Strategy games are typically board games, video or computer games with the players' decision-making skills having a high significance in determining the outcome. Many games include this element to a greater or lesser degree, making demarcation difficult. It is therefore more accurate to describe a particular game as having a degree of strategic elements.
Strategy (and tactics) are usually contrasted with luck, games exist on a continuum from pure skill to pure chance.
Abstract strategy
In abstract strategy games, the game is only loosely tied to a real-world theme, if at all. The mechanics do not attempt to simulate reality, but rather serve the internal logic of the game. Chess, checkers, and go are excellent examples.
Simulation
This type of game is an attempt to capture the decisions inherent to some real-world situation. Most of the mechanics are chosen to reflect what the real-world consequences would be of each player action and decision. Abstract games cannot be cleanly divided from simulations and so games can be thought of as existing on a continuum of almost pure abstraction (like Abalone) to almost pure simulation (like Strat-o-Matic Baseball).
Real-time strategy
Usually applied only to certain computer strategy games, the moniker "real-time strategy" indicates that the action in the game is continuous, and players will have to make their decisions and actions within the backdrop of a constantly changing game state. Very few non-computer strategy games are real-time; one example is Icehouse.
The game considered the father of RTS games is Dune II, by Westwood Studios, and was followed by their seminal Command & Conquer. Cavedog's Total Annihilation (1997), Blizzard's Warcraft (1994) series and StarCraft (1997), and Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires (1998) series are some of the most popular RTS games.
Turn-based
The term "turn-based strategy game" (TBS) is usually reserved for certain computer strategy games, to distinguish them from real-time computer strategy games. A player of a turn-based game is allowed a period of analysis before committing to a game action. The most notable games of this genre are the Civilization, Heroes of Might and Magic, Jagged Alliance, Total War, Master of Orion and X-COM series.
TBS games come in two flavors, depending on whether inside a turn players play simultaneously or take their (mini-)turns. The former games fall into the simultaneously-executed TBS games, with Diplomacy a notable example. The latter games fall into player-alternated TBS games, and are subsequently subdivided into (a) ranked, (b) round-robin start, and (c) random, the difference being the order under which players start within a turn, (a) the first player being the same every time, (b) the first player selection policy is round-robin, and (c) the first player is randomly selected.
Almost all non-computer strategy games are turn-based; however, the personal computer game market trends incline more towards "real-time strategy" games. Another interesting market trend is the rise of Indie TBS games (games produced by small groups, independent or slightly affiliated with the computer games industry), which normally extend or refine one or another already existing TBS strategy games. Amongst others, two good examples are *Age of Castles and *Leaderz .
War game
War games are simulations of historical or hypothetical military battles, campaigns or entire wars. Players will have to consider situations that are analogous to the situations faced by leaders of historical battles. As such, war games are usually heavy on simulation elements. Some games of this type will use physical models of detailed terrain and miniature representations of people and equipment to depict the game state.
A popular wargame with physical models is Warhammer 40,000. Diplomacy and Global Diplomacy are also strategic wargames.
City building
City-building games are a type of computer strategy game, where players, normally from a point-of-view high in the sky, can build and manage a simulated city. City building games normally do not support online or hotseat play. The most notable games of this genre are the Simcity by Maxis and the City Building Series by Impressions Games.
See also
External links
RTS
TBS