Cute and chill, homesteading in your giant mech on Lightyear Frontier’s alien world is already some good and simple fun, even if it currently stops a bit short.
Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance may look the part, but the obnoxious mission design and confused campaign structure of this RTS just aren't worth your time.
SteamWorld Build is a simple but fun city builder cleverly combined with a dungeon-constructing miner that keeps things quick and casual.
Simple and occasionally even elegant mechanics make this cooperative tabletop-style RPG fun once you get into it, but a lacking interface makes it more difficult to enjoy these straightforward adventures than it should be.
The Lamplighters League starts slow, but its mix of squad tactics, stealth, and pulp adventure soon builds momentum thanks to excellent design of both heroes and enemies.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is dead-on stealth tactics-filled with character and vigor – a peak for the genre.
Gord is, in its most outstanding moments, a mediocre colony sim/RTS/RPG hybrid. The rest is just boring.
System Shock deftly returns a classic immersive shooter to its place on top of the heap, updated for nearly anyone to enjoy.
Retro-shooting and fast-paced arenas suit the Warhammer 40K setting nicely, but Boltgun falls short of greatness because its ideas peter out too quickly. Some good level design and nice environments make up for a lack of variety.
Darkest Dungeon 2 takes a bold new direction for the turn-based tactics ideas established in the first game, but its early hours lean heavily on randomness and it can be a trial to stick with it until you see the light.
Everspace 2 is the looter-shooter for space jockeys and wannabe pilots, packed with cool ship classes and action-driven arcade dogfights to keep up the pace.
Outfoxing your human foes remains excellent in Relic's latest, Company of Heroes 3. The heart of this World War 2 RTS' combat and faction design is stronger than ever.
Company of Heroes 3's single-player campaigns remix the series' signature WW2 combat, but they wrap it up in a boring, buggy strategic map and a mismatched story.
A dedicated renewal for an already-legendary video game, the 2022 release of Dwarf Fortress brings it to a level where the casually interested can finally dive in and Strike the Earth!
A shallow grind of an overworld strategy game threatens to ruin enjoyment of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord's unique and sublimely gritty tactical action.
There are brilliant ideas in the ambitious early access release of Terra Invicta, and a lot of fun to find for strategy game enthusiasts, but you need to be willing to drill down into sometimes-opaque and confusing mechanics to do it. Politics are fun, if overwhelming, and the space layer is very cool, but the two just don't quite gel together yet. I do recommend Terra Invicta, but when playing takes so much trial-and-error to see results, my overall recommendation has to come with big caveats until it has spent some more time in early access.