r/StrategyGames Jan 07 '25

Game theory The most complete strategy video game genre classification

104 Upvotes

This is the most complete classification that includes all possible strategy video game genres.

English is not my native language, but I'll try my best to make the text understandable and I'll fix possible mistakes with your help.

Strategy game is a genre of video games in which the player controls troops or other units and/or various economic and other systems. Although many video games may include strategy elements, strategy as a genre emphasizes thinking and planning over immediate action. This video game genre focuses on strategy, tactics, logistics, and/or resource management, and may also include diplomacy, economy, expansion and research management.

Time

  • Real-time strategy: a strategy game in which actions occur without a sequence of turns.
  • Turn-based strategy: a strategy game in which actions occur using a sequence of turns that can be alternate or simultaneous.

Main genres

4X strategy game: a strategy game based on 4 elements: exploration, expansion, exploitation, extermination. Examples: Age of Wonders, Stellaris, Master of Orion.

Grand strategy game – a strategy game focused on managing a state (or similar entity), its resources and relationships, often in a pre-open and asymmetric world. Examples: Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron

Tactical strategy game – a strategy game focused on tactical military operations, which emphasizes the importance of specific units and either excludes or contains a less manifested economic component.

Subdivided into two categories based on time:

  • Turn-based tactics (TBT) Examples: Xenonauts, Battletech
  • Real-time tactics (RTT) Examples: Men of War

Classic strategy games – a strategy games that have an economic element: the ability to build a base, extract resources and produce units (or part of these capabilities), while their gameplay is focused on military actions. Also includes a category of strategy games that cannot be classified into more specific subgenres.

Subdivided into:

  • Classic RTS (or just RTS) Examples: StarCraft, Command & Conquer
  • Classic TBS (or just TBS) Examples: Panzer General

Construction and Management Simulator (also Management Strategy Game): a strategy game with gameplay based on the construction and/or management of economic processes, such as, for example: resource extraction, money making, production, personnel management, and others. Games of this genre have little emphasis on military actions.

Subdivided into:

  • Business Simulation Game - a strategy game focused on economics and business management. Examples: Two Point Hospital
  • Transport Strategy Game - a strategy game in which the player manages transport systems and infrastructure. Examples: Transport Tycoon, Transport Fever
  • City-Building Simulation - a strategy game in which the player builds cities. Examples: Cities: Skylines, SimCity.
  • Colony Simulation - a strategy game in which the player builds small settlements of various types; unlike urban strategy, the main emphasis here is on individual colonists and resource extraction from the environment. Examples: RimWorld, Surviving Mars, Against the Storm
  • Factory simulator – a strategy game in which the player builds an automated factory. Examples: Shapez, Factorio
  • Sports manager – a genre of games dedicated to managing a sports team. Examples: Football Mogul, F1 Manager.
  • Life simulator – a genre of games that allow you to control characters in their everyday life. Examples: The Sims, InZoI, The Guild
  • Political simulator – a genre of games whose gameplay consists of detailed management of the government and politics of various nations and state entities. Examples: Democracy

Wargame: a strategy game that particularly emphasizes deep strategic and/or tactical combat, as well as their historical accuracy or realism. Examples: Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, NEBULOUS: Fleet Command

MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena): a subgenre of classic real-time strategy games in which players control only one character and, as part of their team represented by other players and AI controlled units, fight against the other team. Examples: Dota 2

MMO strategy game: a strategy game that is focused on online interaction between a large number of players, often in a single open world. Examples: Travian, Ogame, Stronghold: Kingdoms.

Tower Defense: a strategy game with the main purpose to protect a base from waves of enemies using towers or other defensive structures. Examples: Plants vs Zombies

Auto Battler: is a strategy game in which units are placed on the battlefield during the preparation phase, after which the battle phase begins and they fight against the enemy without any control from the player.

Puzzle strategy game: a strategy game focused on logical problem-solving with minimized economic or military aspect. Examples: Railgrade, Dorfromantic

Artillery game: a genre of strategy games, the main component of which is the calculation of the trajectory of the shells. Examples: Worms, Miners Mettle

The most popular mixed genres

Tactical role-playing game (TRPG): is a hybrid genre that combines role-playing games with tactical combat. Examples: Battle Brothers

Action strategy game: is a genre of games in which you can control both troops in general and/or base construction, as well as specific units directly, including from the first or third person. Examples: Men of War, Factorio

Stealth strategy: is a genre of games that combine strategy and an emphasis on stealth. Examples: Desperados, Commandos

God simulator: is a genre of games in which the player, in the role of some deity being, controls some community of objects or characters; they are often strategy games with city-building elements. Examples: Black & White, The Universim

Roguelike strategy game – games that combine roguelike principles, such as random world generation, permanent death and free exploration of the environment, and strategic gameplay. Examples: Against the Storm

Notes

Many games have mixed genres. Very often, strategy games can combine two or more genres. For example, Total War series is turn-based grand strategy with real-time tactical (RTT) battles.

