Good Strategy Games for Beginners

[Saelune]

I liked the original Command & Conquer, and Starcraft (never beat either though), and I love Civilization

I dare say you have already eased yourself into strategy games and playing a few more accessible games will not make it any easier to get into a game like Crusader Kings 2. One thing I would recommend though is playing a difficulty level or two above your comfort zone. This will make you more aware of the game mechanics and tactical subtleties because you will need to.

I should point out that for pretty much every RTS ever, the most important thing strategy-wise is simply to keep your production going as fast as possible. It's usually quite obvious, but also a lot of balls to juggle in real time. It takes a lot of practice to juggle those balls, but it makes a massive difference. If you can do it perfectly you can beat the vast majority of Starcraft players without even considering real strategy or tactics. This is perhaps unfortunate, but it's the way things are.

But like, I dont know what I am doing at all in CK2. Like, I stare at the screen unsure what to do, wait till someone attacks me, then die.

I spent 2 separate games trying tooth and nail to kill my spouse, and it saying it is at 100% and being like "Why isnt anything happening!?"

Standard RTS base builder games are pretty clear on what to do, and its more about knowing what is good and bad against what, and resource management. With CK2, it might as well be in French.

 

[Saelune]

I am into most genres of games, but strategy games are rarely ever ones I can get into. I like the idea of alot of them, but they tend to be well, way too complicated for me.

I liked the original Command & Conquer, and Starcraft (never beat either though), and I love Civilization, but that is turn based and me being a history nerd makes me like it more.

I keep trying to get into Crusader Kings II, but...then I get intimidated cause I dont know what the hell I am doing.

So basically I am looking for recommendations for good games to ease me into strategy games or something like that. Or perhaps general advice to get into games that otherwise seem too difficult or complicated for me.

It really really depends on what you're looking for. Are you looking for any sort of a 4x experience like Crusader Kings II? Or are you mainly looking for a typical rts? Are you looking for skirmish matches against AI, a singleplayer campaign, or competitive multiplayer matches?

Also... are you looking for something especially challenging (in terms of AI difficulty), epic battles, or primarily just looking to experience the setting with a dose of strategy/management?

I mostly ask this because it's really difficult to narrow down any particular titles to recommend, especially given some of the common pitfalls with strategy games.

Just strategy games that can potentially ease me into the genre as a whole. My brother loves them and keeps trying to get me to play with him, but then I do and just...do nothing. And no, he is not much help in getting me into it, since he does little in teaching me anything.

I was not specific because I dont intend to be. RTS, turn based, world conquering or whatever like CK2, etc.

What games do you play against him?
Maybe try to play the single player or the tutorial of those games on your own.
From experience, diving straight in to multiplayer the first time you play doesn't really work that well.
Fist time i played starcraft 1 was multiplayer and it was over before i even figured out how to gather resources.

I'm somewhat assuming you did, but did you ask you brother to teach you how to play?
I imagine he would enjoy the game more himself if you could put up more of a fight.

We usually play co-operatively, or do our own things.

And my brother is not the best teacher.

I only played multiplayer versus in C&C3 on 360. Did terrible. Eventually one guy pitied me and taught me some tips, like how to build fast. Then I just gave my opponents more things to break before I lost...

 

[Bedinsis]

I liked the original Command & Conquer, and Starcraft (never beat either though), and I love Civilization

I dare say you have already eased yourself into strategy games and playing a few more accessible games will not make it any easier to get into a game like Crusader Kings 2. One thing I would recommend though is playing a difficulty level or two above your comfort zone. This will make you more aware of the game mechanics and tactical subtleties because you will need to.

I should point out that for pretty much every RTS ever, the most important thing strategy-wise is simply to keep your production going as fast as possible. It's usually quite obvious, but also a lot of balls to juggle in real time. It takes a lot of practice to juggle those balls, but it makes a massive difference. If you can do it perfectly you can beat the vast majority of Starcraft players without even considering real strategy or tactics. This is perhaps unfortunate, but it's the way things are.

But like, I dont know what I am doing at all in CK2. Like, I stare at the screen unsure what to do, wait till someone attacks me, then die.

I spent 2 separate games trying tooth and nail to kill my spouse, and it saying it is at 100% and being like "Why isnt anything happening!?"

Standard RTS base builder games are pretty clear on what to do, and its more about knowing what is good and bad against what, and resource management. With CK2, it might as well be in French.

Yeah, Paradox' games can be quite overwhelming. I spent an awful lot of time watching let's plays of CK2 until I actually knew the game almost entirely before buying it, but I cannot in good conscience recommend such a time consuming tactic.

A common tip is to start at Ireland, since there won't be much religious conflicts and your realm will be small and therefore more easy to manage.

100% plot power means there is enough plot power for murder events to actually occur. After some time at over 100% (the more over 100 the sooner)there will be an event pointing up where a murder scenario is described under which the intended victim will be targeted. After accepting this the next screen will reveal whether the event succeeded, succeeded but you were found out, or failed. At failure the process starts over again, and a new murder event will eventually occur.

