Our strategy gaming veterans celebrate their first podcast anniversary by recommending new games for each other to discover, covering everything from RPG-tactical hybrids and political simulators to classic RTS revivals and diesel-punk fleet management, examining diverse subgenres that demonstrate strategy gaming’s breadth and depth.

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This episode marks Critical Moves’ one-year anniversary with a unique format where each host recommends strategy games their co-hosts haven’t played, creating a gaming challenge to revisit in future episodes. The recommendations span multiple strategy subgenres, from Adam’s RPG-focused King’s Bounty: The Legend to Tim’s narrative-driven political simulator Suzerain, Al’s Command & Conquer-inspired Dying Breed, and explorations of colony management, classic RTS gaming, and atmospheric fleet combat. The conversation reveals the hosts’ diverse gaming preferences while highlighting overlooked gems and demonstrating how strategy gaming encompasses far more than traditional definitions suggest.

Critical Moves Podcast Episode 53 Show Notes

Episode Title: New Year, New Game: Strategy Gaming Recommendations for 2025
Hosts: Al, Adam, Timothy
Episode Length: ~58 minutes

Episode Summary

The fifty-third episode of Critical Moves celebrates the podcast’s one-year anniversary with a special format where each host recommends two strategy games for their co-hosts to experience for the first time. From Adam’s enthusiasm for the RPG-tactical hybrid King’s Bounty series to Tim’s narrative-focused political simulator Suzerain, the recommendations showcase strategy gaming’s remarkable diversity. The discussion explores how these titles blend genres, emphasize different strategic elements, and appeal to various gaming preferences, while the hosts commit to playing these recommendations and reporting back in future episodes about their experiences.

King’s Bounty: The Legend – RPG Meets Tactical Combat

Heroes of Might and Magic’s Spiritual Predecessor

Adam recommends King’s Bounty: The Legend for Tim, positioning it as an RPG-focused variation on Heroes of Might and Magic 3’s gameplay formula where players control a single hero rather than an entire kingdom. The recommendation acknowledges the fascinating development history where the original King’s Bounty inspired Heroes of Might and Magic, which then influenced later King’s Bounty games developed by a Ukrainian studio.

The game focuses on single-hero progression with RPG elements like skill trees and equipment systems, while maintaining the hex-based tactical combat that defined Heroes of Might and Magic. This hybrid approach creates a more character-driven experience than traditional 4X strategy games while preserving the tactical depth that makes turn-based combat engaging.

Kingdom Exploration and Unit Recruitment

Players explore a living world map where they discover different kingdoms to recruit units from rather than building their own settlements, creating a mercenary-focused approach to army composition. The real-time world map enables stealth gameplay where players can avoid overpowered enemy armies while seeking better units and equipment to tackle previously impossible challenges.

The game’s cartoonish 3D graphics have aged remarkably well despite being approximately fifteen years old, maintaining visual appeal that makes it accessible to modern players. The Ukrainian development team’s passion project approach resulted in polished gameplay systems that prioritize mechanical depth over narrative complexity.

Gameplay Loop and Strategic Depth

The skill tree system provides meaningful character progression choices that significantly impact tactical options during hex-based battles. Equipment acquisition creates RPG-style power progression that complements unit recruitment and tactical positioning, offering multiple paths to overcome challenging encounters.

The game successfully balances RPG character development with tactical combat systems, creating a gameplay loop that Adam has completed multiple times over the years. This replayability suggests the core mechanics remain engaging despite familiarity with story content and strategic approaches.

Suzerain – Political Simulation and Moral Choices

Presidential Decision-Making Simulator

Tim recommends Suzerain for Al, describing it as a non-traditional political simulator where players assume the role of newly elected president of a fictional country during a Cold War-era setting. The game eschews typical strategy game resource management and construction mechanics in favour of dialogue-driven decision-making and political manoeuvring.