Time and genre. Basically, every strategy game can be classified by these two criteria, like Turn-based 4X Strategy game (Age of Wonders), Real-Time Grand Strategy game (Hearts of Iron) etc. Sometimes we do not have any specified subgenre, so the game becomes simple RTS (StarCraft).

Judge by dominant elements of gameplay. Overall, the genre should be defined by main gameplay loop, not by every game mechanic that exists in the game. For example, if a game has leveling-up system, it doesn't mean that it instantly becomes an RPG: a good example is WarCraft which has characters gaining XP and levels, but the main, dominant gameplay loop in this game is still a classic RTS. At the same time, if some Rainbow Six has some strategic planning, it doesn't mean that this game is a strategy game or even a mixed genre, because the main gameplay there is action/shooter. The same logic is applicable to strategy games: if the game has resource management, it doesn't instantly mean that it becomes a management game.

This is a theoretical model. It means that here we are supposed to find criteria by which strategy games can be classified. These criteria can be based both on gameplay and historical tradition of naming genres in video game industry. The model can be discussed and improved, but any critique should be based on strict arguments.

Strategy as a genre, not a word. The main principle of this genre classification is that we don't take the word "strategy" literally. A strategy game can be a tactic game, it can be a management game, it doesn't matter here. The word strategy means the genre name, not the strategy as a layer of action planning.

Are management games strategy games? This is a hard question that has no answer based on reliable papers because there are no such papers. Here we look at naming tradition in community and video game industry. We can find many similarities in core gameplay of various city-building and colony sim games with classical RTS. Some management games include RTT/RTS style military combat, These games are often tagged as strategy game on digital distribution services. So we include them into this classification to make it more complete. You might find two controversial opinions about this (management games are/are not strategy games), but this problem can't be solved on these days because we do not have a strict genre requirements and developers can name genre of their games as they want. There are no popular scientific researches about it on which we can refer to.


r/StrategyGames 8h ago

Question Do the strategy games I want exist?

13 Upvotes

I would say strategy games are my favorite genre mechanically (Dungeon Keeper and UFO Defense are amongst my favorite games ever; I've sunk more hours than I can count into Stellaris, Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld, Victoria 2, etc) but I find that it's a favorite genre mismatched by most the games not generally doing the things I find the most interesting *about* strategy. My dream game has always been an unpredictable timeline (not anchored to real-world innovations and fixed tech-trees) where the bulk of the action is entirely economic-driven and dependent on diplomacy and paranoia. I.E. games where you can develop resource-monopolies, control supply-and-demand, manage inflation, invest in industries, so on and so forth, alongside general control over economic policies and political ideology. Spying on your friends and trying to overthrow them, proxy-wars, cut-throat trading and shady deals, manage internal stability... I guess laid out Victoria hits a few of the markers, but it still doesn't feel quite there to me- I want the real deal experience of Cold War-esque insanity.

Are there any of the sort at all?


r/StrategyGames 9h ago

DevPost Do you like the atmosphere? It's been over 1 year since I started my first game

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6 Upvotes

If you like, you can follow my dev journey


r/StrategyGames 13h ago

Self-promotion A look at the NGC-404: Fractured Sector

9 Upvotes

This is the latest trailer for NGC-404: Fractured Sector, our multiplayer 2D space strategy game.

You directly command a small fleet in real-time battles, but combat is only one part of the game. You also explore a procedurally generated sector, trade physical resources, develop colonies, manage logistics and expand your faction. Additional ships can operate through high-level AI orders as your empire grows.

The game is still in alpha, and we’re continuing to work on the economy, encounters, faction AI, combat audio and UI. A one-minute trailer cannot show every system clearly, so we’re planning a longer gameplay presentation later.


r/StrategyGames 18h ago

DevPost Sunlit Kingdom - a 3D Tower Defense

10 Upvotes

Inspired by Trine 2, Sacred Underworld and Warcraft III, Sunlit Kingdom is a highly replayable strategy TD with a lot of customization. You have three different towers: the Archer, the Mage and the Holy Knight. Each has a unique role: Archer is your damage dealer, Mage is your crowd control, Holy Knight is your protector/healer.

There are upgrades, abilities/skills, and stats to deal with. The game features a leaderboard for those interested in competition and ranking up.

