STRATEGY GAMES: A GENRE OVERVIEW

WHAT WILL BE DISCUSSED: Examples of Strategy Games. Sub-Genres of Strategy Games. Examples of Said Sub-Genres. Justifying Strategy Games as a Virtual World.

EXAMPLES OF STRATEGY GAMES:

SUB-GENRES: Turn-based Strategy: “A strategy game (usually some type of wargame, especially a strategic-level wargame) where players take turns when playing”. – Wikipedia Grand Strategy: “[often times] a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of an entire nation state or empire's resources. – Wikipedia Real-Time Strategy: “A type of video game in which players exercise strategy along the way, typically to conquer enemies and reach a final destination without being eradicated.” – PC Magazine Encyclopedia Tower Defense: “involves enemies crossing from one side of the battlefield to another. Usually these enemies are very varied and some may take multiple hits to kill or may have special properties” – Charles Wetzel

EXAMPLES OF TURN-BASED STRATEGY GAMES:

Gameplay is broken up into turns between each player, and dependent on the game allows for players to complete certain actions. Often times warfare or politically themed. Resource building, force recruitment, alliances, trade Scale can vary in turn-based games 1.Large scale: Country Running, Military Campaign Movements, Sports Management 2.Small Scale: Small squad based skirmishes (tactics). XCOM: Enemy Unknown Interactive Gameplay COMPONENTS OF A TURN-BASED STRATEGY GAME:

Turn-based games focused on the overall running of a larger being (empire, nation, sports team, etc.). Player controls multiple aspects of an organization; needing to be tactically, economically, and politically savvy/informed. Often times more difficult than other strategy game types. Example: Crusader Kings IICrusader Kings II Turn-based games focused on small scale conflicts. Players control/order a few select characters at a time, often in an enclosed space. Players control one character at a time, choosing one action for them per turn. Tactics games are often times strictly military/conflict themed. Example: Final Fantasy TacticsFinal Fantasy Tactics TWO MOST POPULAR TURN-BASED STRATEGY GAME TYPES: TacticsGrand Strategy

EXAMPLES OF REAL TIME STRATEGY GAMES:

Decisions are made in real time Resource building and management Multitasking (micro and macro- management) Games are often short focused into skirmishes rather than long campaigns Often times war-themed Battles are often of a large scale, with players commanding hundreds if not thousands of units. COMPONENTS OF AN RTS: Total War™: ROME II - The Battle of Teutoburg Forest

Tower Defense games are one of the fastest growing, and most popular form of RTS on the market. The game Desktop Tower Defense has been played over 12 million times since its release They are both the simplest to make as well as the cheapest. The majority of tower defense games are actually free flash games found on the web. Some popular examples: Desktop Tower Defense, Bloons: Tower Defense, and South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! Example: South Park: Lets Go Tower Defense PlaySouth Park: Lets Go Tower Defense Play TOWER DEFENSE: THE MOST POPULAR RTS

COMPETITIVE CAPABILITIES OF REAL TIME STRATEGY: Like First-Person shooters, certain real time strategy games have their own professional league. The biggest and most well MLG RTS is Starcraft: II. Starcraft II is one of the most popular pro-gaming circuits in the world, most evident in South Korea

MARIE-LAURE RYAN DEFINING VIRTUAL WORLDS: “[Virtual Worlds are] novels, movies, drama, representational paintings, and those computer games that cast the user in the role of a character in a story, but not […] philosophical works, music, and purely abstract games such as bridge, chess, and Tetris, no matter how absorbing these experiences can be”. “Letting the user walk around the display, and occasionally take physical action to activate data, […] offers a prefiguration of the combination of immersion and interactivity that forms the ideal of VR technology.” “[Transport] the reader into a virtual body located on the scene of the action, and turned her into the direct witness of events, both mental and physical, that seemed to be telling themselves. Readers not only developed strong emotional ties to the characters, they were held in constant suspense by the development of the plot.

“[…]THOSE COMPUTER GAMES THAT CAST THE USER IN THE ROLE OF A CHARACTER IN A STORY.” Almost all strategy games cast the player as some type of essential character within the games story arch. Even so, the player character is rarely times seen aside from cut scenes. The character is often times the main reason for the story to move forward. Rome 2: Total War - Siege of Carthage

“LETTING THE USER WALK AROUND THE DISPLAY, AND OCCASIONALLY TAKE PHYSICAL ACTION TO ACTIVATE DATA” Strategy games do allow for players to affect and see the world around them. This can either be done by: Changing the geography/terrain of a battlefield. Political or combative changes due to changing relationships with other empires. Changing the results of a competition. Becoming directly involved in the battles themselves. Rise & Fall : Civilizations at War

“[TRANSPORT] THE READER INTO A VIRTUAL BODY LOCATED ON THE SCENE OF THE ACTION, AND TURNED HER INTO THE DIRECT WITNESS OF EVENTS

CLOSING STATEMENT Strategy games as a genre and entertainment medium offer players a chance to experience how they can effect and control a world where there actions effect more than just themselves. They require the use of tactical analysis and at times political and business savviness. Overall they act as an effective medium and virtual world by presenting a story in which players can become fully engrossed in as well as affect the outcomes of said story.