Whats a good strategy game for beginners?

[Nvidiaguy07]

What game would you recommend to someone who basically has never played a strategy game before? Like to learn the basics that are pretty common among all strategy games?

I have a few friends that play Civ5, but right now its pretty intimidating. A LONG time ago, i played a starcraft, and a little warcraft, but i basically forgot even the little bit of knowledge i had back then. (My only memory of warcraft is hearing "yes me lord" all the time)

Ideally, im looking for a easy fun indie-type strategy game, that is somewhat easy to master, that will leave me wanting a deeper more challenging game.

 

[thejunglegod]

Any of the classic RTSs will give you a good learning curve. Warcraft: ROC & Starcraft 2 would actually be a very good start. Civ may have a steep learning curve for some, but if you get in deep, there is nothing as addictive. Also keep an eye out on the Total War series once you get a little accustomed .
There is an old gem which may give you a pretty good insight on RTS and is uber fun too - Rise of Nations.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Any of the classic RTSs will give you a good learning curve. Warcraft: ROC & Starcraft 2 would actually be a very good start. Civ may have a steep learning curve for some, but if you get in deep, there is nothing as addictive. Also keep an eye out on the Total War series once you get a little accustomed .
There is an old gem which may give you a pretty good insight on RTS and is uber fun too - Rise of Nations.

I was thinking maybe one of the old ones i have played before like warcraft or starcraft. Is starcraft 2 much harder than 1?

Any any games that i can get on steam? I do like having everything there. Are there any indie games that are warcraft and starcraft clones? (like torchlight is to diablo 2)

 

[thejunglegod]

I don't know if there are indie clones for WC & SC, but if there are, i'm guessing they'd pale in comparison. A per your OP question, WC3 would be a good option since it has features similar to most RTSs still. But every RTS is unique in its own way, so only the basic features will be comparable. Take World in Conflict for example which does not have any base building common to most RTSs. You can also try AOE & AOE2 which i think is what started the boom in RTS gaming. However since you have never played any strategy games before, I'd suggest WC3 since that is how i started.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I think the key is having a campaign that teaches you the components as you go. Not many strategy games do a very good job of this today. I guess Starcraft 2, but even that has a fair difference in pacing balance between campaign and multiplayer/skirmish. Company of Heroes is painfully complicated, but I think it introduces concepts at a good rate. It's a fair bit slower and more tactical than a classic base builder as well, so that will make it easier in one sense (not getting overwhelmed by base micro). It is critical to actually use the retreat key and never overextend yourself.

 

[GaiaHunter]

SC2 is probably easier than SC.

SC path finding, unit AI and lot of stuff that today are a given, like rallying, idle workers, multiple build selection, etc, are absent.

Starcraft series and Age of Empires/Age of Mythology series are heavy economic games (AoE even more) - optimize gather and build multiple units at the same time.

WC3 is less economic and more about unit control.

Games like warhammer dawn of war 1 and 2 and company of heroes are all about control of small units.

Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander have highly independent units.

Sins of a solar empire is an rts with some 4x games.

Anyway most of these games will be quite different from civilization

Civilization is a 4X game.

Starcraft/warcraft is a RTS.

Then you have TBS, like heroes of might and magic that has some bas building or games like battle of wesnoth and massive assault).

And a few others, and they all have different mechanics.

 

[I4AT]

Starcraft 2 is probably the easiest real time strategy to get into thanks to all the control improvements. Civ is a turn based strategy, completely different as far as gameplay goes.

In SC2 the workers will automatically start mining for you after one click. When you have idle workers you get a notification that will center your screen on them. You can find out how many workers you have in gas or on minerals at a glance. You can queue up several buildings whereas in SC1 you could only warp in/select one at a time. You can have hundreds of units selected at once as opposed to only 12 in SC1. You can quickly cast several spells in succession with only 2 keystrokes and multiple clicks, and the game will automatically pick a unit with ample energy and then move on to the next one. In Brood War you had to have godlike micro to cast multiple spells or burn energy from multiple units with one click. 99% of the hotkeys can now be reached with only one hand instead of being spread all over the keyboard. SCV's can be set to automatically repair other units/buildings. All kinds of improvements that made players outside of Korea competitive, and two steps back as far as Battle.net social interaction goes.

If you find SC2 to be too busy or fast paced, you definitely won't like Brood War, and Dawn of War 2 might be more to your liking, it's a different style of RTS. Company of Heroes probably sits in between SC2 and DoW2 as far as business goes.

Age of Empires online will cost you nothing, Brood War keys are like $5 from some kind of shady online resellers, SC2 rarely goes on sale for $30, and DoW2 I'd wait for a Steam sale to pick up (start with Retribution for MP), same with Company of Heroes $2.50-$5 on sale.

