Codicier

Relaxing Strategy Game Suggestions

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Right, have grabbed CK2 (& Warlock) as part of the paradox sale. Also added the other suggestions to my watch list for sales, and will keep a eye out for them, while trying to resist splurging money on Sins: Rebellion, & frantically beating back the urge to start hoarding every bit of spare cash so I can justify getting a new ipad.

In particular thanks to everyone who suggested the Imppresion Games city builders. Looking at them on GoG its remarkable how much better Zeus & Pharaoh have aged compared to many of their contemporaries, there's something about that bright and detailed sprite art that ages so much better than contemporary games that used 3D like dungeon keeper.

Side note: I think im probably the only person who watched the E3 stuff & thought "yay! now i can play X-Com with a game pad"

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I recently tried out a copy I came across of Imperium Galactica II. I found it really relaxing and slow though it is an RTS. A 4X RTS. The lens flared sunlight on the horizon of planets and the planetary weather gave the game a zen feel.

And yeah, the Impressions city building series as mentioned already. I've tried Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom and Ceasar III--two similar games of the same generation in that series I think. The amount of buildings burning down or collapsing was a little aggravating, but I was new to the games. IG II has a city building aspect to it as well.

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For my current game of Civ V: Gods & Kings, I set the world size as big as it can be, and the time scale as long as it can be, and it's been a pretty relaxing experience. The massive world and slow pace makes it feel like there's plenty of room, both geographically and temporally, for me to play at my own pace and in my own style, which is very non-militaristic and leisurely. I don't really play Civ to win, I just play it for the simulational aspects, and I feel that's supported well in Civ V.

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I play Civ exclusively to warrior rush other cities in the first few turns.

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I recently tried out a copy I came across of Imperium Galactica II. I found it really relaxing and slow though it is an RTS. A 4X RTS. The lens flared sunlight on the horizon of planets and the planetary weather gave the game a zen feel.

And yeah, the Impressions city building series as mentioned already. I've tried Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom and Ceasar III--two similar games of the same generation in that series I think. The amount of buildings burning down or collapsing was a little aggravating, but I was new to the games. IG II has a city building element to it as well.

Impressions city builders are basically the height of city building games (Anno is nice but Impressions is probably still better). They go in this order, in terms of release:

Caeser III -> Pharaoh -> Zeus -> Emperor

The problem with this is that while Caeser III is sort of a pillar of city building design, a couple of the ways it works mean that Zeus and Emperor are better games for actually playing. See, Impressions city builders use a worker system that draws from the available population of the right class of people to do things like haul goods, work the industries and all that. Caeser works in such a way that these people are often taken from across the city, increasing material flow times significantly. Zeus and Emperor (Pharaoh runs off the same systems at Caeser) take people from the nearest available housing structure, meaning it's often beneficial to have housing complexes for each industry complex.

Basically what I'm getting at is that if you want to play great city builders, they're all great, but Zeus (Emperor isn't on GOG yet but probably will be soon) is a much easier game to deal with.

Also never build a fire station until you have a fire.

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Thanks for the tips, Orvidos. I need to get back to those.

Back to the original thread question. Another relaxing game I found recently was a turn-based game called Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power. I'm not really into turn-based (probably a bad thing to say around here), but it has an "RTS style" deathmatch mode. For an RTS player it was slow and relaxing gameplay that was somewhere in-between turn-based and RTS. It was probably too easy though.

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Personally I ended up grabbing the Zeus + Poseidon deal on GoG working on the logic that the later games in the series would have worked out any UI or AI kinks that might have still been kicking around in earlier iteration Impressions produced(idk if this is actually true it's just a assumption I generally work on with most series). So far I'm enjoying tending my little greek zen garden.

@Orvidos Was Ceaser 3 was a more 'pure' design than the later re-workings? I'm sort of getting that sense from some of the things I've seen people say about it.

On a side note: Any of you ladies & gents given Endless space any time yet? it looks pretty mesmerising and there's a lot of good sounds being made about it on my twitter feed.(although if i end up buying it before I get Sins:Reb part of me if going to feel dirty for cheating on a beloved series)

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@Orvidos Was Ceaser 3 was a more 'pure' design than the later re-workings? I'm sort of getting that sense from some of the things I've seen people say about it.

On a side note: Any of you ladies & gents given Endless space any time yet? it looks pretty mesmerising and there's a lot of good sounds being made about it on my twitter feed.(although if i end up buying it before I get Sins:Reb part of me if going to feel dirty for cheating on a beloved series)

Caeser 3, Pharaoh and Zeus are pretty much all the same game with different flavors of culture, buildings and a few other changes. Military is miles better in Zeus however. How religion works, for instance. Caeser III is, I would say, the premier Impressions game, yes, but if you like it and beat it, give the others a shot.

