Have Strategy Games Peaked? - Scribe Speaks

Hello fellow Traveler and welcome to The Hard Light Network!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to control entire armies? To build massive military bases and economic centers that would rival the world's mightiest empires? Strategy games offer all of us an opportunity to participate in war games on such a scale, but when was the last time you played a strategy game that wasn't an esoteric mess closer to an epic spreadsheet simulator rather than an exercise in tactical thinking? Have Strategy games peaked?

The early 2000's saw an explosion in strategy games. Remakes and reboots of point and click army management games from the early 90's were blowing up. One of my favorite games was the Army Men RTS, a formative game on my list of nostalgia generators it was advanced for it time, and the design is memorable even to this day. All of the staples are present. Resource and unit management, base building, and huge maps to dominate, all of the flagship RTS games that would follow would emulate these core design concepts in one way or another. However a trend I've noticed in more recent "strategy" games is a tendency toward smaller and less dynamic encounters. Less units on screen on smaller maps. It seems that by and large strategy games have been confined to the realm of mobile games for the foreseeable future.

While I don't have anything against unit based or tower defense games, they lack a certain scale and investment that larger engagements have. Having to take key strong points on larger maps to close the distance between you and your enemies. Having the option to search for hidden caches or units off the main path to give you an edge, no matter how small. Capturing unique/neutral structures for access to secret tech or mercenary units. Balancing all that on a simple but effective economy, and dividing your attention and manpower across the map. A true strategy game tests more than your ability to grind upgrades or spam units.

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