 

[Tweak155]

My vote is SC2. Their level progression is easy to understand and the graphics are great to look at. I loved the story too, made me excited for the possible expansions.

 

[dougp]

Eh, I think you should take a look at OpenRA - http://openra.res0l.net/

It'll give you a chance to play the original C&C as well as Red Alert, both of which are fabulous games.

 

[thm1223]

You should really decide if you want to explore turn based or real time strategy games before making a decision. Turn based games tend to have a steeper learning curve, but such a fact is mitigated by theirlack of time pressure (which for a strategy newbie can become somewhat stressful).

There are excellent games in either sub-genre, most of which have been mentioned in this thread already. I will say that you should give the Total War series a look, as it combines TBS campaign strategy with real time mega battles that include 1000s of individual units.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

What game would you recommend to someone who basically has never played a strategy game before? Like to learn the basics that are pretty common among all strategy games?

I have a few friends that play Civ5, but right now its pretty intimidating. A LONG time ago, i played a starcraft, and a little warcraft, but i basically forgot even the little bit of knowledge i had back then. (My only memory of warcraft is hearing "yes me lord" all the time)

Ideally, im looking for a easy fun indie-type strategy game, that is somewhat easy to master, that will leave me wanting a deeper more challenging game.

Don't know if you can still buy it, but what about the original Civilization? It is similar to the current Civ5, but a lot less complicated.

Or Alpha Centauri, the "Civ in space" game, it wasn't too hard to learn.

 

[Arkadrel]

The problem is Starcraft 2 has been out for abit now, so most people know how to perfectly execute rush tactics.

As a newbie, 9 out of 10 times you ll get caught and be slaughtered.

So the first thing you ll do is play the single player campagne to learn about the units.
Then you ll play a week or so against a A.I, to practics some Rush tactics.

Then you ll start playing with others, ane either turn out to be good at rushing people, or learn to counter them.

Its not a "easy" learning curve.
Its very unforgiveing, something like how fast you can plant down buildings/manage unit production, while sticking to a rush tactic, determines if you win.

people that have played 200,000 games, know what to to execute these plans by heart, and have practiced doing them to reduce the time needed to get them working, to the point where if you where to try it against them, you ll probably be halfways ready by the time their already done (which means you get rushed and killed).

So starcraft 2 starts out with you dieing alot.

Then it becomes a game of who can rush who, which is alot like Rock-papir-scissors.
Sometimes you get lucky others not.

When your insanely good, things like micro controll of units can play almost as big a part as tactics. The thing is there is a ladder, so you ll work your way up. Which is good, so you probably wont start out playing against the most hardend players in the world.

 

[darkewaffle]

Personally I've always been really fond of sRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre (actually all the Ogre Battle titles are pretty unique spins on the strategy genra), Advance Wars, or Disgaea/Phantom Brave/La Pucelle. They're not true RTS titles though if that's what you're looking for.

 

[diesbudt]

Personally I've always been really fond of sRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre (actually all the Ogre Battle titles are pretty unique spins on the strategy genra), Advance Wars, or Disgaea/Phantom Brave/La Pucelle. They're not true RTS titles though if that's what you're looking for.

I have always been a bigger fan at turnbased strategy, like tactics and civ5 and chess or w/e.

Because it removes all the factors of "speed" and reaction times from the equation, and makes it simply into a pure strategy game, (with some background dice rolls for some)

 

[QuantumPion]

For turn based 4X I'd say Master of Orion, it's the simplest and most straight forward 4X game and tons of fun. Cheap too, on gog.com.

I haven't played many RTS's lately but my bet on the best one for beginners would be the newer C&C games, they are more likely marketed to a casual audience as opposed to starcraft which is marketed more towards pros.

 

[CPA]

SC2 is probably easier than SC.

SC path finding, unit AI and lot of stuff that today are a given, like rallying, idle workers, multiple build selection, etc, are absent.

Starcraft series and Age of Empires/Age of Mythology series are heavy economic games (AoE even more) - optimize gather and build multiple units at the same time.

WC3 is less economic and more about unit control.

Games like warhammer dawn of war 1 and 2 and company of heroes are all about control of small units.

Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander have highly independent units.

Sins of a solar empire is an rts with some 4x games.

Anyway most of these games will be quite different from civilization

Civilization is a 4X game.

Starcraft/warcraft is a RTS.

Then you have TBS, like heroes of might and magic that has some bas building or games like battle of wesnoth and massive assault).

And a few others, and they all have different mechanics.

Not sure if you're recommending SoSE to the OP, but it definitely is not for a newbie.

 

[Craig234]

'Strategy game' like Civ and 'real-time strategy' like SC are very different games.

This is a very good question - and I suspect he may have identified a missing spot in the market, while most game makers try to make a game for the experienced player.

But the 'casual market' is huge and largely untapped on this it seems to me.