Players interact with government ministers, receive reports, negotiate with opposition parties, and make presidential decisions that shape the country’s future through conversation and political strategy rather than direct resource management. This approach creates a fundamentally different strategic experience focused on political realism and consequence management.

Complex Choice Architecture and Consequences

The game features extensive branching choices that create approximately a thousand different possible outcomes rather than a handful of predetermined endings, with decisions having long-term consequences that may not become apparent until much later in the playthrough. This complexity rewards careful consideration of political ramifications and relationship management across multiple governmental and societal factions.

Players can pursue vastly different governmental approaches from authoritarian control to democratic reform, with the game treating all paths as viable strategic options rather than forcing moral judgments. The political spectrum encompasses economic systems, with players choosing between planned economies and capitalist reforms, each presenting unique advantages and challenges reflecting real-world complexities.

Diplomatic Relations and Strategic Balance

The Cold War setting creates diplomatic complexity where players must navigate relationships with two superpowers alongside other neutral and aligned nations, potentially playing competing powers against each other to maximize benefits. Investment opportunities, foreign aid negotiations, and international influence all factor into strategic decision-making beyond domestic policy considerations.

The game’s complexity means first playthroughs feel somewhat random as players lack context for understanding decision consequences, but subsequent attempts reveal intricate connections and alternative paths that were previously invisible. This learning curve encourages multiple playthroughs to explore different governmental philosophies and strategic approaches.

Dying Breed – Command & Conquer Spiritual Successor

Retro Aesthetic with Modern Technology

Al recommends Dying Breed for Adam, describing it as an indie RTS that deliberately replicates the original Command & Conquer’s visual style and gameplay approach while running on modern hardware and supporting contemporary features. The 2025 early access release demonstrates how classic RTS design principles remain viable when executed with passion and understanding of what made those original games compelling.

The game features full-motion video cutscenes shot in high-definition quality rather than the low-budget aesthetic of 1990s Command & Conquer games, providing modern production values alongside deliberately retro gameplay mechanics. This combination respects the source material while acknowledging player expectations for contemporary presentation quality.

Post-Apocalyptic Setting and Faction Design

The post-apocalyptic Cold War setting includes mutants, cyborgs, and other science fiction elements that differentiate it from direct Command & Conquer replication while maintaining similar tonal approaches. Two single-player campaigns provide faction-specific narrative experiences alongside the full-motion video storytelling that defined the original Command & Conquer games.

The game includes diverse mission types reminiscent of Red Alert’s variety, including underground infiltration missions with special units and scenarios featuring environmental threats like underground creatures. Commander units and asymmetric faction design provide strategic depth beyond simple resource gathering and unit production.

Gameplay Difficulty and Design Philosophy

The campaign presents significant difficulty challenges that prompted developer feedback and subsequent balance patches, indicating active development responsive to player experiences. This difficulty level suggests the game targets experienced RTS players familiar with genre conventions rather than casual audiences.

The game balances Red Alert’s campy entertainment value with the original Command & Conquer’s semi-realistic military unit grounding, creating a tonal middle ground that incorporates both approaches. The soundtrack receives particular praise for enhancing the overall experience alongside visual and mechanical homage to classic RTS design.

Oxygen Not Included – Physics-Based Colony Management

Thermodynamics and Resource Management

Adam recommends Oxygen Not Included for Al, describing it as a colony builder that incorporates realistic physics simulations including thermodynamics, fluid density, and temperature exchange between different materials. The game’s complexity comes not from overwhelming players with simultaneous management demands but from requiring deep understanding of physical systems to make effective long-term decisions.

Players control duplicant characters who perform tasks within the colony, but success depends on understanding how physical systems interact rather than simply issuing commands. The discovery-focused gameplay encourages players to learn game mechanics through experimentation rather than following guides, though walkthroughs can significantly reduce the difficulty curve.

