I’ve always preferred turn-based strategy games as opposed to real-time strategy. I find I struggle with having to manage multiple units and make tactical decisions without having as much time to think things through as I would prefer, even though I almost exclusively play strategy titles against AI opponents — they don’t complain if my turns take too long. If you and/or any of your loved ones feel the same, I have a few ideas in terms of games on Steam that might serve as great gifts this holiday season. The Steam Winter Sale might also help out quite a bit on this front. Let’s begin, shall we?

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Anthology ($98.70 USD, but may be deeply discounted during the Steam Winter Sale)

If you’re a longtime reader of ours, you saw this coming from a mile away. I’m slightly hesitant to recommend the full Civilization VI experience with Civilization 7 scheduled to release in February (as of the time of writing), but I can fully vouch for everything the Civ 6 Anthology has to offer. The Anthology Edition contains the base game and every last bit of downloadable content that has ever been released for Civ 6. To help explain how much content that is, I’ve spent over 750 hours playing Civ 6 and I’ve still barely scratched the surface of how much this collection presents.

Tactical Breach Wizards ($19.99 USD)

Tactical Breach Wizards pretty much does what it says on the tin: You control a group of wizards and other magic users, some of whom have military training. You’ll use their unique skills to breach your way into fortified strongholds in order to eliminate hostile targets and retrieve mission-critical information. One such wizard you control can see one second into the future, which lets you see how your planned tactics will pan out before you end your turn and, if necessary, make adjustments to ensure things go well. To my great amusement, Tactical Breach Wizards also actively encourages players to send enemies flying out of windows whenever possible.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns ($59.99 USD)

Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a tactical, card-battler RPG set in Marvel Comics lore. In its plot, your character has recently been resurrected after having fallen in battle centuries ago against a hugely powerful evil, who’s also just been returned to the mortal plane – and who happens to be your character’s mother. You’re the only being who’s strong enough to defeat Mother Dearest once and for all, but you won’t have to face that challenge alone: You’ve got a slew of notable Marvel Comics characters to team up with, many of whom you can also befriend when you’re off the clock.

5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel ($11.99 USD)

Here’s another entry that does what it says on the tin, even though what it says on the tin is complex enough in practice to make my brain start to hurt pretty quickly. Imagine this, if you can: It’s standard chess, except you and your opponent can move pieces back in time in order to create multiple branching timelines which can, in turn, create even more parallel timelines that will all likely need to be fully resolved in order for a game of 5D Chess to decisively end. I can only think to describe 5D Chess by saying I’m glad my grandfather taught me to play the normal, much easier version as a kid.

Midnight Protocol ($14.99 USD)

Midnight Protocol is, for lack of a better description, a “story-driven hacker simulator” in which you’ll need to use your technical skills to figure out how and why your personal information was leaked to the authorities, leading to your arrest. The kicker is, you know exactly who betrayed you, but you don’t know their methods or their motives. You’ll have to use every trick in the metaphorical book to break into secured systems, find the information you seek, and maybe drain other people’s bank accounts a few times to keep yourself financially afloat. All without your intrusions being detected until you can settle things once and for all.

 

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David Sanders

David Sanders is, at his core, a man who's just trying to get through his game backlog before the heat death of the universe, and yet can't seem to stop adding to said game backlog. He greatly enjoys many different varieties of games, particularly several notable RPGs and turn-based strategy titles. When he's not helping to build or plan computers for friends, he can usually be found gaming on his personal machine or listening to an audiobook to unwind.

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