To prevent others from defeating you in wars, make sure to build buildings that give troops in your holdings(press a province; press the castle in the top of the county screen to open the build menu), to send your Marshal to Train Troops in your holdings(first tab along the top of the screen; second guy is the Marshal; hover over the options next to Appoint to see what they do), and/or to get fruitful alliances through tactical marriages.

Is the uncertainty of what to do what goal to choose and/or how to go about it? A common early goal is to conquer foreign territory, which ought to be done by sending the Chancellor to Fabricate Claim on the territory of your choosing. It will take a money and prestige hit once gathered but it is the most straightforward way to do so.

Or is it more that the entire screen is overwhelming? I realize I might have been a bit overwhelming in this post myself.

 

[Mechamorph]

So basically I am looking for recommendations for good games to ease me into strategy games or something like that. Or perhaps general advice to get into games that otherwise seem too difficult or complicated for me.

I believe that Divinity: Dragon Commander might be right up your alley. It has RTS elements, strategic elements and even a bit of a relationship simulator. The latter comes with keeping your key generals happy. After all how often in an RTS do you get to institute fair wages for your female officers? There is also a council of races that you attend as a monarch, listening to their concerns and letting them guide policy. It is possible to institute a democratic republic and voluntarily leave office after the war is over. Even the new president is gobsmacked. The last part of the relationship simulator is with your consort. They make it clear that it is a political marriage and as a monarch, you need heirs. Not all the princesses are happy with it either. Indeed one of them makes it quite clear that she is at best ambivalent to you. Others are transparent that you are a meal ticket or a way out of a gilded cage.

If you want some fantasy in your strategy, try Endless Legend. It harkens back to Might and Magic with multiple resources, hero units and unique mechanics for each race. It has an adequate tutorial mode as well so you will not get as lost. There is significant RPG influences in the game with multiple quests and minor factions to befriend. It is also possible to win the game by completing your faction's major quest line, something I personally appreciate.

If you want a squad-based tactical sim and do not mind an anime aesthetic, I can recommend Valkyria Chronicles. The personalities of your troops are pretty colourful and you unlock more of their backstory as you level them up. It takes place in a faux WWII and like many Japanese games tends to take a lot of tropes common to JPRGs into account.

As for Crusader Kings II in particular, Paradox Interactive have never been very good at writing documentation or a tutorial worth spit. Sadly you will need to visit their forums (or Steam community) where often there are plenty of simple how-to guides written by helpful individuals. CKII in particular was conceived more as a dynasty simulator where success comes from forging ties and marriages with other nations to create powerful alliances. In theory. In practice, it was about juggling your nobles and sending your problems to the church or off to die horribly with at least some plausible deniability. Sometimes I felt I was playing King David more than I was Clausewitz or Machiavelli.

The key tenets of strategy games are still around though. Build up a strong economy and pump cash into your own provinces as much as you can. There are several improvements that allow you to draft more peasant levies from your fief and they can be invaluable. The AI is programmed to look at you funny if they collectively can raise a certain percentage of your forces. So keep your rebellious vassals busy at war to whittle down their numbers, preserve your own troops as much as you can and when you can afford one, start building a retinue of heavy cavalry. Their army may be bigger but the professional soldiers of a retinue can eat for breakfast a force thrice their size under the right circumstances. Patches and expansions can change the game dramatically and not always for the better so it is hard to give more precise advice than that. If you want to explore the game in relative peace, try playing Francia (either East or West) during the Viking Age (circa the 700s AD). You have plenty of loyal(ish) nobles, surrounded by a large number of allies and stand to inherit the other half of Francia when one other person kicks the bucket. Its as good a place and time to slowly explore the mechanics as I can provide.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

-Dawn of War: Not as fond of this as some others, but I think it's relatively easy to get into. Start with Space Marines, as they're the easiest to use - luckily, they're the campaign faction as well.

Seconded. Even though I'm a rabid 40k fan myself outside of that DoW is a solid RTS with very solid game mechanics. When it first came out it revolutionized the RTS scene with moral, character units attaching to base units, much better vehicle mechanics, etc...
There's a reason its considered one of the best RTS of all time.

 

[gorfias]

I have so many fun gaming toys but got very hooked on flash free to play MMOs for a while. Its free so what the heck.

The one I liked the most, Thirst of Night as been shut down. It was easy for hackers to cheat.

 

[Tanis]

RTS?
Try older ones like Dune or even Red Alert 2.
-I'd also suggest Age of Empires 2, which has a pretty solid tutorial.
They're simpler, which makes them easier to 'get' into.

4X?
This is a bit more...difficult, given that 'being complex' is kind of the point of a LOT of these games.
The Master of Orion reboot/remake that came out recently is fairly easy to get into and easy mode IS REALLY EASY.

For a mix of the two?
Star Wars: Empire At War!
It's got the RTS stuff for both space and land battles, but the 'galactic conquest' mode let's you do a bit of 4X-lite.
EASY to get into, and pretty damn solid game.
-Plus some mods out there REALLY up the number & types of units, making it THAT much better a game.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I dont really play many strategy games I tend to like the idea of playing them more than the actual act of doing so.

