Though they often end up playing second fiddle to thetitanic sphere of influencethat first-person-shooters command, the impact that strategy games have had on gaming as a whole can’t be overstated. Quite a broad genre in itself, strategy games can cover anything from real-time strategy to strategy RPG’s with a heavy focus on board placement.
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Unfortunately for gamers who exclusively use consoles, there are many strategy games that haven’t made their way over to their systems, due either to limitations on hardware or simply licensing issues with the publishers. There are also strategy games that, by design, can’t be ported to consoles as their gameplay mechanics wouldn’t work without a keyboard and mouse.
10Ported: Age of Empires series
Age of Empiresis one of the classic real-time strategy games from many gamers' childhoods and was often seen as an introduction to the genre. Aside from thestandard gameplay loopof collecting resources building your cavemen’s technological capabilities up to the Bronze Age and beyond, the campaigns of the games often had a loose and charming basis in real-world history. SinceAge of Empireswas once made a free game that came with a cereal box in the early 2000s, there’s no reason that this shouldn’t be brought to modern consoles as well.
9Can’t Be Ported: StarCraft II
LikeAge of Empires,StarCraftis one of the early pioneers of the strategy genre and lasted well beyond its years. Set in a much more futuristic world thanAge of Empires,StarCraftdrops the player into a deadly war between discarded members of the human race known asTerransand two intriguing alien races: the ascendant Protoss and the voracious Zerg. Although the originalStarCrafthad a port on the Nintendo 64, that was a long time ago, and well before Blizzard decided to stop porting their strategy games, soStarCraft IIgetting a console port in the future seems highly unlikely.
8Ported: Company of Heroes
Military shootersseem to be one of the more popular, if not a little oversaturated, sub-genres of first-person shooters. It would stand to reason then, that what is essentially the RTS equivalent of a military shooter would be perfectly at home on consoles.
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Unlike many other strategy games,Company of Heroestakes a much more grounded approach in World War 2, rather than in a historical, fantasy, or science fiction setting. This setting, as well as the various factions that can be played, make it stand out among other strategy games with similar mechanics. The game’s tight focus on squad-based combat seems like it’d be less of a stretch on controller layouts than most, as well.
7Can’t Be Ported: Total War series
TheTotalWarseries has covered an incredible amount of ground when compared to run of the millRTS games, having taken fans everywhere from feudal Japan to the fantasy setting ofWarhammer. Unfortunately, its dense UI and complex controls mean that it is unlikely to ever have a console release without a major overhaul of its mechanics, which is disappointing since one of its latest entries,Three Kingdoms, is based around theRomance of the Three Kingdomsstory that madeDynasty Warriorsso popular.
6Ported: Warcraft III: Reforged
Although Blizzard doesn’t seem to be too keen on bringing their strategy games to consoles anymore, that doesn’t mean it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they could in the future. The latestWarcraftgame to come out, a remaster ofWarcraft 3,wasn’t all that well-received, but Blizzard may be able to win over old and new fans of the series with a console port. This wouldn’t be the first timeWarcrafthas had a console release as it was available on the PlayStation previously, and the enormous popularity of its spin-offs,World of WarcraftandHearthstone, would go a long way when it comes to drawing in an entirely new market of players on name recognition alone.
5Can’t Be Ported: Crusader Kings 3
TheCrusader Kingsgames may have been a little later to the party compared to many other strategy game series, but that doesn’t make it any weaker than its competition. In particular, the latest entry,Crusader Kings 3, is one of the best-received strategy games in recent years and easily the bestCrusader Kingsgame yet. The only issue it has, which is negligible on PC, is that its UI isn’t suited for controllers at all, making its move to consoles seem unlikely without a major overhaul.
4Ported: FTL: Faster Than Light
Considering one of the best indie strategy games in recent years,Into The Breach,was able to be ported to consoles, it would stand to reason thatFTL: Faster Than Light, which was made by the same company, would also be moved to consoles. Unlike other strategy games,FTL’sUI is far simpler than most which would make it able to easily move from PC to consoles in the future.
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The pixel art style that is incredibly popular among indie developers also shines in this title, as well as inInto The Breach, and would look particularly good in the handheld mode of the Nintendo Switch, which has a very large library of pixel art indie games already.
3Can’t Be Ported: Total Annihilation
Total Annihilationis often credited with being the starting point for RTS games finding their way onto consoles, and with good reason. Taking the normally overcrowded UI and streamlining it to perfection, this allowed games that would normally be unable to be played with a controller to have console ports in the future, including theCommand and Conquerseries. Unfortunately, despite the IP being passed around multiple times, it ended up in the hands of Atari, who have since gone bankrupt multiple times and look unlikely to be releasing new games or re-releasing old ones any time soon.
2Ported: Dawn Of War 2
After the middling reception ofDawn of War 3, a throwback may be in order to get the franchise back into form — and a remastered version ofDawn of War 2packaged for consoles would make an excellent prospect. In much the same way thatCompany of Heroeswould make a fantastic port with some smoothing out, the tight, squad-based focus ofDawn of War 2seems like it could make an easy fit in translation. Besides, a strongWarhammer 40kvideo game on consoles would be a welcome treat for fans.
1Can’t Be Ported: RimWorld
LikeFTL,RimWorldtakes a serious setting and gives it a cartoonish, pixel art style, though it really stands out for its addition of survival mechanics that are most often seen in other niche strategy games. Unfortunately for any gamers wanting to seeRimWorldon their consoles, there is far too much going on in the game for it to be playable with a controller, as it is easy to become overwhelmed even with the free-flowing control of a mouse and keyboard.
Next:The 10 Worst Turn-Based Strategy Games Of All Time (According To Metacritic)