Endless Space is what MOO3 should have been. If that's not a good enough recommendation I don't know what to tell you.

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I find Rise of Legends to be a very relaxing game. I think the music and the lack of much audio response from units when you click on them adds to the laid-back feel of it.

Speaking of city builders, I was listening to an old 3MA recently where Troy mentioned that he was enjoying playing Grand Ages Rome. I have it, but have yet to play it. The box describes it as a 4X RTS, but the reviews I found of it online describe it as a city builder, and not a great one at that. I think I'll try it out some time this week.

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Dungeon keeper was a old favourite,

I wish that game could be brought back or someone would release it again. What a game!

If you are looking for relaxed, you really want something turn-based in my opinion. If its strategy, it still has to have complexity and a challenge, but at least you don't have to be "rushing" constantly.

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Sins of a Solar Empire is by far the most relaxing RTS I'm aware of. The scale makes it so that twitch micro is almost completely irrelevant, and watching gigantic space armadas smash into each other just never gets old.

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If you are looking for relaxed, you really want something turn-based in my opinion. If its strategy, it still has to have complexity and a challenge, but at least you don't have to be "rushing" constantly.

That would depend on what a person is used to playing though, wouldn't it? If a person doesn't play a lot of turn-based, they'd be spending time getting a game down again, which is at least not as fun if not more work than just playing an RTS one knows. I think personal preferences and experience may trump whether a game is real-time or turn-based.

I'd even add SupCom with RoL and Sins as an RTS that I find relaxing for the same reasons. The atmosphere and especially the audio can put me to sleep if I try playing those in the evening after a busy day at work. Some of city builders mentioned earlier can be more lively in that regard. I think music and unit audio make a big difference. Of course there's always setting the difficulty level lower, which I've probably done in those games often as I haven't played them a whole lot.

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The Total War games can be quite relaxing if you're approach them in the right way. Indeed, quite often you have to be pretty patient while you wait for regiments to maneuver into position, etc.

And CivIV:Colinization is pretty nice. A large part of the game is setting up trade routes, rather than fighting wars.

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Tropico 4 is going for a pretty relaxing $5.99 on Steam, now would be the time to pick it up if you're interested. I certainly might after reading some of what you guys said.

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Been playing a lot of Brutal Legend since it's PC release and so far i'm really enjoying the bite sized way its put together. True the battles really require very little in the way of true strategy, but there just enough busy work and moment to moment tactics to keep me busy.

The stage battles reminds me of a Dota style arena game in some ways, with the main "trick" being the ability to mix up the stream of mobs being sent to a objective.

The ability to basically "sight see"  between battles is great too, to just Que up a few tunes and drive around the amazing world for a bit is also great for chilling out. (i know metal isn't necessarily chill out music to everyone, but I find listening to it lets me release a bit of tension)

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I find playing Warlock quite relaxing. The interface makes keeping track of everything nice and easy, being a nice parade of decisions that need making. Oh, these cities can build something. Alright, I'll have one of these over here and one of those over there. Two units got promoted; pick those perks. Hey, I can have werewolves now. Give me a unit of those. Eight units need orders. No problem. Lets go clean up that holy site so we can grab it later, then maybe head for that city.

 

Alternatively, SupCom 1 or 2. Big map, free for all, lots of low level AI. Have fun building over the top defenses and giant robots and admiring all the pretty explosions.

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Basically what I'm getting at is that if you want to play great city builders, they're all great, but Zeus (Emperor isn't on GOG yet but probably will be soon) is a much easier game to deal with.

 

I haven't gotten ahold of Zeus yet, but I've been playing Emporer in the free build mode. Basically each game I get another jump up in the quality of the housing/neighborhoods before I call it a night, so I'm very slowly getting better.

 

I need to go back and try that Grand Ages Rome game again too. I went straight from the tutorial to the free build mode in it and did not do well.

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A quick aside: who owns the Evil Genius property? It was so very nearly a great game, but it wasn't; the sort of game that desperately needs a sequel to get it just right.

 

There's a fan-made patch that works subtly to fix many of the game's major problems. It's like the splash of water that opens up the whiskey. Difficulty and pacing are both adjusted to the point where they feel correct, and you're given a comfortable amount of leeway to have fun and experiment without feeling frustrated.

 

 

(Apologies for posting this a year late.)

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