Fair but Challenging Systems

Unlike punishing colony builders that feature hidden mechanics designed to trap players, Oxygen Not Included provides transparent physical rules that remain consistent throughout gameplay. The challenge comes from understanding how to work within those rules rather than discovering arbitrary punishment mechanics.

The game’s time investment comes from optimizing colony systems where poor early decisions create cascading problems that require extensive efforts to rectify. Players can reload saves to fix mistakes, but the role-playing approach of working through problems rather than reloading creates the core gameplay loop of identifying issues and implementing solutions.

Long-Term Engagement and Complexity Management

The game’s addictive quality stems from extended problem-solving sessions where players spend hours optimizing single colony systems, creating the “just one more thing” effect that extends play sessions far beyond initial intentions. This engagement differs from games like Stellaris where complexity comes from managing numerous simultaneous systems rather than deeply understanding core mechanics.

The base game provides sufficient content without requiring expansion purchases, with DLC adding new biomes rather than essential features, demonstrating a complete experience without the expansion-dependent design philosophy common in other strategy games. Adam’s continued engagement despite not purchasing expansions indicates the depth available in the core systems.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Definitive Edition

Classic RTS Remastered

Al recommends Dawn of War Definitive Edition for Tim, emphasizing it as one of his favourite RTS games that encapsulates the Warhammer 40,000 universe better than any previous adaptation while providing excellent strategic gameplay. The 2004 original game’s recent remaster addresses technical limitations of playing older games on modern systems while preserving the core gameplay that made it memorable.

The definitive edition upscales all content to 4K resolution with improved models, lighting, and effects while maintaining the original gameplay mechanics and UI design philosophy. This preservation approach means the game still plays identically to the 2004 version but looks appropriate for contemporary display technology.

Expansion Content Integration

The definitive edition amalgamates all expansion pack content, providing access to units and factions that were previously unavailable in the base game’s skirmish mode. This comprehensive package means players experience the complete Dawn of War vision without purchasing multiple separate products or managing different game installations.

The multiplayer functionality provides opportunities for cooperative and competitive play that extend beyond the single-player campaign experience. The game’s enduring popularity within the Warhammer 40,000 community demonstrates its lasting impact on both RTS gaming and franchise adaptations.

Timeless Gameplay and Aesthetic Appeal

Despite significant technological advancement since 2004, the game’s core design remains engaging in 2025, with remastered visuals ensuring it doesn’t feel visually outdated. This longevity suggests fundamental design quality that transcends graphical fidelity and contemporary feature expectations.

Tim’s limited experience with the original presents an opportunity for a fresh perspective similar to when Nuno recently played it for the first time and praised the experience despite its age. The game serves as an ideal preparation for the anticipated Dawn of War 4 release potentially arriving in 2026.

High Fleet – Diesel-Punk Naval Command

Atmospheric Fleet Management

Tim recommends High Fleet for Adam, highlighting its unique aesthetic appeal and immersive qualities centred around commanding massive diesel-powered flying fortresses through hostile territory. The diesel-punk setting creates a distinctive visual identity and atmospheric experience that differentiates it from conventional strategy games.

The game’s presentation emphasizes immersion through exceptional music and compelling narrative moments that create genuine emotional impact during story revelations. This narrative strength represents an unusual selling point for strategy games, which typically prioritize mechanics over storytelling.

Ship Customization and Physics Systems

Players custom-build ships with extensive consideration for weight, fuel consumption, reactor requirements, and weapon placement, creating engineering challenges where design choices have significant performance implications. The physics simulation means heavy ships require more lift capacity, which adds weight, which requires more fuel, creating cascading design considerations.

Fuel storage aboard ships creates strategic vulnerability where damage can ignite fuel reserves, causing catastrophic explosions that destroy entire vessels. This realistic damage modelling adds tension to combat encounters and makes ship design choices critically important for survivability.

