Summary
The strategy game genre is one of the most saturated, packed with sub-genres from turn-based and tactical to real-time and grand strategy. However, it’s rare that strategy games adopt a pixel art aesthetic, be they old or new.
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It could be argued that this is due to strategy games being primarily developed by larger studiosin the 90swith higher budgets. However, with the rising popularity of indie games in the last ten years, indie developers have been able to explore a variety of genres, leading to an explosion of creativity in all genres and a plethora of indie strategy games, many of which feature pixel art graphics.
8Hero’s Hour
Hero’s Houris a strategy game in which players explorean over-world map, developing their town and armies in turn-based gameplay, and fighting real-time strategy battles. Due to its lack of micromanagement,Hero’s Houris one of the most accessible indie strategy games on Steam.
Although players don’t have direct control of their units during battle, they can cast spells and give orders, adding a welcome level of depth and strategy. The combination of turn-based strategy and real-timeauto-battler combatmakes for a unique and accessible strategy game witha brilliant pixel art aesthetic.
7Dungeon Of The ENDLESS
This pixel art strategy rogue-like has players controlling a party of characters in real-time with resource management and tower defense elements that make for a truly unique and visually impressive experience.
Dungeon Of The ENDLESShas a unique and detailed pixel art aesthetic with highly detailed environments and a dark, moody atmosphere, which is only furthered by its great lighting and soundscape. The game can be quite challenging and fairly inaccessible, with lots to manage and high lethality, but due to its rogue-like nature, it’s also highly replayable.
6Wargroove
This game takes clearinspiration from the old-schoolAdvance Warsstrategy games, with an exceptionally similar art style and battle system.Wargroovefeatures chunky, colorful pixel art and evocative character portraits that fit the tone of the game perfectly.
Wargroovefeatures four unique factions and over twelve unique Commanders, each with their own unique “Groove,” a special move that can turn the tide of battle. The game is turn-based and highly strategic, tasking players with countering their opponents' units and carefully positioning their own to succeed.
5Star Renegades
Published by Raw Fury,Star Renegadesis a strategy RPG with a rogue-lite structure in which players battle through a procedurally generated campaign of turn-based missions via a unique battle system with a reactive timeline that allows players to interrupt and counter their enemies.
Similarly to games likeShadow Of Mordor,Star Renegadesfeatures an adversary system that generates different enemies and bosses that can evolve as players progress, leading to some emergent gameplay that helps to make each run feel distinct.
4Death Crown
This strategy game is unique for its well-crafted and crunchy 1-bit pixel art aesthetic that helps to distinguish the game in a saturated market.Death Crownis also unique for its innovative and simplistic real-time strategy mechanics that flip the RTS genre on its head and make it accessible for anyone to play.
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Death Crownis displayed on one screen and controlled entirely through simple mouse movements and intuitive hotkeys that enable players to devise simple strategies revolving around economy, defense, and offense.The game’s distinct art styleand accessibility make it one of the most memorable and easy-to-pick-up pixel art strategy games on Steam, and its local multiplayer features help to boost its replay value.
3Tooth And Tail
This minimalistic, isometric strategy game puts players in control of a commander, moving their character about the map while rallying their units and constructing buildings in true RTS fashion, vying for control over various resource-producing “Mills.”
Tooth And Tailfeatures a simplistic but highly effective pixel art aesthetic that works in tandem with the game’s anthropomorphized creatures and simplified RTS gameplay.Tooth And Tail’smicromanagement is kept to the bare minimum, with players rallying troops in their nearby vicinity, focusing primarily on which troops will go into battle and when, rather than their individual movements in the encounters themselves. This leads to strategy in broad sweeps rather than fine details and allows the game to be both strategic and accessible at the same time.
2Tinyfolks
This retro pixel art game features gameplay similar toDarkest Dungeon, tasking players with recruiting and training a roster of “folks” to send out to various dungeon-like locations packed with cute and quirky pixel art enemies and fantastically illustrated bosses.
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Tinyfolksfeatures turn-based combat similar toDarkest Dungeonin which players are tasked with controlling a party of heroes, battling through various encounters to get to the boss at the end of each dungeon. The game’s combination of charming pixel art and catchy chip-tune soundtrack makeTinyfolksa memorable experience.
1Into The Breach
This turn-based tactics game from the developers of FTL combines turn-based strategy mechanics with elements of puzzle games and rogue-likes to create an arguably perfect experience for fans of tactics games.
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Into The Breachdistinguishes itself from other strategy games by giving the player access to all the game’s information, including enemy intentions, turn order, and damage amounts. This enables players to plan out every move, using the undo move feature and the ability to reset the entire turn to craft the perfect strategy.
