board with more scope for play and longer games, and, on average. The playing pieces are called stones, one player uses the white stones and the other, black. The players take turns placing the stones on the vacant intersections of a board with a 19×19 grid of lines, beginners often play on smaller 9×9 and 13×13 boards, and archaeological evidence shows that the game was played in earlier centuries on a board with a 17×17 grid. However, boards with a 19×19 grid had become standard by the time the game had reached Korea in the 5th century CE, the objective of Go—as the translation of its name implies—is to fully surround a larger total area of the board than the opponent. Once placed on the board, stones may not be moved, capture happens when a stone or group of stones is surrounded by opposing stones on all orthogonally-adjacent points. The game proceeds until neither player wishes to make another move, when a game concludes, the territory is counted along with captured stones and komi to determine the winner. Games may also be terminated by resignation, as of mid-2008, there were well over 40 million Go players worldwide, the overwhelming majority of them living in East Asia. As of December 2015, the International Go Federation has a total of 75 member countries, Go is an adversarial game with the objective of surrounding a larger total area of the board with ones stones than the opponent. As the game progresses, the players position stones on the board to map out formations, contests between opposing formations are often extremely complex and may result in the expansion, reduction, or wholesale capture and loss of formation stones. A basic principle of Go is that a group of stones must have at least one liberty to remain on the board, a liberty is an open point bordering the group. An enclosed liberty is called an eye, and a group of stones with two or more eyes is said to be unconditionally alive, such groups cannot be captured, even if surrounded. A group with one eye or no eyes is dead and cannot resist eventual capture, the general strategy is to expand ones territory, attack the opponents weak groups, and always stay mindful of the life status of ones own groups. The liberties of groups are countable, situations where mutually opposing groups must capture each other or die are called capturing races, or semeai. In a capturing race, the group with more liberties will ultimately be able to capture the opponents stones, capturing races and the elements of life or death are the primary challenges of Go
19.
Fire Emblem
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Fire Emblem is a tactical role-playing video game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. First produced and published for the Family Computer, the series consists of original games. A noted aspect of gameplay is the permanent death of characters in battle, development of the first game began as a dōjin project by Shouzou Kaga and three other developers. Its success prompted the development of titles in the series. Kaga headed development of each entry until the release of Thracia 776, no games in the series were released outside of Japan until two characters, Marth and Roy, were included as playable characters in the 2001 fighting game Super Smash Bros. Their popularity eventually convinced Nintendo to release the game, The Blazing Blade. Many games in the series have sold well, despite a decline during the 2000s which resulted in the series near-cancellation. Individual entries have generally praised, and the series as a whole has been praised for its gameplay. Characters from multiple games have also included in crossovers with other franchises. According to a interview with the developers of Fire Emblem Fates, there are currently fifteen games in the Fire Emblem series. The official Fire Emblem World portal lists thirteen games, excluding Fates, counting only original titles, there have been twelve games in the series including Fates. A game was initially in development for the Nintendo 64 and its peripheral 64DD, originally codenamed Fire Emblem 64, it was first revealed by Shigeru Miyamoto in 1997. It was speculated, and later confirmed by staff, that the work done for Fire Emblem 64 was incorporated into Binding Blade. A different title for the Wii was planned, but after some trial and error, in addition to a development schedule. No original Fire Emblem title is planned for the Wii U. The first entry in the series, Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, was released in 1990 for the Japanese Family Computer, a second title for the Famicom set during the events of the first game, Fire Emblem Gaiden, released in 1992. In 1994, Mystery of the Emblem was released for the Super Famicom, two more games were released for the Super Famicom in 1996 and 1999 respectively, Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776. The next entry released was Binding Blade in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance, a prequel to Binding Blade, The Sword of Flame, was released for the Game Boy Advance the following year
20.