Strategic Campaign and Tactical Combat

The 30-40 hour single-player campaign follows a fleet through hostile territory against overwhelming enemy forces, requiring strategic resource management alongside tactical combat proficiency. The journey involves friendly and hostile encounters with various factions, creating diplomatic and military challenges throughout the campaign progression.

Arcade-style combat segments require players to manually fly individual ships against enemy forces, introducing action elements alongside strategic decision-making. Additional gameplay systems include radar management, fighter deployment, and bombing runs that expand tactical options beyond direct ship-to-ship combat.

Immersive Interface Design

The user interface deliberately prioritizes thematic immersion over gamification convenience, featuring cockpit-style buttons and manual radar reading that require more player engagement than streamlined modern interfaces. This design philosophy creates slight additional difficulty while significantly enhancing the feeling of actually commanding a diesel-punk fleet.

The comparison to FTL highlights similar journey-based structure with different pathway options and resource management challenges, though High Fleet emphasizes action combat and aesthetic immersion more heavily. Limited save points create strategic checkpoint considerations where players must carefully consider which direction to pursue from each safe location.

Publisher Landscape and Pricing Considerations

Regional Price Variations

The episode reveals significant regional pricing disparities, with Adam noting substantially higher game prices in Poland compared to other European regions. This economic reality affects purchasing decisions and accessibility to recommended titles for international audiences.

The recommendation to wait for sales, particularly for High Fleet which regularly discounts by fifty percent, demonstrates how patient gamers can significantly reduce their entertainment expenses. These periodic sales make more expensive titles accessible to budget-conscious players.

Early Access and Development Transparency

Dying Breed’s early access status indicates ongoing development with active developer engagement responding to player feedback and balance concerns. This development model allows players to experience games earlier while contributing to refinement through community input.

The conversation about DLC philosophy contrasts Oxygen Not Included’s complete base game approach against expansion-dependent models common in strategy gaming. This distinction affects both immediate purchase decisions and long-term engagement value for players considering these recommendations.

Bonus Recommendation: Frostpunk Live-Action Roleplay

Immersive Gaming Experiences

Al mentions The Last Recon, a live-action roleplay event in Poland scheduled for February 12th where participants can experience Frostpunk’s setting in person at a ruined fort during winter for approximately €490. This unusual recommendation highlights the growing intersection between video games and immersive entertainment experiences.

The comedic discussion of voluntarily experiencing Frostpunk’s harsh survival conditions in February Poland creates amusing contrast with typical gaming recommendations. Adam’s jokes about Polish living conditions add local perspective to the absurdity of paying substantial money to experience freezing survival scenarios.

Alternative Gaming Experiences

The conversation about larping reveals diverse ways that strategy gaming communities engage with their favourite settings beyond digital experiences. These immersive events demonstrate passionate fan communities willing to invest significantly in authentic experiences related to beloved games.

The episode’s light-hearted conclusion with this unusual recommendation reinforces the hosts’ chemistry and willingness to explore unconventional gaming-related topics beyond traditional reviews and recommendations.

Contact & Links

Episode Verdict

This anniversary episode successfully introduces a compelling new format that highlights the hosts’ diverse gaming preferences while creating anticipation for future follow-up discussions. The six recommended games span remarkably different strategic approaches, from King’s Bounty’s RPG-tactical hybrid to Suzerain’s dialogue-driven political simulation, demonstrating strategy gaming’s breadth far beyond traditional real-time and turn-based combat. Each recommendation reveals genuine enthusiasm for overlooked or underappreciated titles that deserve wider attention, while the commitment to actually playing these games and reporting back creates accountability that distinguishes this from typical recommendation episodes. The format succeeds because each host clearly understands their co-hosts’ preferences well enough to suggest titles likely to resonate while still introducing genuinely new experiences, creating anticipation for the eventual follow-up episode where they’ll discuss their actual experiences with these recommendations.

Next Episode: Sudden Strike 5 Announced! Breaking Down the WW2 Tactics Series

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New Year, New Game (Ep.53)