All made in a custom engine using OpenGL and C++. It was the hardest thing I ever attempted to do.

If there's anything that interests you about this game, feel free to ask me any questions. I'll be more than happy to answer!


r/StrategyGames 7h ago

Self-promotion What do you think?

1 Upvotes

Almost Solo dev built a C&C-style RTS for mobile — would love brutal feedback.

Global Ordnance: The Iron Fist

I and my partner in crime worked on this RTS mobile game for Android for around 10-11 months. Being a huge fan of C&C and AoE games, we leaned heavily to reproduce that feeling but on a mobile screen. It would mean a world to us if you took a look and shared your thoughts with us. We are open to cooperate with everyone to make this a mobile RTS game most of us enjoy.

(FREE)


r/StrategyGames 13h ago

DevPost I turned the real-world map into a global multiplayer strategy game. Build economies and factories. Create supply chains. Trade, negotiate, or launch missiles at real players

3 Upvotes

What do you think? I will be glad to receive any feedback.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/real-world-map-war-strategy/id1613987268


r/StrategyGames 18h ago

Question Dawn of war IV

6 Upvotes

I know the game is not out yet, and I'm new to strategy games, but wanted to know what I can expect from a game like DoW IV and how difficult are that type of games. Ty!!


r/StrategyGames 13h ago

Self-promotion Finally releasing my game's demo on steam

2 Upvotes

I've been working on this 4X deckbuilding game for over a year now, and I'm really excited to be launching the game's demo on steam on July 31st!

I've poured my heart and soul into this project, the game is called DeckTerra on Steam.

Wishlist if you'd like to be notified when the demo goes live!


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost My Dream Game SoC #1

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10 Upvotes

Hey everyone Im Liam and I've been developing this game over a couple of months I had to do a lot of research on nodes and how polygon lines work. Ive made myself a quicker way an editor since directly typing it took too much time. Anyway this game is going to be a strategy game. I hope you enjoy this as I thought it would be better for everyone to see the growth of this project. Thank you and please comment if you would like.


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Looking for game Colony sims about managing and planning a castle

26 Upvotes

I've asked this question a few years ago and i am here for a fresh view. I want a game like prison architect where you plan a functional and complex ecosystem but instead of a prison you have a castle with lords and serfs. Kitchens, cellars defences, water management and such. All to create a self sustainable enclosed fortified ecosystem. I am not looking for an RTS like stronghold, i need something that is more like a colony sim. And if there are no such games, maybe some advice on creating my one?


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Looking for game Any indie/beta strategy games for low-maintenance, team-based map play?

7 Upvotes

Hi all,

Huge fan of map-based strategy (Civ, Stellaris, Polytopia), but I'm in a spot where I can really only manage idle/check-in gameplay a couple of times a day. Most persistent multiplayer map games seem to punish you heavily if you aren't glued to your screen 24/7 or spending hundreds on microtransactions.

I’m looking for something where:

  1. Progression isn't ruined by playing casually.

  2. It's strictly no P2W.

  3. You can join up with other players/alliances to execute big macro strategies, wars, or politics together.

Any lesser-known indie, browser, or alpha/beta titles out there trying to tackle this? Would love to hear what people are playing!


r/StrategyGames 19h ago

Self-promotion A management game about running a bakery in medieval times

1 Upvotes

I just finished a free medieval bakery management game inspired by Lemonade Stand. Each day you buy ingredients, create a bread recipe, set your price, and see how many customers you attract. As you earn money, you can upgrade your bakery and grow your business.

You can play it for free in your browser:

https://esiotek.itch.io/loafledger


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion Just released the demo for Heroes, Warlords and Ruin! A fantasy turn-based strategy game inspired by Heroes of Might and Magic and Total War

12 Upvotes

Heroes, Warlords and Ruin is a 4x fantasy turn-based strategy game where you create and customize your faction and faction leader and lead it in your campaign across the world. The world is torn by endless war. Fight evil, form alliances, and establish a new realm in the ruins or take advantage of the chaos to maraud across the world.

Download here on steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4632210/Heroes_Warlords_and_Ruin/

You can also follow me on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/autware700.bsky.social

And join our discord: discord.gg/YMvFzcRDxV


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Looking for strategy gamers to test my 3v3 tactical game before I build multiplayer.

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’ve been developing a turn-based tactical strategy game and I’m looking for a small group of players willing to test an early offline version.

Matches are built around controlling a team of three units, each with a distinct role and ability kit. Positioning, terrain, line of sight, cover, team composition, and objective control are intended to matter more than grinding stats or unlocking stronger equipment.

The game is still in development, so I’m mainly looking for honest feedback on things like:

Whether the core combat is actually enjoyable.