The Battle for Wesnoth
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The Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based strategy video game with a fantasy setting, designed by David White and first released in June 2003. In Wesnoth, the attempts to build a powerful army by controlling villages. The game is based on the Sega Genesis games Master of Monsters. The Battle for Wesnoth is free software, available under the GPLv2 license in source form, the Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based wargame played on a hex map. The strategy of battle involves fighting on terrain, at a favorable time of day. Other concerns are capturing villages that produce gold for unit recruitment, games of Wesnoth come both in the form of single-player campaigns and multiplayer matches. Each unit in Wesnoth has its own strengths and weaknesses, a units defense is based on the terrain it stands on, elves, for example, are difficult to hit when fighting in a forest. Different types of attacks, weapon types, and a cycle that alternately favors lawful and chaotic units, alter the amount of damage a unit deals. Throughout the campaigns, units can advance to higher level counterparts, a central design philosophy of the game is the KISS principle, for a new idea to be accepted, it should not complicate gameplay. Another important facet of the game is randomness and its manipulation, it is never certain a units attack will fail or succeed, developers have stated that the potential for a skirmish to go better or worse than expected adds excitement and strategic depth to the game. Campaign stories span the history and geography of the world, but most focus on the human kingdom of Wesnoth, which suffers frequent invasions of orcish raiders. The name Wesnoth was originally developed by the creator as a combination of syllables that he thought would sound good as a name for a fantasy land. This etymology is explained in the campaign The Rise of Wesnoth, the Battle for Wesnoth currently has six default factions to choose from, Rebels Consist mostly of elvish units, with ent-like woses, mermen, and mages. Most of their level 1 units are capable of melee and ranged attacks, making the rebels very versatile. Elves ignore the time of day and have high defense in forests and they are generally faster, but slightly weaker than other units in most other terrain. Knalgan Alliance These consist of slow but sturdy dwarves with strong melee attacks, generally, dwarves gain a high defense when occupying mountains and hills. Dwarves are also adept at traversing caves than any other faction. They are vulnerable to attack in open terrain, while their human outlaws fight better in this same terrain, loyalists These are human cavalry, mages and infantry that ordinarily fight better in the daytime, with mermen allies
21.
PoxNora
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PoxNora, Battlefield of the Immortals is a multiplayer online game that combines a collectible card game with a turn-based strategy game in a fantasy setting. PoxNora was originally launched via Java Web Start through a browser and can be played on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, the game is free to play with Sample Battlegroups, and players can purchase additional game pieces, called runes, and build their own strategies. The game currently includes more than 1600 runes, the game was originally designed and developed by Octopi Media Design Lab, which as of January 16,2009 became owned by and operated by Sony Online Entertainment. This division of SOE was formerly referred to as SOETucson, on April 1,2011, SOE closed down the Tucson studio along with its Seattle and Denver studios, laying off over 200 employees in the process. Some members of the PoxNora team were moved to the San Diego HQ to continue development, players build decks, called Battle-groups, on PoxNoras website. A Battlegroup consists of thirty runes in any combination of spells, relics, equipment, the game is launched via Java Web Start and players enter one of four game lobbies where they can chat or enter games. A fifth game lobby is reserved solely for trading discussion, Games consist of two players, though matches against AI bots are possible now with the release of single-player campaigns, first introduced in the Path to Conquest Expansion. Each players Battlegroup is shuffled and players reveal two runes per turn, the game is played on one of 8 different square, tiled maps with various obstacles, fonts, and a Shrine representing each player. The first to destroy their opponents Shrine wins, players accumulate Nora each turn and can use it to cast spells, deploy champions, place relics, or use equipment. When a champion rune is played, it appears on the map and can be moved around. Champion movement is limited by their Action Points, which regenerate at the start of the players turn. Champions gain Champion Points as they participate in battles, players can spend CP to improve or add to their champions abilities. Tokens can be used to increase the CP of a champion by 25,50,100, or 200, tokens are obtained through purchasing traditional booster packs or separate token packs. Tokens can be traded with other players for alternative tokens or runes, the game can be played free. Originally, to be able to upgrade runes, or to trade for other runes, it was necessary to purchase runes. A player reward system with gold that can be earned in-game now allows access to all aspects of the game with no cash transactions, though some runes are unavailable for gold, every booster pack has a set number of rarity slots. Players trade runes to obtain better runes or to make a better deck, there are several rune shops in the Trader forum that can give players a good idea of what their runes are worth. Two versus two was added to PoxNora
22.
Silent Storm
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Silent Storm is a tactical role-playing game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Russian developer Nival Interactive and published by JoWood in 2003. The game is set in a fictionalized World War II Europe with science fiction elements, an advanced game engine, the Silent Storm engine, was developed for the game and reused in several later titles. Silent Storm was followed by the expansion Silent Storm, Sentinels in 2004, a third game taking place in the same setting, Hammer & Sickle, was co-developed by Novik&Co and released in 2005. A Gold edition containing both the game and the expansion was released in Europe later that same year. The player commands a team of up to six elite soldiers on the Axis or Allied side, once the player begins a campaign, they may select a premade character or create their own to lead the team through the game. Once the introductory mission is complete, the player can access a base complete with a station, armoury, personnel. From this point, the player may select a team of six characters from a pool of 20, each character has a role such as medic, sniper, scout, grenadier, soldier or engineer. Each role has different advantages and liabilities in battle, as the player progresses through the game, the armoury will receive new weapons for the player to use, either stolen from enemies or contributed from their own forces. Silent Storm depicts a variety of the authentic weaponry and equipment of circa 1943 with great detail. Mixed into otherwise realistic elements is a plot that features secret weapon projects reminiscent of spy-fi, most notable are the Panzerkleins, crude powered armour suits. The game features a remarkably advanced physics model, nearly all structures are completely destructible. This has many effects in the combat. For instance, if a character hears an enemy moving in an adjacent room, Silent Storm also employs ragdoll physics for bodies according to the precise velocity of an impact. Fully three-dimensional mapping allows for calculations and cover effects from all angles. Bullets ricochet and their stopping power depends on the weapon, the effects are exaggerated for a more cinematic experience. The games story takes place during World War II in an alternate history, Thors Hammer Organization, is a shadowy organization with connections all over Europe and the goal of world domination. The obvious influence of Norse mythology on the name is further shown by the fact that all THO members use a mythological name as their call sign. In exchange for the services of both Allied and Axis higher-ups, Thors Hammer provides them some of their inventions, including Panzerkleins
23.
