A turn-based strategy (TBS) game is a
strategy game (usually some type of
wargame, especially a
strategic-level wargame) where players take
turns when playing. This is distinguished from
real-time strategy (RTS), in which all players play simultaneously.
Examples
Board games
Many
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a ...
s are turn based, such as
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
,
Reversi,
checkers,
Hare games, and
Go, as well as many modern board games.
Turn-based tactics
Turn-based tactical game-play is characterized by the expectation of players to complete their tasks by using the combat forces provided to them, and usually by the provision of a realistic (or at least believable) representation of military tactics and operations.
Tactical role-playing games are a part of this genre. Examples include ''
Fire Emblem'', ''
The Battle for Wesnoth'', ''
Poxnora'', ''
Silent Storm'', ''
Steel Panthers: World at War!'', ''
King's Bounty
''King's Bounty'' is a turn-based fantasy video game designed by Jon Van Caneghem and published by New World Computing in 1990. The game follows the player's character, a hero of King Maximus, appointed with the job of retrieving the Sceptre ...
'', ''
Great Big War Game'', ''
Nintendo Wars'', ''
UniWar'', ''
XCOM 2'' and ''
Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure''.
Mainstream computer games
After a period of converting board and historic TBS games to computer games, companies began basing computer turn-based strategy games on completely original properties or concepts. The presence of a computer to calculate and arbitrate allows game complexity which is not feasible in a traditional board game.
Some well known turn-based strategy games are
Sid Meier's ''
Civilization
A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system).
C ...
'' series,
''
Heroes of Might and Magic'' series, ''
Panzer General'' series, ''
Warlords'' series, and ''
Age of Wonders'' series.
Indie games
A further market trend is the rise of "Indie" TBS games (games produced by small groups, independent or only somewhat affiliated with the major elements in the computer games industry). These games often extend or refine already existing TBS games. Examples include
Freeciv or
Golden Age of Civilizations.
Open-source games
Since turn-based strategy games do not typically require vast amounts of art or modeling, developers willing to volunteer their time can focus on gameplay. Directories like
Freecode provide large lists of
open-source, turn-based strategy projects.
Browser-based games
Online browser-based games do not require users to install files and are often free. The Hex Empire set of games is a good example of browser-based games in this genre.
See also
*
List of turn-based strategy video games
*
Time-keeping systems in games
*
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pla ...
References
{{VideoGameGenre
Video game genres
Video game terminology