High Strategy: Oradros

The first High Strategy game was Urukon, which was a grand strategy enthusiast's attempt to find a purified core loop of decision-making. And it worked! High Strategy: Oradros builds on that proof-of-concept with a larger world, a more dynamic set of actions, additional mechanics and interactions, and a better UI. This is not a graphically intensive game, and you don't get to watch animated armies clash in glorious battle. Instead, you get a quick and steady stream of consequential decisions. Here are some considerations you'll need to juggle: All 40 playable realms start in different parts of the same map, with asymmetric starting conditions. Campaigns last hundreds of turns, and every realm has a unique set of cities it seeks to capture. You are not racing against the AI-controlled realms, and their reasoning is itemized in a way you can interact with. There are no arbitrary limits to how much you can expand, but even the largest realm still only gets one action per turn. A realm's capital cannot be moved, and any realm that loses its capital is immediately destroyed. Cities are surrounded by different terrains, which affect their economy, possible random events, and the ability of different armies to fight over them. The way battle works is stark: attacking and defending consumes soldiers like a currency. But there are systems for efficiency and surprise breakthroughs. Spying is an alternative or supplement to battle, and its success chance depends on the happiness of the locals. The kinds of military units available to you depend on who lives in your realm, as different cultures customarily fight in different styles. Most unit types gain experience through use, which unlocks upgrades. Units with more possible upgrades are weaker at the start, but stronger later on. There is no one-size-fits-all army composition, and changing your composition is easy. But any time you do so, you become temporarily vulnerable. Trade earns money, but the realm you're trading with earns just as much. You can quickly raise an army through conscription, but it consumes population. Almost all projects to enhance your cities are temporary and mutually exclusive. There are no AI bonuses: everybody plays by the same rules. A variety of random events will sometimes upset even the most well-laid plans.