Steel Panthers
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Steel Panthers is a series of computer wargames, developed and published by several different companies, with various games covering battles from 1930 to 2020. The first game was released in 1995, and the most recent was released in 2006 and is updated regularly. In 1996, Computer Gaming World magazine named it their Wargame of the Year, players control individual tanks and vehicles from a top-down perspective, on a map with a hexagonal overlay. Infantry are mostly in squad/section sized units, but some units, like snipers, the whole force under a players control would typically be Battalion sized, but may be as small as a Platoon or Company, or as large as a Regiment/Brigade. The games are turn-based and are played against the AI or other humans via email or hotseat, as with other tactical turn-based wargames, the game features realistic military control, with the smallest common units being squads, up to a brigade sized force. The player takes control of nearly every aspects of warfare around his soldiers, from simple ammunition usage, to the morale, disposition, the game features, packed single-battle scenarios and campaigns, single battle generator, campaign generator, and long campaign generator. All of the games in the series are similar in features. However, the part in the original series is clearly distinct in that it offers platoon-size formations instead of the scale of individual tanks. The games offer various modes of play, human vs. human, human vs. AI, the players receive historical military units at the beginning of a scenario and have the option to buy reinforcements with points earned in different ways. The units are moved on a hexagon grid map similar to a large number of board. In addition to battles and campaigns, players can customize single scenarios or create their own campaigns. The latest available version is 8.403. There also exists ongoing development by The Camo Workshop based on the Steel Panthers II code, the Camo Workshop introduced new features to their two Windows based versions of Steel Panthers. Steel Panthers, World War 2 features battles from 1930 through 1946, Steel Panthers, Main Battle Tank features battles from 1946 to 2025, with 93 different nations to allow for the simulation of a variety of different real and hypothetical conflicts. Those versions are maintained and improved. In 2005 Shrapnel Games took over distribution of SPCAMOs output, handling the distribution of the Windows version of their games, WinSPMBT was released in June of that year as a free download. A CD version with added features was also offered as a commercial product. WinSPWW2 was released on May 15,2006, the soundtrack to Steel Panthers featured tracks composed by Rick Rhodes and Danny Pelfrey
24.
King's Bounty
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Kings Bounty is a turn-based fantasy computer and video game designed by Jon Van Caneghem of New World Computing in 1990. The game follows the character, a hero of King Maximus, appointed with the job of retrieving the Sceptre of Order from the forces of chaos. Kings Bounty is notably considered the forerunner of the Heroes of Might, a Mega Drive/Genesis port was developed and released in North America on February 21,1991, with a multitude of graphical changes. The gameplay was modified to incorporate real time overworld exploration. In 2008, a sequel titled Kings Bounty, The Legend was released. The player leads the hero and his army across the four continents, various details of this task are left to players discretion, allowing for flexible gameplay. If the sceptre is not recovered before King Maximus dies, the ends in defeat. The location of the sceptre, the artifacts and which castles the villains inhabit are all randomized each game, the hero is given a weekly commission from the king to track down 17 villains across the 4 continents. With each defeat of the progressively stronger villains army, the character claims another piece of the map revealing the sceptres burial location, along the way, numerous treasure chests are encountered scattered across the map. As the player explores, he encounters various types of native to the different continents. Most of these creatures are significant upgrades from the human forces available to the player at the Kings castle. However, as their strength increases, so does the amount of required to retain them. Furthermore, each of the army units have either a positive, neutral. An army composed of creatures that each other lowers their morale. Conversely, recruiting creatures which share a positive predisposition towards each other increases their morale, assembling an ideal army is another open-ended aspect of the game. Kings Bounty features four selectable hero classes, Barbarian, Knight, Paladin, each class varies in magical ability, starting troop power, natural leadership ability, and Commissions. As the kings bounty is collected on more villains, the king may increase the rank of the hero and this rank determines in part what troops the hero may recruit, and more importantly, the strength of the heros attributes. Combat in Kings Bounty occurs when sieging an occupied castle or engaging a wandering army on the main map, Combat turns are simple, with the players army moving first, followed by the opponents
25.
