# So what is this video game genre? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 30, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800 "2009-04-30T01:51:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [April 30, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/21 "2009-04-30T19:34:11Z")
Going way, way back, there’s _Master of Magic_, but it’ll take some work to get it running on a modern PC. Fantastic game, though. Also old, but easier to get running, is the Five Star General series. It includes _Panzer General_, _Allied General_, _Pacific General_, and _Panzer General II_, which were all set in WWII, plus _Fantasy General_, which uses the same mechanics in a fantasy setting, _People’s General_, which is a near-future war between China and some of its satellites, and the US and Russia, and _Star General_, a sci-fi version set in David Drake and Bill Fawcett’s _The Fleet_ universe. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/22 "2009-04-30T19:49:33Z")
> [@Kiros](#): > > If graphics aren’t a big thing for you, you want Heroes of Might and Magic 3. Definitely. One of the all timers. Agreed. The balance is better. The AI is better. The AI will kick your ass into next Wednesday. The races are cool. Oh, and if you look at it funny-like, the AI will FUCK YOU UP. Did I mention that, already ? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/23 "2009-04-30T21:56:33Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > The genre is called “turn-based strategy”. Or “strategy” to those of us who refuse to aknowledge the real-time heresies. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/24 "2009-04-30T23:47:38Z")
[Silent Storm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Storm) should be up your alley, although movement points only come into play when your team is in a battle. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/25 "2009-05-01T01:27:18Z")
> [@Carnacki](#): > > Oh, and if decide you like the space stuff, Master of Orion II is a classic. Too bad they never made a sequel… Heh, heh. The original was great as well, and for a while was available as freeware. I never played the 3rd. I heard horror stories about it. I thought about mentiong the MOO series, but it doesn’t have the “icons travelling around the map” thing that the OP mentioned, so I wasn’t sure if it’d be what he’s looking for. If he wants a more modern version of Space-set turn-based strategy, Galactic Civilizations II is a great choice. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/26 "2009-05-01T02:22:22Z")
Ooooohhh. I got MoO 3. Awful. Holy crap, it could have been good. But it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/27 "2009-05-01T13:53:13Z")
To put in a fairly shameless plug for my favorite entry in the space strategy genre, [Sword of the Stars](http://www.swordofthestars.com/)is everything a sequel to the ORIGINAL Master of Orion should be. High points include: Races that are sincerely different in meaningful ways Abstracted colony management to give you time to focus on the interesting bits instead of “Now I build a hydroponic farm on Zeta Reticuli”. Huge arsed tech tree with semirandomized techs (The tech tree is the same every game, but which techs you will actually have -access- to varies by game and race.) Straightforward interface design The SOTS demo sucked me in in an eyeblink, while Galciv 2 had me flailing around wondering what the point was. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/28 "2009-05-01T14:40:38Z")
Just chiming in to state that HOMM3 is my favorite PC game of all time. It’s great when I want 12 hours to pass by in a blink of an eye. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/29 "2009-05-01T15:30:19Z")
> [@Commander\_Keen](#): > > Just popping in to support the advice to play HOMM3 first, and only 4 and 5 after that, if at all (I’d vote for not at all. 3 is the pinnacle of this genre, though). Yes, HoMM4 was universally despised and HoMM5 didn’t take off. If you like turn-based strategy, try: - Civilisation 4 - Civilisation 4: Colonisation ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/30 "2009-05-01T15:38:32Z")
I hear nothing but good about the Civ4 Mod “Fall From Heaven 2” which apparently repurposes the game to a Fantasy setting. That said, that’s a second hand recommendation since I don’t even own Civ4. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/31 "2009-05-01T15:56:27Z")
My issue with H4 is almost wholly with the AI (as I think I’ve said here before). They basically revamped just about everything (H5 is much more of a throwback), and, while some things needed balancing, I did find the skill system to be very satisfying. But the AI on the adventure map was hopeless; the only really playable scenario was one which was rather linear and scripted-as in being more of a RPG experience than a strategic one, but I usually prefer the latter to the former. The mod for H4, Equilibris, has only been marginally successful in remedying this. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800/32 "2009-05-02T17:58:06Z")
Yeah I actually did rather like a lot of things in 4 even as they were changed - but the loss of AI quality was way too much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-this-video-game-genre/494800.md?page=1)