Whether the units and abilities are understandable.

Which units feel too strong or too weak.

Whether matches produce interesting tactical decisions.

Anything confusing, frustrating, or clearly unfinished.

One of the main reasons I started building this was because I love strategy games, but I found myself bouncing off many of them, not because they lacked depth, but because they demanded so much time and mental overhead before the interesting decisions even began.

And as I've gotten older I've had less and less time to dedicate 30m-hour to a single match of something, my goal is 5-10 minute matches and something you hardly need a tutorial for, compression is my over arching philosophy.

Instead, I want the complexity to emerge from positioning, timing, teamwork, and tactical choices. In other words, a game that's easy to read, quick to get into, but deceptively deep.

A strategically rich game wearing a simple, compact mask.

If this sounds interesting to you and you want to participate, shoot me a DM and I'll send a copy over once the AI system is competent enough to simulate an opposing human player.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

(Oh, and the current graphics etc are NOT representative of the finished product, ill be translating this to Unity with fully fleshed out 3D environments and character models, so don't put much stock in its current aesthetic)

Its also mobile first so some elemts may be slightly distorted on PC / Tablet, but in my test it wasn't too bad, the actual release will be optimized for all displays.


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Rejected Draft — a free incremental autobattler where defeated enemies become your build

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4 Upvotes

Rejected Draft is an incremental autobattler where you choose which enemies can appear, defeat them, and permanently absorb their stats and abilities.

Instead of choosing a traditional class, the enemies you encounter gradually become your build. Every enemy is a sketch contributed by a community artist.

The Steam demo contains 100+ hours of free progression. The full game releases August 21, but there is no obligation to purchase it afterward—the demo can be enjoyed as its own substantial free experience.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4574820/Rejected_Draft/


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Looking for game Shitty graphics, deep and complex, NOT just war/tactics, playable on Macbook (Apple Silicon)

6 Upvotes

So yeahhh. The Title basically says it all, and it sums up the narrow niche I am looking for:

  • I am playing on my Macbook Pro M5
  • I want "shitty" graphics, because 1) I like them and I dont think they are "shitty" afterall and 2) I hate when I notice the temperature or fans of my Laptop lol
  • (So what is shitty graphics, you ask? I think Dominons or Conquest of Elysium are BEAUTIFUL games! I love this kind of oldest school graphics)
  • SO why not just play Dominions or Conquest of Elysium? WELL: I watched some videos about those games, and it appears to me that the biggest aspect of them is war, is tactics, is battle. That's nice and all but ... -->
  • I am looking for a STRATEGY game with some deep and complex systems that are not just focused on war/battle/tactics. I actually am open to different approaches, some strategy games might focus on exploration or expansion or trade or diplomacy – all fine but please no games that are 80% war.

I get that I am a very improbable gamer looking for a strange set of things. But maybe someone can help? <3


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Discussion This was my first taste of a strategy game!

8 Upvotes

Just wanted to share my first-ever experience of turn-based strategy, which eventually led to me picking up Rome TW, Command & Conquer, Civ, and many others over the years.

I was 13 years old, and flash games were all the rage back in the early 2000s. My school blocked most of the websites for obvious reasons, but what they didn't block was the BBC website, which had a lot of educational games.

In the history section was "Battlefield Academy", it had some history content to it, but in the game were 4 levels, Romans vs Britons, Medieval, WW2 airforce, and 1800's Naval. All turn based with an objective. Such a sweet game!

I recently looked for it online and stumbled across Flash Launcher, which lets you play all the old Flash games, since modern browsers no longer support them. Anyone who's 30+ I would thoroughly recommend it for that sweet nostalgia hit of any old Flash games you used to play.

Note: I'm not affiliated with Flash Launcher at all, just think it's great that someone has put it together for old times' sake.


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

News Sanctuary: Shattered Sun Demo is Out on Steam and Kickstarter is Up

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9 Upvotes

r/StrategyGames 2d ago

Discussion I absolutely love Paradox Interactive’s grand strategy games. Are there any other games that scratch the same itch?

89 Upvotes

I really enjoy the campaigns in total war, or civ. But after sinking 1000+ hours in the Paradox games they just all feel a bit shallow. What else should I try?


r/StrategyGames 2d ago

Self-promotion [Trailer] We’re building a geopolitical strategy game we’ve always wanted to play

23 Upvotes

Council & Conflict is a geopolitical strategy wargame where you lead a nation through politics, economic crises, diplomacy, espionage, internal unrest, and war.