Great Big War Game
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Great Big War Game is a modern military 3D turn-based strategy video game developed by Rubicon Development. It has been released on iOS, Android and Microsoft Windows, the game is a sequel to Great Little War Game. The game features multiple environment types, and 50 levels in campaign mode, much like its predecessor GBWG has received mostly positive reviews. IGN gave it a score of 9.5 out of 10.0, Official Website Official Website of Rubicon Development
26.
Nintendo Wars
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The series debuted in Japan on August 12,1988. Like another Intelligent Systems series, Fire Emblem, earlier installments of the series were released only in Japan, Advance Wars was the first to reach the North American and European markets. Advance Wars was released in the United States on September 10,2001, in 2005, Advance Wars, Dual Strike was released on the Nintendo DS platform, which follows the basic form of its predecessors. That same year Battalion Wars, developed by Kuju Entertainment, was released for the Nintendo GameCube in Japan under the title Totsugeki, Famicom Wars, where it is considered a spin-off from the main series. Battalion Wars is a 3D action real-time strategy game, as opposed to the strategy of the main series. The player takes the role of a Commanding Officer in an army, in the most recent title, Days of Ruin, it is replaced by a nation called Rubinelle. In the single-player campaign of the Advance Wars games, each consists of a new map. Victory is achieved when all the units have been destroyed, their HQ is captured. COs take turns recruiting and commanding units on grid-based maps, units available include infantry, tanks, artillery, bombers, and many other military units. Each turn, a unit may move around and/or perform an action, certain actions, such as capturing, diving, or loading may only be performed at certain instances throughout the game. The original Famicom Wars game consists of two armies, Red Star and Blue Moon fighting over square grid-based maps, the two armies could either be controlled by human players, or a human player could play against an AI opponent. Game Boy Wars also features a different opposing army called White Moon, otherwise, the rules remains identical, and only in Game Boy Wars 3 were unit levels and a new resource introduced. Super Famicom Wars, the sequel to Famicom Wars, introduced Yellow Comet and Green Earth and it returned to the basic square grid-based map style of the original game. The Advance Wars games introduced new elements. Black Hole Rising introduced Super CO Powers, and Dual Strike introduced Tag CO Powers, conditions such as fog of war, rain, and snow affect the abilities of units to reveal the map and move around. Days of Ruin removed many of the added to previous Advance Wars games, greatly weakening CO Powers. Multiplayer mode is an important part of the Nintendo Wars series and this allows players to compete against friends, each choosing a Commanding Officer to play and country to represent. The Advance Wars series of games, along with the far lesser known Game Boy Wars 3, include map editors, in the original Famicom Wars, two players were allowed to play, in Game Boy Wars, players could play hotseat multiplayer games
27.
XCOM 2
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XCOM2 is a turn-based tactics video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux in February 2016, XCOM2 is the sequel to 2012s reboot of the series, XCOM, Enemy Unknown. Players take control of the Avenger, the new base for XCOM. Soldiers can be recruited, with each class having their own skill trees and abilities. For example, the Grenadier class can access to explosives and grenade launchers. Armor and weaponry can also be researched and upgraded by the player in the Avenger base, campaign, class and enemy types can be created by users and can be shared through Steam Workshop. A one-versus-one multiplayer mode also returns from Enemy Unknown, new enemies are also featured, such as units from the new faction, ADVENT, and more alien types like the Viper. At the start of most missions, the squad will be concealed. They can position their troops to plan their battle and ambush enemies, the player can also loot corpses of enemies to obtain weapons, upgrade parts and artifacts. Players can also hack into enemies mechanical weapons like turrets and temporarily shutdown or control them for themselves. Soldiers in the squad can be killed by enemies, however, likewise, if a soldier is critically wounded and it is deemed necessary to abandon the mission, a soldier can carry the wounded soldier to extraction where they are revived upon leaving the map. This includes semi-random attacks on the Avenger by alien UFOs, which cause an automatic game loss if failed. The mission structure of the game is different from other XCOM video games. Reinforcements play a role, and depending on the mission. Another feature added is the Avatar Program, a project run by the aliens, that gradually proceeds over time. This can be delayed by sabotaging alien research facilities and other semi-random events, customization also returns from Enemy Unknown, in which players can customize their soldiers personalities, names, uniforms, and costumes. Furthermore, genders, nationalities, and weapons can also be customized, bonus customization options are available in the downloadable Resistance Warrior Pack. which was given for free as a pre-order bonus as well as being made available for purchase. The game is set in 2035,20 years after the events of XCOM, XCOM proved incapable of attenuating the alien threat and was quickly betrayed by the council nations, who surrendered to the aliens shortly after the invasion began
28.
