Strategy games have been around longer than most, but they still remain niche to most audiences. Some can be pretty intimidating to jump into as a new strategy player. There are resources to manage, armies to control, big decisions to make, many hours of gameplay, and more. However, once you dig into this genre, you’ll find some of the most rewarding gameplay the hobby has to offer. Every victory feels hard-earned. Every loss feels fair (okay, they don’t always feel fair). And failing becomes a chance to learn how you might play better next time.
This year is fantastic for strategy fans and those looking to finally dive into the expansive genre for the first time. That’s because nearly a dozen great entries we’re excited about are on the way. Of course, there are more, but the following 11 are the ones we’re raring to play most. Here are Game Informer’s most anticipated strategy games of 2022, listed chronologically by release date.
Total War: Warhammer III
The Total War franchise is a long-running one that’s been around for over two decades and features numerous strategy takes on feudal Japan’s Shogun era, ancient Rome, the Napoleonic Wars, and more. It veered away from the historical aspect of war into fantasy with Warhammer. Since then, the Warhammer series has arguably become the most successful Total War. Warhammer III promises all of the exciting and challenging turn-based fun we’ve come to expect in the franchise with the inclusion of a new campaign map twice as big as that of Warhammer II, civilizations to control, maps to take over, and more. Plus, it takes place in the Realm of Chaos, which Creative Assembly promises to be the source of all magic in the world of Warhammer.
Triangle Strategy
Remember Final Fantasy Tactics? It’s a great game in a great series. It’d be nice to get some more, but that’s too dang bad – it’s not happening for now. However, there is hope in the form of Triangle Strategy, a new strategy game developed by Artdink and Square Enix. Bringing over Octopath Traveler’s HD-2D visual style into a more Tactics-inspired world, Triangle Strategy promises great fun, plenty of tough decisions, and a roaming cast of characters entangled in a devious plot all about conviction. Will you fight in favor of utility, morality, or liberty, and how will your decisions affect the Scales of Conviction that dictate the future of Norzelia?
Starship Troopers – Terran Command
Ahhh, Starship Troopers. One of the 90s’ best camp sci-fi series is back in the form of a video game, and Terran Command promises all of the b-movie action of the films it’s based on. Rather than putting you in the shoes of a single Starship Trooper, you’re in control of entire troops and armies as you fight back against the ongoing Arachnid threat. It features a story campaign with all the cheesiness of the Starship Troopers movie franchise, challenging strategy battles, unique mobile units and squads, and so much more. Moreover, its art style features a unique comic book-y aesthetic, which continues to be a rarity in the genre.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp
Advance Wars is a classic Nintendo franchise, and right now, if you’re interested in checking out the series’ origins on Switch, you can’t…until later this Spring, when Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp launches. Featuring remakes of the first and second Advance Wars games, Re-Boot Camp promises to bring all the fun of the originals to new audiences and returning fans on the Switch. Its art style is bright, colorful, and bubbly, too, making it all the more enticing on Nintendo’s handheld-hybrid console – doubly so on the newer OLED model. You’ll control troops, ships, planes, and special abilities as you help Andy, Max, and Sami take down the opposing threat while advancing through an ever-changing map.
Marvel's Midnight Suns
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a unique take on the comic book games Marvel and its development partners have been releasing lately. While most superhero games feature third-person action gameplay, Midnight Suns promises a more tactical spin on the RPG formula. One part strategy game, one part deck-builder, you’ll use cards powered by character abilities to take back Earth from dark and demonic forces. All the while, you’ll need to make crucial decisions and build relationships with team members like Captain America, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Wolverine, and more. It’s exciting to see Marvel take risks with its popular heroes and, given the name behind it – Firaxis Games – something tells us it’s going to pay off.
