It may not be as massive today as was in its heyday, but the strategy game genre is far from dead. On the contrary, it’s a genre that feels better and more alive than ever before, thanks to new technology and ideas resulting in grander conflicts and better storytelling while still asking you to flex your brain muscles and work out strategies on the fly.
So requisition some resources, set up your units and prepare to march, as we look back at the best strategy games of 2018.
Honourable mentions
Frostpunk
Just how much of a bastard can you be, if it means ensuring the survival of mankind? Better yet, how long can you get away with it, in the face of an endless winter that threatens to plunge humanity into the entropy of extinction? That’s the real game at the heart of Frostpunk, as developer 11 Bit Studio’s brilliant city-building survival simulator tasks you with not only ensuring that the last bastion of mankind runs smoothly, but also with the hard decisions that come with the job.
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Taking the best pieces of previous Valkyria Chronicles games and piecing them together into one fantastic nod to the past, SEGA’s Valkyria Chronicles 4 is still a breath of fresh air that offers plenty of nostalgia and new ideas, while focusing on the darker side of war.
Surviving Mars
The future of humanity may lie in the stars, but to get there we’ll need to make a pit stop on Mars, and prove that our species can survive on worlds that are far from terra firma, as Surviving Mars demonstrates beautifully within its intricate and sophisticated city-building structures.
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
What’s old is new again, but Age of Empires definitely hasn’t lost a single beat over the years. Still as tactical as ever, this return to the ancient wars and city-building of old looked better than ever thanks to developer Forgotten Empires making certain that one of the greatest RTS titles of all time lived up to the definitive label attached to it.
And the winner is…
Into the Breach
ABANDON TIMELINE! Into the Breach may look like a simple game on the surface, but much like the number of brain cells swimming around in my head, it’s amazing how one game can do so much with so little. Combining turn-based tactics with positional strategy, Into the Breach is a maddeningly addictive strategy game that throws all manner of curveballs at you, tasking you with not only pushing back against an invasion force of bug-eyed beasties, but to do so in style so that you can unlock more units and options in your nevernending fight against the horde.
A digital addiction of the highest order, Into the Breach is the best damn strategy game that you could find in 2018.
Last Updated: December 12, 2018
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 12, 2018 at 15:24
Someone would like to have a word with you…
https://d1u5p3l4wpay3k.cloudfront.net/battletech_gamepedia/thumb/0/04/Atlas.png/1200px-Atlas.png
HvR
December 12, 2018 at 15:29
HEAR HEAR.
Into the Breach is the Battletech Lite
Pariah
December 12, 2018 at 15:38
“A digital addiction of the highest order, Into the Breach is the best damn strategy game that you could find in 2019.”
Well we’re truly skipping through time here aren’t we? 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 12, 2018 at 15:41
Time flies when you’re having fun, it almost feels like yesterday I was playing Black Ops 3.
HvR
December 12, 2018 at 15:41
If he said 2018 we would take him to the press Ombudsman because Battletech is the best damn strategy game in 2018
Pariah
December 12, 2018 at 15:44
A game has to be fun to be good. And it has to be good to be the best. 😛
The D
December 12, 2018 at 15:48
Gah, silly me. Will fix, because I clearly need a vacation.
Pariah
December 12, 2018 at 15:48
Vacation! Good lord I could do with one of those as well. For a year maybe. Paid, of course.
The D
December 12, 2018 at 15:48
Well, Friday I’ll be off. Will be my first holiday for the entire year 🙂
Pariah
December 12, 2018 at 15:48
Just Friday? FeelsBadMan
For the Emperor!
December 12, 2018 at 15:48
Well, my holiday started 23 November already! Was due to retrenchment though, but we should not be too picky, right?
The D
December 12, 2018 at 15:51
I hate you.
For the Emperor!
December 12, 2018 at 18:00
You could always ask your boss to retrench you? Should I put in a good word for you? 😛 😛
The D
December 12, 2018 at 20:20
Listen, if I’m still around at this point in my life, nothing short of eating puppies on an open-face sammich can get me fired.
For the Emperor!
December 12, 2018 at 21:10
Hehe you are around because we all loves you 🙂
Captain JJ
December 13, 2018 at 11:18
o/
Magoo
December 13, 2018 at 08:06
Does They are Billions count in this cat?