Freeciv
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Freeciv is a single, and multiplayer, turn-based strategy game for workstations and personal computers inspired by the proprietary Sid Meiers Civilization series. It is available for most desktop computer operating systems and available in a browser based version. Released under the GNU General Public License, Freeciv is free, the games default settings are closest to Civilization II, in both gameplay and graphics. Players take the role of leaders in 4000 B. C. who must guide their peoples through the centuries. Over time, new technologies are discovered, which allow the construction of new city buildings, players can wage war on one another or form diplomatic relationships. The game ends when one civilization has eradicated all others or accomplished the goal of space colonization, if more than one civilization remains at the deadline, the player with the highest score wins. Points are awarded for the size of a civilization, its wealth, the rules of the game were close to Civilization, while the client/server architecture was basically that of XPilot. For the developers, Freeciv 1.0 was a proof of concept. But Freeciv was already playable and addictive enough to pick up students as players, bugfixers. It was useful enough to be picked up by popular Linux distributions, designed to be portable, it was ported to many platforms, which helped its survival. In 1998, computer players were added that could soon beat newcomers to the game with ease, a public server was installed that hosted games permanently, archiving them and publishing a post-game analysis webpage including per-player statistics and an animated map replay. Subsequent 1. x releases improved the GUI, improved the gameplay, incessant city building turned out to be a critical success factor, developing larger cities did not appear worthwhile. As many regular players reached excellent gaming skills, diplomacy became essential and this necessitated a distinct phase of rapturing under relatively peaceful conditions, hence, games were almost always played in teams and typically took longer to finish when compared to 1. x games. In 2006 TCP and UDP port number 5556 was assigned to Freeciv by IANA, Freeciv is described as an example in The Art of Unix Programming. Some studies and courses use Freeciv as a platform for experimenting with the design, Freeciv is very configurable, down to the specific rules, so it can be played in Freeciv mode, Civilization mode, Civilization II mode, or a custom mode. One or several players act as administrators and can configure the game rules. Typically modified rules are, Number of players required before the game can be started, the maximum number of players is 126 in the latest version of Freeciv. Initially, the server is in phase, in this phase, clients can connect
29.
Open-source model
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Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner. According to scientists who studied it, open-source software is a prominent example of open collaboration, a 2008 report by the Standish Group states that adoption of open-source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers. In the early days of computing, programmers and developers shared software in order to learn from each other, eventually the open source notion moved to the way side of commercialization of software in the years 1970-1980. In 1997, Eric Raymond published The Cathedral and the Bazaar and this source code subsequently became the basis behind SeaMonkey, Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird and KompoZer. Netscapes act prompted Raymond and others to look into how to bring the Free Software Foundations free software ideas, the new term they chose was open source, which was soon adopted by Bruce Perens, publisher Tim OReilly, Linus Torvalds, and others. The Open Source Initiative was founded in February 1998 to encourage use of the new term, a Microsoft executive publicly stated in 2001 that open source is an intellectual property destroyer. I cant imagine something that could be worse than this for the software business, IBM, Oracle, Google and State Farm are just a few of the companies with a serious public stake in todays competitive open-source market. There has been a significant shift in the corporate philosophy concerning the development of FOSS, the free software movement was launched in 1983. In 1998, a group of individuals advocated that the free software should be replaced by open-source software as an expression which is less ambiguous. Software developers may want to publish their software with an open-source license, the Open Source Definition, notably, presents an open-source philosophy, and further defines the terms of usage, modification and redistribution of open-source software. Software licenses grant rights to users which would otherwise be reserved by law to the copyright holder. Several open-source software licenses have qualified within the boundaries of the Open Source Definition, the open source label came out of a strategy session held on April 7,1998 in Palo Alto in reaction to Netscapes January 1998 announcement of a source code release for Navigator. They used the opportunity before the release of Navigators source code to clarify a potential confusion caused by the ambiguity of the free in English. Many people claimed that the birth of the Internet, since 1969, started the open source movement, the Free Software Foundation, started in 1985, intended the word free to mean freedom to distribute and not freedom from cost. Since a great deal of free software already was free of charge, such software became associated with zero cost. The Open Source Initiative was formed in February 1998 by Eric Raymond and they sought to bring a higher profile to the practical benefits of freely available source code, and they wanted to bring major software businesses and other high-tech industries into open source. Perens attempted to open source as a service mark for the OSI. The Open Source Initiatives definition is recognized by governments internationally as the standard or de facto definition, OSI uses The Open Source Definition to determine whether it considers a software license open source
30.
