WE ARE CRITICAL MOVES

A Strategy Gaming Podcast

300 Hours to Game in 2026: Empire Total War, Cities Skylines, and Dwarf Fortress (Ep.64)

Strategy gamers aged 30-60 with full-time jobs and families average five hours weekly for gaming—roughly 300 hours annually. The Critical Moves team examines which strategy titles respect that constraint while delivering substantive experiences, covering everything from Total War’s naval combat to Dwarf Fortress’s emergent narratives. https://criticalmovespodcast.com/listen This episode confronts the practical reality facing most strategy gamers: severely limited time. Research shows players in their 30s through 60s with jobs and families manage approximately five hours weekly for gaming, totalling just...
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Strategy Games 2026 Preview: Dawn of War 4, Total War 40K, Space Sims, and Indies (Ep.63)

The Critical Moves team previews 2026’s most anticipated strategy releases after 2025’s disappointing output, examining everything from grand-scale RTS spiritual successors and Warhammer 40K’s dual strategy offerings to ambitious space sims and indie passion projects—balancing excitement with cautious reservations about scope creep, limited launch rosters, and missing features like fleet combat. https://criticalmovespodcast.com/listen This episode provides comprehensive 2026 strategy gaming previews through host selections revealing their priorities and concerns. Al champions Sanctuary Shattered Sun as Supreme Commander’s spiritual successor alongside Dawn...
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Strategy Gaming in 2026: What the Media Gets Wrong. Critical Moves Year in Review (Ep.62)

The Critical Moves team delivers their first internal retrospective, examining their breakthrough year through favourite guest interviews, debating whether they qualify as journalists, and confronting the misleading “gaming industry in decline” narrative while explaining why their independence from publishers enables brutal honesty about strategy games. https://criticalmovespodcast.com/listen This episode provides unfiltered team reflections on Critical Moves’ first full year, where Jack and Adam discuss how joining the podcast became career highlights while Al confronts the stress of managing a multinational volunteer...
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Our Best Strategy Games of 2025 Are a DLC, Another DLC, and a 21-Year-Old Remaster (Ep.61)

Our strategy gaming veterans review 2025’s releases and discover that DLCs and definitive editions outperformed new titles, with picks including a 21-year-old RTS remaster, expansions for niche 4X games, and grand strategy economic overhauls—revealing a year where passion projects trumped major studio releases. https://criticalmovespodcast.com/listen This episode provides an unfiltered assessment of strategy gaming’s 2025 output, where established titles and their expansions delivered better experiences than new releases. The hosts discuss Spell Force Conquest of Eo’s sustained development despite modest sales,...
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