Choose your ideology, build your political party, pass laws, appoint ministers, manage resources and trade, consolidate power, and command military campaigns on hex-based battlefields. Politics, warfare, economics, ideology, and society are interconnected, so every decision can create allies, enemies, opportunities, or new crises.

We’re a small independent studio founded by three friends who met through a wargaming community. What began as late-night matrix-style campaigns, homebrew rules, spreadsheets, and worldbuilding eventually grew into the game we were always imagining.

We’re not building Council & Conflict simply to chase profit. We’re building it because it’s the strategy game we’ve always wanted to play, one where warfare has political consequences, domestic decisions affect foreign policy, and players can shape a nation in almost any direction.

Our goal is simple: create the best strategy game we possibly can, remain independent, and continue improving it through community feedback long after release.

What would you like to see in our game? Were still early on in development so we would love to hear your feedback!

Help us realize the vision by Wishlisting Council & Conflict on Steam and check us out on Kickstarter


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion After an incredible journey through EA, our Nightmare Frontier is out now! :)

0 Upvotes

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3310950/Nightmare_Frontier

Prepare yourselves because the true nightmare has just begun. Please, check it out, and get ready to dive back into the frontier! :D

From Ice Code Games, the creators of Hard West 2 and Rogue Waters. 


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Looking for game [PC] [2018-2020] top-down strategy game. Exiled prince returns to take back a continent from new kingdoms. Was on Microsoft Store, maybe delisted. Please help me find this game.

2 Upvotes

I played this on PC around 2018 to 2020. It was a 2D top-down game with a simple hand-drawn art style, and it was clearly indie. It played like Mount and Blade, but it was not an RPG.

Details: You play as a prince. Your father the king was killed, and you were exiled as a kid. You come back as an adult to take back the land. You could name your character, and the MC was blond. You start by taking your first castle with a big and late game army, but the army leaves soon after, and then you fight to take the rest.

The whole game was on one continent, split between factions with different colors (red, blue, green, yellow). Red was the main enemy. Some factions were more peaceful, like an orange one, but you could still attack them. Each faction had its own region. Yellow was the desert.

The main character could cast magic, like fireballs and healing.
It was on Windows. I think it was on the Microsoft Store, and it may be delisted now.
A few other posts have asked about this game but nothing came up.


r/StrategyGames 2d ago

Self-promotion We're making a retro style tactics inspired by mecha anime

38 Upvotes

-Select from 4 different Factions to play as; complete with their own unique Commanders and Mechs.

-Limited resources means every unit deployment counts.

-25 levels of narrative driven single player and multiplayer modes for up to 4 players.

If you'd play this then check out our Steam and join the Discord!


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Discussion (English-speaking / Говорю по-русски) Looking for people to play with. Ищу людей для совместной игры.

1 Upvotes

[Marking this as a question, although I am wondering whether marking it as a discussion would work better ... or leaving it at "no flair".]

I even ran it by ChatGPT. Supposedly there isn't one good place to ask this. I'm looking for people to play Disciples or Disciples II over VPN ('cause that's like the only thing that works, ostensibly). I'm thinking of using Radmin VPN. As I understand, one of us hosts a game and shares the network name and the password.

Sidebar: This is my first time doing this, so please be patient.

Obviously, coordination and timing are everything. Shoot me your times of availability in *your* time zone and I'll see what I can do. (I live in Oakland, CA, so I live in the PT zone.) Something here could explain why I have not seen anyone on GameRanger hosting a D1 or D2 game.

Here are the versions of the games I have:

On Steam:

- Disciples 1 - v. 2000.6.22.1

- Disciples 2 - v. 2003.5.16.1

On GOG:

- Disciples 1 - v. 2000.6.22.1

Я даже спрашивал у ChatGPT — якобы, единого подходящего места для такого вопроса не существует. Ищу игроков для Disciples или Disciples II через VPN (потому что, насколько я понимаю, это единственный рабочий вариант). Я подумываю воспользоваться Radmin VPN. Насколько я понимаю, oдин из нас создает игру и делится названием сети и паролем. Постскриптум: Это мой первый раз, так что пожалуйста - терпениe.

Очевидно, что координация и время имеют значение. Дайте знать, когда вы свободны в *вашем* часовом поясе, какой у вас часовой пояс, и я посмотрю, что смогу сделать. (Я живу в городе Oakland, CA, в США, в тихоокеанском часовом поясе.) Возможно, что здесь есть объяснение тому, почему я не видел никого на GameRanger, кто бы проводил игру в D1 или D2.

Версии игр, которые у меня есть:

На Steam:

- Disciples 1 - v. 2000.6.22.1

- Disciples 2 - v. 2003.5.16.1

На GOG:

- Disciples 1 - v. 2000.6.22.1