Civilization (series)
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Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy video games first released in 1991. Sid Meier developed the first game in the series and has had creative input for most of the rest, there have since been six main games in the series, a number of expansion packs and spin-off games, as well as board games inspired by the video game series. The series is considered an example of the 4X genre, in which players achieve victory through four routes, eXplore, eXpand, eXploit. All titles in the series share similar gameplay, centered on building a civilization on a macro-scale from prehistory up to the near future. Each turn allows the player to move his or her units on the map, build or improve new cities and units, in between turns, computer players can do the same. The player will also choose technologies to research and these reflect the cultural, intellectual, and technical sophistication of the civilization, and usually allow the player to build new units or to improve their cities with new structures. In most games in the series, one may win by military conquest, achieving a level of culture, building an interstellar space ship, or achieving the highest score. The series was first developed by Meier while at MicroProse, the studio he co-founded, after MicroProse was acquired by Spectrum Holobyte, Meier left with other designers to form Firaxis Games in 1996, who has been the principal developer of the series since. As of February 2017, the series has shipped more than 40 million total units, Sid Meier and Bill Stealey co-founded MicroProse in 1982 to develop a number of flight simulators and military strategy software titles. Around 1989, Meier wanted to start developing new types of games to expand his repertoire, inspired by the recent successes of the god games SimCity, Meier considered these games demonstrated that video games did not need to be about destruction all the time. He worked with a recent hire, Bruce Shelley, a board game designer from Avalon Hill. They first created Railroad Tycoon in 1990, inspired by Shelleys work at producing Avalon Hills 1830, The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons, inspired by Francis Treshams 1829. Meier then became to brainstorm ideas on combining global conquest inspired by Risk, city management from the early Empire games, and adding in the concept of a technology tree. Meier worked back and forth with Shelley to refine this prototype before presenting it to the company in full to bring to a full release, which became the first Civilization game, published in 1991. One of these titles included Sid Meiers Colonization, during which Meier worked with another recent hire, Brian Reynolds, with Meier less involved with MicroProse, he opted to give Reynolds the development lead for creating Civilization II, the first sequel to any of Meiers previous games. Stealey had pushed MicroProse to look towards home video consoles and arcade games based on their flight simulator software, initially MicroProse was kept as a separate company from Spectrum Holobyte. By 1996, Spectrum Holobyte opted to consolidate its brand under the MicroProse name, at this point, Meier, Reynolds, and Jeff Briggs left MicroProse to found Firaxis. Firaxis published additional titles by Meier, the first being Sid Meiers Gettysburg, lacking the rights to the Civilization name, they subsequently produced Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri, a space-based Civilization-style game released in 1999 and published by Electronic Arts
31.
Final Fantasy
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Final Fantasy is a science fiction and fantasy media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and developed and owned by Square Enix. The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games, the eponymous first game in the series, published in 1987, was conceived by Sakaguchi as his last-ditch effort in the game industry, the title was a success and spawned sequels. The franchise has branched out into other media, including CGI films, anime, manga. Although most Final Fantasy installments are stand-alone stories with different settings and main characters, recurring elements include plot themes, character names, and game mechanics. Plots center on a group of heroes battling a great evil while exploring the internal struggles. Character names are derived from the history, languages, pop culture. The series is known for its innovation, visuals, and music, such as the inclusion of full motion videos, photo-realistic character models. Final Fantasy has been a force in the video game industry. It has also introduced many features now common in role-playing video games and has credited with helping to popularize console-based RPGs in markets outside Japan. The first installment of the premiered in Japan on December 18,1987. Subsequent titles are numbered and given a story unrelated to previous games, consequently, many Final Fantasy games have been localized for markets in North America, Europe, and Australia on numerous video game consoles, personal computers, and mobile phones. Future installments will appear on seventh and eighth generation consoles, as of November 2016, the series includes the main installments from Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy XV, as well as direct sequels and spin-offs, both released and confirmed as being in development. Most of the titles have been remade or re-released on multiple platforms. Three Final Fantasy installments were released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Final Fantasy was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990. It introduced many concepts to the console RPG genre, and has since been remade on several platforms, Final Fantasy II, released in 1988 in Japan, has been bundled with Final Fantasy in several re-releases. The last of the NES installments, Final Fantasy III, was released in Japan in 1990, however, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System also featured three installments of the main series, all of which have been re-released on several platforms. Final Fantasy IV was released in 1991, in North America and it introduced the Active Time Battle system. Final Fantasy V, released in 1992 in Japan, was the first game in the series to spawn a sequel, Final Fantasy VI was released in Japan in 1994, but it was titled Final Fantasy III in North America
32.
