# Recommend a strategy game (with lower min. req.) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 20, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225 "2008-01-20T03:37:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/1 "2008-01-20T03:37:24Z")
One of my friends recently got Civ IV, and he’s making me terribly jealous of his empire-building adventures. Unfortunately Civ IV is beyond the range of my machine, and I already gave Civ III a nice play-through a few years back. The only other (non-real-time) strategy games I’ve played are Simcity 2000 and Heroes of Might and Magic IV, which I wasn’t too fond of. I guess I’m looking for something Civ-like, but I could also go for a straight turn-based war game as well. My system is: 1.8Ghz, 256 MB RAM, and 32 MB video card. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/2 "2008-01-20T05:19:26Z")
Europa Universalis 2. Think Civ4 if it had more empire-building depth and set territory boundaries. Also, historical accuracy. I personally perfer the 3rd one, but I don’t think your computer will handle it. If you want a quick and free strategy fix, try [www.kdice.com](http://www.kdice.com) . It reminds me a bit of the boardgame Risk, only with online multiplayer and only taking about 15 minutes per game. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/3 "2008-01-20T12:35:38Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Europa Universalis 2. Think Civ4 if it had more empire-building depth and set territory boundaries. Also, historical accuracy. I personally perfer the 3rd one, but I don’t think your computer will handle it. [/QUOTE] Nice, looks like what I’m looking for. I’ll see if I can get my hands on it. It’s kind of sad that even strategy games have such high system requirements these days; I wish they’d at least put in low-power options to let them run on weaker machines. Why exactly is a 64 MB video card recommended to play the latest versions of Europa Universalis and Civilization? ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/4 "2008-01-20T13:14:15Z")
[www.freeciv.org](http://www.freeciv.org) ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/5 "2008-01-20T14:16:25Z")
[Battle for Wesnoth](http://www.wesnoth.org), a turn-based, old school strategy game. It’s very entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![hekk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@hekk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hekk)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/6 "2008-01-20T17:30:43Z")
Age of Empires 2 is a good timewaster. It will also run on some pretty minimal hardware. Plus, I’m sure you can find it in the bargain section of your local electronics storefor $10 or so, it’s a steal at that price. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/7 "2008-01-20T17:48:25Z")
[QUOTE=hekk] Age of Empires 2 is a good timewaster. It will also run on some pretty minimal hardware. [/QUOTE] AoE was a good game, but I believe the OP is looking for turn-based games, not RTS, which, correct me if I’m wrong, is what AoE2 is. > [@](#): > > Why exactly is a 64 MB video card recommended to play the latest versions of Europa Universalis and Civilization? Probably because they figure that any decently recent machine will have at least that much. Last time I bought a new computer (a couple years ago) most cards were 128 or 256. A lot of gamers would’ve probably replaced the machine you have a couple times over by now. No offense, just sounds like you’ve had it for a lot longer than is average in my circles, at least without upgrades. No suggestions unfortunately, or I’d be happy to share them. ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/8 "2008-01-20T17:51:31Z")
Master of Magic and Master of Orion. They’re abandonware at this point, and you need to adjust some settings for the first and download DosBox for the second. Excellent games, though. Also, King’s Bounty and Heroes of Might and Magic 1, 2, and 3. 4 was a complete turd. 5 has awful AI and your system might not suffice for it. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/9 "2008-01-20T17:59:27Z")
Have you tried [Galactic Civilizations 2](http://www.galciv2.com) ? Its a great TBS game based in space. It also has low minimum requirements, you should be able to play it with no problem, even if you can’t use the largest galaxy maps. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/10 "2008-01-20T18:27:01Z")
One of the greatest turn-based strategy games ever was **Stars!**. (Be sure to add the exclamation mark when searching for it.) It came out in 1995, so I doubt your system requirements will be unable to handle it. It has absolutely bare-bones graphics, but it nevertheless is a brilliantly designed game, and amazingly still has a small following after 10+ years. Here’s a review from 1997, that is already saying “less is more” with this game in reference to graphics: > **[Stars! Review](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/stars-review/1900-2533174/)** > > Stars! may not be the best-looking game in town, but strong gameplay and designmake it a sure winner. If you’re interested, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a shareware version somewhere online, but be warned that it’s pretty addicting. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/11 "2008-01-20T18:37:42Z")