Actually I can't think of a great recommendation for it - but some to consider are Heroes of Might and Magic 2 or 3, and Age of Empires series (1 and 2 $5 on Amazon now).

For more of a 'wargaming strategy', try one of the Panzer General games, probably 2. I hear good things about Total War: Rome as well, or Europa Universalis III.

On C&C, I'd say maybe Red Alert 2 - but saw a thread asking a similar question recommend C&C Generals Zero Hour for beginners.

Another I saw was Supreme Commander Forged Alliance.

 

[Selenium_Glow]

One very old Game which I consider a very very Basic strategy game that is easy to play and learn from for newbies is "Arsenal: Taste the Power".

I personally got into strategy with Arsenal, then jumped to Age of Empires with a brief stint with Homeworld: Cataclysm. Finally I went for WoW followed by DoTA where my interest then shifted to FPS games again... You can follow a similar way to pick games up. Arsenal and Age of Empires aren't very huge games either and will help you learn some basic mechanics of Strategy games.

 

[Chiropteran]

Chess.

 

[diesbudt]

Chess.

This. If you are not a pro chess player.

If you are... well sorry, because some of the best chess players, when they play you can actually predict somewhere between the first 15-20 turns in a game, because there is an actual "perfect 1st turn and perfect defense" strategies they all use.

 

[cl-scott]

Basically there's a number of sub-genres within strategy.

There's Real-Time Strategy like Dawn of War (those might be even easier than StarCraft, and if you like the game, there's a whole series of books that the game is based on), StarCraft, WarCraft... In these games you build an army, support structures, and then you marshal your forces against the other side(s).

There's Strategic/Tactical RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea (LOVE that game... The humor is immature a lot of times, but who doesn't like exploding penguins?), Stella Deus (most of these games are on consoles), Jeanne D'Arc, and a number of others. These games tend to have you on a grid, not dissimilar from chess, moving your characters around in a turn based system of attack and counter-attack.

Then there are games that are a little bit of a cross between the two like the Dawn of War 2 trilogy. You have a limited group of units you can control, and have to manage to complete the objectives of the level.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

I think i might give starcraft 2 a shot, since i already have a little experience with warcraft/starcraft 1. Whats the DRM situation like with this game? One reason i like steam is because i can go back and forth between PC and mac, is it possible with starcraft 2?

I should have mentioned i have played games like FF tactics before, and im not worried about becoming GOOD at games yet (the chess reference), i just havent played strategys in a while, and when i went to try civ the other day i felt completely overwhelmed.

I think more than anything i need a game that kind of baby's you at the beginning, and allows you to learn skills one by one, instead of being bombarded by everything and then wondering which to focus on first.

I should also mention, i have a bunch of strategy games already on my steam account that ive never played. (I have game buying problems) Heres my game list: lemme know which you would recommend. Keep in mind my real end goal here to to be able to play civ 5.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/lourivellini/games/?tab=all&sort=name - another reason steam needs to fix its category system. I wish i could sort by strategy, or make a category for strategy games, but then you get overlapping categories, and your worse off than you started.

 

[thespyder]

I have always been a bigger fan at turnbased strategy, like tactics and civ5 and chess or w/e.

Because it removes all the factors of "speed" and reaction times from the equation, and makes it simply into a pure strategy game, (with some background dice rolls for some)

I gotta go with this. If the OP is looking to 'Learn' strategy games, best to start off with a Turn based game. I like 4X games like GalCiv myself. You can set the difficulty to varying levels and take your time learning all of the skill trees. And the tutorial gives you "Some" idea of what to do and what works. Plus you don't have the additional pressure of 'Time crunch' on your mind.

Plus, I have always felt that 'The winner is the one who can click the mouse the fastest' isn't really strategy. At least to me.

 

[cl-scott]

Internet connection here is a little flaky at the moment, but it looks like you can get the Dawn of War RTS games on Steam. I would say those are a little easier on the whole compared to StarCraft. Fewer units, and you're dealing with squads of units not individual units like StarCraft.

Don't get me wrong, I love StarCraft, and consider the original to be the gold standard for RTS, but I think Dawn of War would probably be a bit easier. You don't have to have units constantly harvesting resources, you just capture points on the map for requisition or build a power generator for power resource and then you get a constant flow of resources from those unless the enemy takes the point or destroys the structure. So it frees you up to focus on shooting things, and there's never a situation like in StarCraft where you might completely mine all the resources in an area, and then you're kind of stuck. Dawn of War... As long as you have your primary structure and one power generator, you'll always have resources coming in.

You just may want to skip the Winter Assault game on the original Dawn of War. It's really only useful for if you want to play as any race other than the space marines on Dark Crusade and Soulstorm.

 

[diesbudt]

Plus, I have always felt that 'The winner is the one who can click the mouse the fastest' isn't really strategy. At least to me.

Amen Brother