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Strategy games are usually a PC mainstay and end up being killer apps on that platform. As technology, improved strategy games, both real-time and turn-based, leaked out onto consoles more with some memorable games and even some of the best in the genre’s history.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem’s continuous streak of top-quality games is refreshing. In a genre that has been mainly dominated by PC games, it’s nice to see a console game make a break. Fire Emblem has a fantastic story along with some incredibly deep turn-based strategy that isn’t topped by many others.

Runner-Ups

Slay the Spire

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Age of Wonders: Planetfall

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Sid Meiers Civilization VI: Gathering Storm

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Total War: Three Kingdoms

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2019 Game of the Year Awards — Console Awards — PC

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/11/2019

Posted in: 2019, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: 2019, amid evil, awards, disco elysium, game of the year, goty, mordhau, pc, planet zoo, three kingdoms, total war. Leave a comment

PC has been stronger than ever. Never before have there been as many PC releases alongside consoles. However, the PC is still unique with its own controls and power that consoles just can’t provide. It was a tough year spanning across many genres.

Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium is a rare gem that only gets released maybe once a decade. This is what makes PC gaming so unique. A point and click RPG with a gorgeous art style, story, characters, and so many possibilities to choose from. It’s what made the PC so appealing as a gaming device decades ago, and Disco Elysium nails that need.

Runner-Ups

Planet Zoo

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Mordhau

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Total War: Three Kingdoms

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Amid Evil

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2017 Game of the Year Awards — Genre Awards — Best Strategy Game

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/13/2017

Posted in: 2017, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: blade of the shogun, crusade, galactic civilizations iii, game of the year awards, goty, kingdom battle, mario, rabbids, shadow tactics, starcraft remastered, strategy, total war, warhammer ii. Leave a comment

What a weak year for strategy games. The usual big names like StarCraft, Civilization, and others are missing this year. There were a few great games, but they were so spread out I started to wonder if the genre died.

Total War: Warhammer II

Warhammer II was a no-brainer this year. Being even better than the already fantastic original, it’s massive in scale and delivers all the Warhammer essentials for fans of the series. It’s deep, beautiful, fun, and challenging.

Runner-Ups

StarCraft: Remastered

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Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade

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Shadow Tactics: Blade of the Shogun

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Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

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2017 Game of the Year Awards — Console Awards — PC

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/08/2017

Posted in: 2017, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: game of the year awards, goty, guilds wars 2, hollow knight, lone echo, path of fire, pc, starcraft remastered, total war, warhammer ii. Leave a comment

PC exclusives have slowed down quite a bit. All we really get now are some indie games or strategy games, as well as MMOs. This year was strange as the second Total War: Warhammer game was released as well as Starcraft Remastered. Nothing else really stood out this year which is sad for PC gamers.

Total War: Warhammer II

I know Total War: Warhammer won as of last year’s best PC game, but the series has seriously been a behemoth on PC. For the past two years, PC exclusives have fallen short or have been pumping out expansion to older games. Starcraft Remastered came in as a close second, but Warhammer II picked up where the first left off and hit the ground running.

Runner-Ups

Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire

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Hollow Knight

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Lone Echo

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StarCraft: Remastered

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2011 Game of the Year Awards Round-Up

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/26/2011

Posted in: 2011, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: 2011, action, adventure, alice, arkham city, artistic, atmosphere, awards, batman, battlefield 3, best, codemasters, comics, DC, dice, directx 11, dirt 3, disappointing game, dishwasher, downloadable, driving, elder scrolls, epic games, fatality, fighter, fighting, fps, game of the year, gears of war 3, graphics, id software, la noire, madness returns, mortal kombat, multiplayer, music, new character, nominated, origins, pc, platformer, playstation, playstation 3, portal 2, ps3, puzzle, rage, rayman, rockstar games, round up, rpg, Sega, shogun 2, shooter, skyrim, Sony, sound design, steam microsoft, story, strategy, technical, total war, valve, vampire smile, voice acting, xbox, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Don’t want to look through each reward category? Here’s a round-up of Binary Messiah’s 2011 Game of the Year Awards.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Awarded

Game of the Year
Best RPG
Best Music

Nominated

Best Atmosphere

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Gears of War 3

Awarded

Best Shooter
Best Story

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Atmosphere
Best Sound Design

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Total War: Shogun 2

Awarded

Best Strategy

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Mortal Kombat

Awarded

Best Fighter

Nominated

Game of the Year

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Portal 2

Awarded

Best Puzzler
Best Voice Acting
Best New Character

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Music
Best Story
Best Multiplayer

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Rayman Origins

Awarded

Best Platformer

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Graphics, Artistic

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DiRt 3

Awarded

Best Driving

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Batman: Arkham City

Awarded

Best Action

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Voice Acting
Best Atmosphere

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Battlefield 3

Awarded

Best Sound Design
Best Graphics, Technical
Best Multiplayer

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Shooter

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L.A. Noire

Awarded

Best Atmosphere

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Voice Acting
Best New Character
Best Action

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Alice: Madness Returns

Awarded

Best Graphics, Artistic

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The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile

Awarded

Best Downloadable Game

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Rage

Awarded

Most Disappointing Game

Nominated

Best Platformer

2011 Game of the Year Awards — Genre — Best Strategy Game

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/23/2011

Posted in: 2011, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: 2011, android, anno 2070, anomaly, apple, awards, directx 11, earth, forzen synapse, from dust, game of the year, indie, iOS, iphone, ipod, itunes, pc, Sega, shogun 2, steam, strategy, total war, touch, ubisoft, warzone. Leave a comment

Strategy games tend to be the best on PC, but with today’s technology, the game is tailored to the controller with ease. This year saw some great strategy games, but only a few really stood out from the rest. A great strategy game doesn’t so much as need a good story, but easy to use menus, lots of useful units, and a way to use them in a tactical and useful way. Upgrading and acquiring new units is key and also needs to flow and tie into the game.

Total War: Shogun 2

This was an easy pick mainly because it completely changes the way people thought about the last game, being this is a new game all on its own. With great units to use, tons of excellent DLC, and great visuals to boot Shogun 2 is a heavy hitter that stays true to the genre and that’s what put it on top.

Runner-Ups

Frozen Synapse

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Anno 2070

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Anomaly: Warzone Earth

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From Dust

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2010 Game of the Year Awards — Genre — Best Strategy

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/18/2010

Posted in: 2010, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: 2010, apple, awards, civilization v, game of the year, mac, Microsoft, move, napoleon, pc, playstation, playstation 3, r.u.s.e., ruse, Sony, starcraft ii, steam, strategy, supreme commander 2, total war, wings of liberty, xbox, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

A good strategy game consists of balanced gameplay, lots of units to use, a good story, and great ways to execute strategy on the enemy. A lot of strategy games fail on this part, and tend to be overly complicated, and is mostly stuck on the PC due to complicated control schemes.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

What sets StarCraft apart? It’s the epic story? Perfectly balanced units? Competitive Multiplayer? It’s everything about the game from the well-crafted missions, excellent and diverse factions, and the fact that it keeps strategy simple. It may not be fair to pit other strategy games against an icon like StarCraft, but it happens every few years. StarCraft II is an instant classic and should be loved by strategy goers everywhere.