Beyond the character customisation and Fatal Blows that serve as last gasp efforts to even the odds, Mortal Kombat 11 looks a lot more…strategic. That’s not design by accident either, as NetherRealm’s focus on the latest sequel was to scale back on the ruthless aggression of previous games and focus more on redefining that which makes fighting games so special: Space control.

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.

Conan Unconquered is a strategy game set in the barbaric world of Conan the Barbarian where you must build your stronghold and assemble an unconquerable army to survive the savage hordes of Hyboria. Wave after wave of increasingly more difficult enemies will rush at your gates and you will need to manage resources, research new technologies to advance your defenses, and recruit an ever-growing army if you are to save survive utter destruction.

What’s worse than the zombie apocalypse? Easy: The zombie apocalypse, if it were designed by your friends. Real-time walking dead strategy game They Are Billions has been playing around with a level editor for the last two weeks, and with a little fine-tuning, that added layer of tactical zombie-slaying is alive and ready to slowly walk over to your side of the screen for a hot meal of leg of Larry.

Irrespective of whether you believe in it or not, climate change is going to be a ruling factor in Civilization's latest expansion, as you wrestle to manage your global expansion without angering nature itself.

You’ve battled across Kanto, defeated all eight gym leaders and made your way through Victory Road to the top of the Indigo Plateau. Your journey ain’t over yet, because one more obstacle still stands in front of you before you can take on the Pokémon League champion and prove yourself to be the very best, like no one ever was! Did I say one obstacle? I actually meant four, as in the Elite Four.

Can you lead the misfit prisoners of the Void Ark through the derelict spaceships and myriad dangers of the Sargasso Nebula? Will you make the right choices about what to do, where to go and when to fight?

RTS games may not be a dime a dozen on consoles, but can the incredibly deep systems of Stellaris flourish on PS4 and Xbox One?