Great Strategy Games That Are Immediately Fun

Many strategy games can be inaccessible to newcomers, or simply feature such complex mechanics and underlying systems that it can take hours to get to the meat of the game. The fun of some strategy games doesn’t even come to the fore until players have gained a considerable amount of skill.

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Other strategy games, particularly single-player titles with a smaller scope, are able to offer more accessible experiences. With streamlined designs and intuitive controls, these titles are able to get straight to the fun in a fast and efficient manner.

8

Dicey Dungeons

Immediately Familiar Mechanics With A Simple Structure

Dicey Dungeons features a simple dungeon-crawling structure that will be familiar to many. Players are also likely to quickly get acquainted with the game’s dice-based combat thanks to the lack of required reading and the clear Yahtzee influences. This familiarity will likely allow most players to get into the game fast and quickly dive into the meat of the experience.

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Although it’s an accessible roguelike, Dicey Dungeons also features a unique equipment system and elemental weaknesses/strengths that encourage strategic thinking. Dicey Dungeons takes no time in showing players these systems, providing a consistent groove that steadily increases in difficulty.

7

For The King

A Small Scale & Simple Combat

This open-world roguelike RPG features overworld exploration on a hexagonal map, dungeon-crawling, and strategic turn-based combat. What makes For The King so immediately fun is its instant accessibility and fast pace, facilitated by simple controls and a reasonable scope.

For The King gives players control over three characters, each of which can be customized and controlled separately. The combat, which players are quickly given a taste of, is tremendously accessible and immediately fun, combining elements of luck and tactics in equal measure. Furthermore, the RPG quest system and the growing threat of the Chaos meter provide instant motivation, giving players clear and concise goals.

6

Tinyfolks

An Efficient Tutorial & Straightforward Gameplay

Systems

Dropping players into combat almost immediately, Tinyfolks teaches players the ropes with brutal efficiency. This, combined with the minimalist turn-based combat system and intuitive user interface, allows players to quickly get into the game.

Tinyfolks, similar to games such as Darkest Dungeon, combines town management with turn-based dungeon crawling. However, Tinyfolks is more immediately fun thanks to its light-hearted tone, more forgiving gameplay, and faster pace; players will quickly get access to new classes and items, and the simplified dungeon-crawling offers a tantalizing game of risk and reward.

5

Cobalt Core

Familiar Gameplay With A Tactical Twist

Roguelike

Digital Card Game

Systems

Released

November 8, 2023

Developer(s)

Rocket Rat Games

Cobalt Core is a roguelike deck-builder that combines familiar card play with a tactical twist, shaking up the formula while remaining accessible. The game’s immediately relaxing atmosphere, colorful pixel-art graphics, and quirky characters provide an instant sense of joy, and the elegance of its familiar but innovative design will allow most players to quickly learn the ropes.

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The combat system of Cobalt Core is built around small dogfights in space, fought by playing cards that represent unique crew members. The fast pace of the early encounters, the generosity of the reward system, and the intuitive node-based map all make for an experience that takes little time to get lost in.

4

Battle Brothers

A Short, Optional, & Action-Packed Tutorial

Battle Brothers features a deeply tactical turn-based combat system that can be unforgiving, as well as RPG character progression that can at first be hard to optimize. However, it benefits from an action-packed and optional tutorial that throws players into an already-bloody battle and provides instant fun while supplying immediate context.

This tutorial also provides players with the immediate goal of killing a named boss character. Not only does this tutorial teach the ropes to inexperienced players, but it also gives players a starting direction, gently leading them through the world and naturally teaching them how to run their company.

3

Shogun Showdown

Elegantly Designed Turn-Based Action

This strategic roguelike may be turn-based, but its combat is remarkably action-packed. This elegantly designed system takes place on a single axis and features minimal controls, emphasizing positioning and patience over dexterity or deep knowledge. As a result, Shogun Showdown is immediately fun, as players are able to get into the action without having to learn a complex set of systems, and it’s easy to get good at dispatching the game’s earliest foes.

The quick nature of each combat encounter also ensures a fast pace, allowing players to progress quickly, provided they don’t perish. Shogun Showdown also features boss fights and a variety of environments that provide a welcome change of scenery, keeping a steady flow throughout each run.

2

Thronefall

Action-Packed Base-Defense & Accessible RTS Mechanics

Systems

Released

October 11, 2024

Developer(s)

GrizzlyGames

Charging players with the construction and defense of a miniature kingdom, Thronefall’s easy-to-grasp concept and elegantly designed combination of mechanics allow its tutorial to be snappy and, more importantly, short. The minimalist RTS systems, intuitive controls, and slick user interface all help ensure the experience is as friendly as possible to newcomers, allowing them to focus on the action rather than getting held back by obtuse mechanics or walls of explanatory text.

Despite being a base-defense game, Thronefall gives players their own character to control, allowing them to move around each level and command their forces from the ground. This added tactility provides immediate fun, simultaneously making the experience more accessible by facilitating a lack of menus.

1

Tactical Breach Wizards

A Smooth & Slick Tutorial That Immediately Sets The Tone

Tactical Breach Wizards

Turn-Based Strategy

Tactical

RPG

Systems

Released

August 22, 2024

Developer(s)

Suspicious Developments

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Tactical Breach Wizards is a slick, streamlined turn-based strategy game set in an urban fantasy world. It’s elevated by a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and stylish graphics, but the puzzle-box nature of its combat encounters is arguably its greatest strength. Thankfully, Tactical Breach Wizards displays all of its greatest qualities almost immediately.

The opening tutorial of Tactical Breach Wizards is fast, slick, and cinematic; players are immediately introduced to two bantering characters, the context is set, and mechanics are taught. Within minutes, players are playing the game, and it doesn’t take long before more complex mechanics start trickling in.

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8 Great Games That Are Immediately Fun

The following games waste little time getting started, instead opting to throw players straight into the action.