That said there have been a few that I have been able to get into not sure how helpful it will be to you but they are:-

Advance wars - TBS on the GBA and other systems havent played em all (only 1 and 2 actually) but any should be fine. Can be quite manic later on but it eases you in well.

Valkyria Chronicles (1) - A bit of an odd one that mixes strategy with RPG and turnbased with real time personally I thought it worked amazingly well and does a good job of slowly opening up as well as making you care about your troops (can get perma death).

Disgaea (series) - A strategy TB RPG but whereas Valkria Chronicles is more strategy than RPG I would say Disgaea is the opposite although you certainly can play it as a full on strategy game if you want it depends on how much you level although you will not be able to do everything inspite of your level. They all have an absolute load of content but it does not overwhelm you and unless you wanna do the really hard challenges you can even ignore a lot of it.

Lastly a bit of a cliche answer but Chess pretty easy to get a grip on but not to master.

I should mention that Valkria Chronicles and Disgaea are single player only so its no good if you wanna compete against other players.

 

[Gennadios]

As someone who hates everything that RTS games are and stand for, Northgard, currently in early access is actually a hell of a lot of fun as an RTS. Uber simple to pick up and only a handful of mechanics to learn (gold, fame, food) but expanding and balancing those mechanics is complex and enjoyable.

As far as Grand Strategy goes, Stellaris is probably the most mechanically simple modern 4x game. It was kind of bland upon release, and got better with patches, but if you go that route be prepared to buy every DLC that comes out (and be thankful for it!)

These two are the only modern Strategy games I can really recommend at the moment. Everything else has been kind of underwhelming

You can also look into Endless Space 2 early access. It's pretty simple and fast paced, but I hadn't had a chance to play the past few updates, so I can't personally vouch for how it's shaping up.

 

[Glongpre]

Age of Empires 2 is good, and you also like history so you might enjoy the campaigns and setting.

How about Battle for Wesnoth? It is a free game, similar to Fire Emblem. It is a medieval fantasy game...ie. orcs, elves, undead, etc. It is pretty well made though.
https://www.wesnoth.org/

 

[American Fox]

Shining Force 1 & 2.

You can find them on Steam.

 

[Zulnam]

By the sound of it, it seems that you want to learn to play Crusaderk Kings 2, a grand strategy game. You ask for games to ease you into it but:

a) if i recommend you Planetary Annihilation and you become the world's best player at it, you still won't know what to do in ck2; it's like beating Diablo 3 to prepare for Dark Souls
b) hoping to be eased into a paradox grand strategy is like a hooker looking for romance in a truck parking lot. They are complex games that rarely have similarities with games from other devs/publishers, much less other types of strategies

If CK2 is your end goal then don't dance around it, spend a few hours watching beginner tutorials on youtube and start an easy game with a recommended family. You will get the hang of it sooner than you think.

 

[Sonmi]

It really really depends on what you're looking for. Are you looking for any sort of a 4x experience like Crusader Kings II?

Considering CK2 lacks two out of the four Xs in 4X, I'd highly refrain from calling it a 4X. It's Grand Strategy.

That being said, if you want to start 4Xs, go with Civ, it's simple and streamlined. Don't play online. Endless Legend is nice too.
If you want to go GS, go with Europa Universalis, either 3 or 4, start with no DLC, they only add components to the game that you'll want once you understand the basics better.
F*ck if I know what games you should play to introduce yourself to RTSs, Age of Empire/Mythology?
Fire Emblem is pretty easy if you want to introduce yourself to Turn-based Strategy (Just don't go for Radiant Dawn), as is Advance Wars.

 

[Sonmi]

Impossible creatures: One game that I'm surprised nobody has talked about and one of the most original RTS games that I've ever seen. You play as a mad scientist (Supossedly good because you're trying to stop ANOTHER mad scientist) with an army of henchmen at your dispossal in a steampunk-like era. The whole objective and appeal of the game is that all your units are created from splicing animals; doing things like making a gorilla with the head of a cheetah and the feet of an alig?tor for instance, and try to counter the current enemy units with your own. It's a surprisingly good game but it requieres a lot of patience as you start in a pretty miserable state with very little animals to splice and an AI that doesn't know when to give up (By that I mean that you'll spend most of your time waiting for your units to systematically destroy all of the enemies' buildings for a long time even though you have killed anything that moves).

Completely underrated gem, absolutely loved the campaign. There's something that was uniquely fun about wandering the map with the main character, trying to find random animals to add to your genetic bank, allowing you more flexibility in creating your units.

Small nitpick though, but your example of a creature involved three animals, you can only use two per creation IIRC.

 

[Dr. Thrax]

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance: The best game in the Supreme Commander series, I have clocked 867 hours in it. Forged Alliance upgrades the UI from the first game, adds new units for every faction, and adds a fourth playable faction. Base building is simple, you can build resource structures next to your factories to get units cheaper, the economy is simple to manage, and the maps can be enormous. You'll march along with hundreds of tanks, assault bots, bombers, gunships, fighters, frigates, and more, build massive experimental units to shift the tide of a fight, and the best part is that you can zoom all the way out to see the entire map while still giving orders.