Strategy Games: Strategically Successful?

engaging the brain can be very addictive especially when it is in the strategical way. Feeling total control and being ahead of other tactically brings a good feeling because you feel smarter and wiser than others. Perhaps this is the emotion that makes a strategy game so successful. Certainly over the years there has been great successes within the genre games such as, Age of empires, Starcraft, Total war, Civilisation and Warhammer.

To get a better understanding into why Strategy games have battled its way into the hearts and minds of gamers I talked to a man who has over 700 hours in Civilisation 5 and dabbles with Warhammer. Mr. Thomas Cobb, strategist extraordinaire. This is how I used the strategy of question asking to gain the knowledge I required. The first question was more directed to Mr. Cobb personally, the question was.

what are your favourite strategy games that you have played and more importantly why?

Mr. Cobb answered with the following.

CIV 5, is the most balanced and fun to play. But, Warhammer: Soulstorm I am a fan of just for the lore. Both have mods available to them and these are fun to play adding another layer of depth.

Civilisation has been a huge success among its audiences and Warhammer has been continuing for a very long time as well showing a very successful career. Modifications as Mr. Cobb mentioned add to the games in question more ways to play the same game which I agree enhance the experience tenfold. Having established Mr. Cobb’s preferences within the strategy world I decided to ramp up the question difficulty but only a bit this was a good strategic move. The question I asked was.

 In your opinion why do you think that strategy games are well loved, acquire great success and are played by so many gamers?

Mr. Cobb calmly replied.

The same reason that people can play chess over and over. No game is completely the same, and while you can think of strong tactics and have frustrating moments it is fun and satisfying to win and provides opportunity to learn from your mistakes and how to improve

This I find to be true as every game can bring a win or a lose but it is how you get there that counts and how that every decision you make in a strategy game has its positives and negatives. choosing carefully with a wisened mind is always key during these games and that is definitely what many believe the attraction is just as Mr. Cobb had stated. Overall a very engaging and thought provoking play style is pinpointed when in play of a strategy game. Perhaps this is the attraction? The next question I posed to Mr. Cobb was more about the emotional and mental affects a strategy game can have, there have been some threads online suggesting that there are people out there that struggle with an increase in anxiety when under the stress of a strategy game. so the question I asked Mr. Cobb was.

A recent online thread has been having discussions about a link to increase in anxiety or stress levels when playing strategy games do you think there is one ? If not why ?    

This is what Mr. Cobb thought about the matter       

I don’t think there is a link when you are defeated it can be quite clear but still a slow lose. If you are playing with friends, there is definitely less stress, however. You also have to think about the type of strategy games real time or turn based a turn-based type can give you lots of time to think unless you involve a timer

Mr. Cobb suggests that it could depend on what type of strategy game it is, real time or turn based. Perhaps this makes the difference between the stress felt amongst the gaming community. However perhaps it could also have to do with the complexity of a strategy game and how there are too many things to process all at once? Moving on coming towards the end of the strategic line of questioning the next question seems to pose a level of challenge for Mr. Cobb. The question I asked was.

what has been the most successful strategy game/series in your own opinion?

However the answer Mr. Cobb back was striking and thoughtful… strategic move indeed.

This is a hard one as most games do involve some form of strategy also a lot of strategy games tend to have a bad egg Civ released beyond earth and Civ 6, but the players are sticking to Civ 5 as their favourite. Dawn of war released DoW 1 and 2 but DoW 3 even though it had so much hype behind it failed catastrophically potentially killing the franchise but there are also games like StarCraft which are more competitive. Which would likely cause stress I would have to go with Relic though they created the Dawn of war games as well as Company of heroes both of which focused on cover a lot rather than health bars of units

There is no single answer for this question due to the range and difference in how strategy games use and apply their version of the thinking, planning and acting out of tactics and stratagems necessary to win within the games themselves. the final charge the end of the line and the last question that I gave unto Mr. Cobb was one that rounded off our talk rather nicely and definitely drew our battle of question and answer to a stalemate. This question was.

Is there any difference between the strategy games being on a board to virtual what are the differences and what makes for better game experience in your opinion?

Mr Cobb placed his answer carefully down and drew with me he replied.

There are huge differences between a board game and a virtual game virtual games can have more features than a board game (eliminating math that would have to be done physically) Warhammer has a board game that can be fun to play but requires a lot of preparation (purchasing the models etc.) There is also the matter of convenience. Getting 8 people to meet up to play a game is quite hard in real life and can be quite hectic. Online however you can have battles in real time with allies   

so there you have it my fellow strategy fanatics may you tread carefully and be well prepared roaming through the many worlds of the strategy universe. Remember only play if it is fun, feeling anxious take a break feeling overwhelmed with the complexity of a game play it bit by bit and practice. Practice always makes perfect my friends. But most importantly dont be afraid to lose as this is how you adapt and learn and then win. May you proceed with tactical precaution. If you want to give any suggestions as to how I could improve this or what you want to see later on this website fill out the form below and I will make sure to adhere to your request as soon as I can.