Sid Meier
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Sidney K. Sid Meier is a programmer, designer, and producer of several popular strategy video games and simulation video games, most notably the Civilization series. Meier co-founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bill Stealey and is the Director of Creative Development of Firaxis Games and he has won several prestigious accolades for his contributions to the video game industry. Meier was born in the Canadian city of Sarnia to parents of Dutch and Swiss descent, a few years later the family moved to Michigan, where Sid Meier grew up and studied history and computer science, graduating with a degree in computer science from the University of Michigan. Meier lives in Hunt Valley, Maryland, with his wife and he met his wife at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Faith Lutheran, in Cockeysville, where he plays the organ. Meier and his wife both sing in the church choir, Meier founded MicroProse with Bill Stealey in 1982, and by 1986 the company was using his name and face in advertisements for its games. MicroProse at first developed mostly simulation video games, such as Silent Service, in 1987, the company released Sid Meiers Pirates. Which also began a trend of placing Meiers name in the titles of his games and he later explained that the inclusion of his name was because of the dramatic departure in the design of Pirates. Compared to the earlier titles. Stealey decided that it would improve the companys branding, believing that it would make those who purchased the flight simulators more likely to play the game, Stealey recalled, We were at dinner at a Software Publishers Association meeting, and Robin Williams was there. And he kept us in stitches for two hours, and he turns to me and says Bill, you should put Sids name on a couple of these boxes, and promote him as the star. And thats how Sids name got on Pirates, and Civilization, the idea was successful, by 1992 an entry in Computer Gaming Worlds poetry contest praised Meiers name as a guarantee they got it right. Meier is not always the main designer on titles that carry his name, after the release of F-19 Stealth Fighter, Meier focused on strategy games, later saying Everything I thought was cool about a flight simulator had gone into that game. Meier eventually left MicroProse and in 1996 founded Firaxis Games along with veteran designer, the company makes strategy games, many of which are follow-ups to Meiers titles, such as the new Civilization games and Sid Meiers Pirates. In 1996, he invented a System for Real-Time Music Composition, next Generation listed him in their 75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995, calling him a prolific developer of some of the best games in s catalog. In 2011, the search company PeekYou claimed that Meier has the largest digital footprint of any video game designer. In 1996, GameSpot put Meier at the top of their listing of the Most Influential People in Computer Gaming of All Time, calling him our Hitchcock, our Spielberg, our Ellington. In 1997, Computer Gaming World ranked him as one on the list of the Most Influential People of All Time in Computer Gaming. In 1999, he became the person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts
33.
Heroes of Might and Magic
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Heroes of Might and Magic is a series of video games originally created and developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing. As part of the Might and Magic franchise, the series changed ownership when NWC was acquired by 3DO and again when 3DO closed down, the games feature turn-based, fantasy-themed conflicts in which players control armies of mythical creatures. The series began in 1995 with the release of the first title, a sixth installment, Might & Magic Heroes VI, was released on October 13,2011. New World Computing closed after the production of Heroes of Might and Magic IV, virtuos developed the Shades of Darkness standalone expansion for Heroes VI. The series is directed primarily at the DOS and Windows platforms, in addition to Windows and Mac platforms, Heroes III was ported to Linux, and GameTap has carried the first four games in the series since 2006. Remakes have also appeared on the Game Boy Color, Kings Bounty, an earlier game from New World Computing, largely precipitated the design of Heroes and is included in some Heroes anthologies. It was later remade and branded as a Heroes title for the PlayStation 2 game, a sequel to Kings Bounty was released in 2008 as Kings Bounty, The Legend. Heroes of Might and Magic II Gold, includes Heroes II, Heroes of Might and Magic Millennium, includes Kings Bounty, Heroes I, Heroes II Gold and Heroes III, but no expansions to Heroes III. Released by 3DO, in a 3 CD-ROM disc set, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Complete, a special edition that includes Heroes III and its expansions packs and a custom title screen. Heroes of Might and Magic Trilogy, Heroes I, Heroes II and Heroes III, released in a joint venture by 3DO and Ubisoft, in a 3 CD-ROM disc set. Heroes of Might and Magic, Platinum Edition, includes Heroes I, Heroes II Gold, released by 3DO, in a 4 CD-ROM disc set. Heroes of Might and Magic III+IV Complete, includes Heroes III Complete, released by Ubisoft, in a 1 DVD-ROM disc set. Heroes of Might and Magic IV Complete, includes Heroes IV, Heroes of Might and Magic V, Silver Edition, includes Heroes V and the expansion pack Hammers of Fate. Heroes of Might and Magic V, Collectors Edition, includes Heroes V, might and Magic Heroes V, Epic Collection, includes Heroes V and both of its expansion packs. Heroes Pack, includes Dark Messiah and Heroes V and its expansion packs, Heroes of Might and Magic, Complete Edition, includes the first five Heroes games and their expansions. The included games are accompanied by extras and goodies, such as soundtracks DVDs, a faction booklet, might & Magic Heroes Collection, includes all five Heroes games and their expansions. It was released by Mastertronic Games in a 4 disc set, might & Magic Heroes VI, Limited Edition, includes Heroes VI and Heroes III along with one extra item and hero for Heroes VI. Might & Magic Heroes VI, Deluxe Digital Edition, includes a copy of Heroes VI
34.