Homeworld 3
Homeworld is perhaps one of the most well-known strategy series in the genre, and that’s because it’s been around since 1999. However, its popularity quickly waned because, after the 2003 release of Homeworld 2, we wouldn’t receive much of Homeworld at all. The first and second were eventually remastered, but fans desired a third entry. However, it was finally announced in 2019, and as expected, it features all of the sci-fi cosmic tactical RPG-ness the series is known for. After its announcement by Gearbox nearly three years ago, things went quiet until The Game Awards 2021, when it reemerged as a December 2022 release. It promises an expansive campaign set in the stars and a special emphasis on the features that made the original two Homeworld games so great in the first place.
Blood Bowl 3
Blood Bowl 3 is perhaps one of the most unique strategy games coming to consoles and PC this year. You won’t find large-scale battles set in a sci-fi universe in Blood Bowl 3, nor will you find yourself controlling legions of armies to defeat an enemy. That’s because Blood Bowl 3 is fantasy football, literally. No, you won’t be drafting teams and placing bets – it’s not that kind of fantasy football. It’s football set in a fantasy-based world complete with orcs, elves, dwarves, and more. It’s still a strategy game, though, because while you won’t be moving armies to take down an enemy base, you will be controlling players on a field to score points. If you’re looking for something very different from what’s usually on offer in the strategy genre, Blood Bowl 3 is not one to miss.
Dune: Spice Wars
If you were to think about Dune as a video game, there’s a good chance your mind races to the strategy genre, and for good reason: Dune as a franchise is all about warring factions, the control of resources, and the long-play moves allies and enemies alike make to win battles. Fortunately, those behind the Dune name agree because that’s exactly what Dune: Spice Wars is – a tactical strategy RPG. This makes sense, too, because the 1992 release of Dune II is largely regarded as the origin of the modern RTS. Only just announced last month, Spice Wars is developed by Shiro Games, the team behind the survival game Northgard, and it’s a real-time strategy game with 4X elements. You’ll control factions like Atreides and Harkonnen while fighting for spice, land, and more, and you’ll be able to do it sometime this year when it hits Early Access on PC.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was the crossover nobody saw coming. It’s not often that Nintendo lends its IP to other franchises, let alone completely separate developers. Still, it took a chance on Ubisoft, and the bet paid off. Putting Mario and Rabbids together in a strategy game turned out to be good fun. Now, the Rabbids are back with everyone’s favorite plumber in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, and everything about it looks improved compared to the first. It’s more visually stunning, the music is excellent, the world seems more expansive, and the combat looks quite different (and somehow even more fun). There are still some strategy elements in Sparks of Hope, but it’s significantly more loose and open, giving players the freedom to move around and attack how they’d like on the battlefield. We’re not sure exactly when we’ll be playing it this year, but we can’t wait to get back into that world.
Metal Slug Tactics
Metal Slug is one of the most well-known run-n-gun franchises out there, which is why it was so surprising to learn that the next entry would be a strategy game. Taking heavy inspiration from the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem, Metal Slug Tactics promises to bring all of the action campiness of the films and genres Metal Slug has spoofed for years to the strategy genre. It’s not just a strategy game, though, as developer Leikir Studio says it will feature roguelike elements, too. We’re not sure how that will work or how it’ll affect the tactical RPG gameplay, but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t extremely excited to find out.
Terminator: Dark Fate – Defiance
Terminator: Dark Fate – Defiance’s announcement was quite the surprise, coming seemingly out of nowhere last month. Developed by Cats Who Play, Defiance is described by that team as “a gritty RTS that puts you in the middle of the Future Wars between humanity and Legion’s synthetic intelligent machine network.” All that’s been shown so far is a cinematic teaser and a quick gameplay trailer that’s less a trailer about gameplay and more a flyover of an ongoing battle. From that, we can glean that Defiance features standard RTS elements like resource management, faction control, and large-scale warfare. It looks fun, but little else is known about the game at the moment. Still, a chance to play around in one of the most popular sci-fi universes ever created has us excited for Defiance’s release sometime this year.
Which strategy game on this list or otherwise are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments!
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