Oh, another one I came up with: [Age of Wonders](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Wonders) You pick one of a couple races (goblins, orcs, dwarves, elves, etc), conquer cities, and try to wipe out the opposing races. You get Hero units that you can upgrade, as well as being able to upgrade your cities to build even better units. Turn-based-strategy meets action-adventure game. It was always a hit at my LAN parties. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/12 "2008-01-20T19:02:31Z")
I’m going through the same problem now. I was going to start my own thread, but I’ll piggyback this one. I got a used Averatec Laptop for Christmas. It’s a an AMD Athlon Mobile 1600+ and I immediately upgraded the ram to 640MB. It’s decent specs, and it runs Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator just fine, which is what I do much of my work in. However, it only has 32MB of Video RAM, and has a S3 Ravage “video card” … this is causing lots of problems for choosing what games I can put on there. Civilization 4 is out. Rome Total War is out. Heroes of Might & Magic 3 is in, and it’ll be great to play my favorite PC game ever on the go, but I need more options. Being a laptop, I need to focus on games that are primarily keyboard (no numpad, so Pirates is out too) based, or use the mouse as a cursor, rather than an movement tool (so FPS games are out too). I’m pretty open to suggestions for games, as long as they can run on 32MB of VRAM and are good for laptop play. Anything but RTS games, since I’ve never been able to get into that genre. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/13 "2008-01-21T18:04:45Z")
[QUOTE=Lars Aruns] [Battle for Wesnoth](http://www.wesnoth.org), a turn-based, old school strategy game. It’s very entertaining. [/QUOTE] I agree, this is a great game. Only problem is that there are very few people on the servers, and the AI sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/14 "2008-01-21T18:10:18Z")
[Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe](http://www.openttd.org/) is good and small (and free), though installation is a hastle as you have to find the level files for the original game yourself, or it won’t run. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/15 "2008-01-21T18:22:42Z")
[Imperium Galactica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperium_Galactica)- A fantastic game that never got it’s props. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/16 "2008-01-21T18:31:22Z")
_Dwarf Fortress_ is a freeware game with extremely minimal system requirements. Rather high _user_ requirments, though. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/17 "2008-01-21T18:57:43Z")
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 was \*\*much better \*\* than version 4. Save up for a machine to run Civ 4 - it’s brilliant! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/18 "2008-01-21T19:03:07Z")
There is a great free java version of the boardgame Settlers of Catan (called Xplorers because of copyright) available at [http://games.asobrain.com](http://games.asobrain.com) with a pretty active player base and halfway decent AI. It’s our go to game for a quick 15-60 minutes with friends. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/19 "2008-01-21T19:07:20Z")
[QUOTE=Hirka T’Bawa] Have you tried [Galactic Civilizations 2](http://www.galciv2.com) ? Its a great TBS game based in space. It also has low minimum requirements, you should be able to play it with no problem, even if you can’t use the largest galaxy maps. [/QUOTE] Speaking of that game, I wrote a [review](http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/review/R106305.html) for it on gamefaqs if you’re interested in learning a bit more about it. I tried to cover just why it’s one of the best strategy games ever released, even better than civ4. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225/20 "2008-01-23T05:42:52Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] … If you want a quick and free strategy fix, try [www.kdice.com](http://www.kdice.com) . It reminds me a bit of the boardgame Risk, only with online multiplayer and only taking about 15 minutes per game. [/QUOTE] you can also play Risk itself. a five minute turn per day keeps your fix [Conquer Club](http://www.conquerclub.com/) [Grand Strategy](http://www.denizengames.com/grandstrategy/login.faces) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-strategy-game-with-lower-min-req/434225.md?page=2)