Panzer General
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Panzer General is a computer wargame published by Strategic Simulations in 1994 and set in World War II. Panzer General is a game, set on operational level hex maps. One plays lone scenarios from either Axis or Allied side and against a computer or human opponent, in Campaign Mode, the player assumes the role of a German Generalissimus against the Allied computer. Panzer General is a game, and units approximate battalions, although unit size. While the names and information for the units are reasonably accurate and its novel feature was to link individual scenarios into a campaign spanning World War II from 1939 to 1945. In 1996, Panzer General won the Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1995, the game and its sequels spawned a loyal following, who have revived online head-to-head play and added many units, features, and over 2,500 scenarios. New ideas are still being developed two decades after its initial release, Panzer General has 38 scenarios based on real or fictitious battles from World War II. The player can engage in a battle or a campaign mode. In Campaign Mode, a series of battles unfolds as a campaign heads to victory, there is one long campaign as Germany, with five starting locales, Poland, from Poland, through Norway, to the West with possible amphibious landing in Britain. North Africa, from North Africa to the Middle East, Barbarossa, from the initial crossing of the Soviet border to Moscow. Husky, from Allies landing on Sicily to the end of the war, kharkov, from the German spring offensive to the end of the war. The task in most scenarios is to all objective cities in a given number of turns. In scenarios from later stages of war, the Germans try to hold positions against a stronger enemy, a typical task is then hold at least two of our objective cities for 20 turns, for major victory, hold at least five. All campaigns branch out and end either by the general being sacked for incompetence or end of the war, in Campaign Mode, a major victory could possibly change known historical events. For example, after a victory over France the player invades Britain. Later in the game, after a victory in Barbarossa. If the player achieves a victory both in Britain and in Moscow, he or she is allowed to invade Washington. In any other case, he/she must fight well in battles to get another chance to attack them
35.
Age of Wonders
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Age of Wonders is a turn-based strategy video game often likened to Master of Magic. Originally titled World of Wonders, the game incorporated several role-playing video game elements that were dropped when simultaneous turns were implemented, the game was co-developed by Triumph Studios and Epic MegaGames, Dutch and American game developers respectively, and published by Gathering of Developers in 1999. This game is notable for its description of mythical creatures. The game has three sequels, Age of Wonders II, The Wizards Throne, Age of Wonders, Shadow Magic, and Age of Wonders III. The game has a campaign, playable from two sides, and many maps, both included and user-created that can be played in Hotseat mode, over a LAN, on the Internet. Up to 12 players can participate in a game, depending on the map. Players have a view of the map, which consists of hexagonal tiles. Units are arranged into groups of up to eight units, a single such group occupies one tile, cities occupy between one and four tiles, and other structures generally occupy a single tile. Each player leads a certain race, there are 12 races available in the game, though not all of them may be present on every map, and of those which are, not all may be playable. List of races includes traditional fantasy Elves, Lizardmen, Humans, Goblins, Dark Elves, Undead, Orcs, Dwarves and Halflings, as well as several unique ones such as Frostlings, Azracs, and Highmen. Races, as well as not belonging to any specific race, such as dragons and giants, have a certain alignment. According to their alignment and certain factors, cities and independent units of one race can be friendly or hostile towards another race. Units of hostile races forced to fight each other in a single group will have lower morale. Race relations can be improved by acts of goodwill towards other races, such as upgrading their cities, or hampered by razing, looting, diplomacy can also affect this and even an alliance with one race might affect the relation of another race. There are also several spells which have an effect on race relations. There are two resources, gold and mana, gold is used to build units, buy heroes, cities and spells, upgrade cities. Mana is used to cast and research spells and use altars, units within the game have a limited number of movement points, which are replenished at the beginning of each turn. Two turn systems are used - sequential, where players take their turns in order, or simultaneous, in practice, actions in the latter system are added and executed via a queue
