Total War is a series of strategy games developed by British developer Creative Assembly for personal computers. They combine turn-based strategy and resource management with real-time tactical control of battles. Rather uniquely for real-time strategy games, flanking manoeuvers and formations factor heavily into gameplay. The first of the series, Shogun: Total War, was released in June 2000. The most recent major game released was Total War: Pharaoh on October 11, 2023. As of April 2021, the series had sold over 36 million copies.
Master of Magic is a single-player, fantasy turn-based 4X strategy game in which the player plays as a wizard attempting to dominate two linked worlds. From a small settlement, the player manages resources, builds cities and armies, and researches spells, growing an empire and fighting the other wizards.
Dune 2000 is a real-time strategy video game, developed by Intelligent Games and published by Westwood Studios in 1998 for Microsoft Windows. It was later ported to the PlayStation in 1999. It is a partial remake of Dune II, which is loosely based on Frank Herbert's Dune universe. The story of the game is similar to Dune II, and is continued in Emperor: Battle for Dune.
Stronghold is a historical real-time strategy video game developed by Firefly Studios and published in 2001 by Gathering of Developers for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game focuses primarily on conquest and expansion through military pursuits but also has prominent economic and infrastructure development elements. There is both an economic and a military campaign to be played and both are discussed in the game manual. In the English version, the game takes place in Medieval Britain around the year 1066; however, since there is not always a time limit, scenarios can continue hundreds of years beyond that date.
Heroes of Might and Magic IV is a turn-based strategy game developed by Gus Smedstad through New World Computing and published by the 3DO Company for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers in 2002. A Macintosh port was subsequently developed by Contraband Entertainment and released by the 3DO Company. The fourth installment of the popular Heroes of Might and Magic franchise, it is the sequel to Heroes of Might and Magic III, and was the last to be developed by New World Computing.
Summoner is an action role-playing game developed by Volition and published by THQ. It was released as a launch title for the PlayStation 2 in 2000, and was subsequently ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS the following year. In the game, the player plays the role of Joseph and can assemble a team of compatriots and summon powerful monsters. The game has a world map, involved storyline, and unique hybrid combat system involving real-time and turn-based mechanisms.
Dynasty Warriors 2, known in Japan as Shin Sangokumusō (真・三國無双), is a crowd-combat sequel to the fighting game Dynasty Warriors. It is the second game in the Dynasty Warriors series, but the first in the Shin Sangokumusō series. The game was released in other countries as Dynasty Warriors 2, leading to the discrepancy in title numbers. In North America and Europe, it was released as a launch title for the PS2.
Zeus: Master of Olympus is a single-player strategy game developed by Impressions Games and published by Sierra Studios. It is considered to be an additional installment in the City Building series of games. Like previous titles in the series, Zeus focuses on the building and development of a city in ancient times. The game features a number of changes from previous titles in the series, including being set in Ancient Greece as well as changes to certain gameplay mechanics; however, it is considered to be in most aspects very similar to its predecessor, Caesar III.
Pharaoh is an isometric city-building game released in November 1999. It was created by Impressions Games and published by Sierra Studios for Microsoft Windows. Using the same game engine and principles of Caesar III, it is the first such game in Sierra's City Building series to focus on another civilization of ancient times. Players oversee the construction and management of cities and settlements in Ancient Egypt, micro-managing every aspect of the city to ensure citizens are fed, employed, healthy and protected from diseases, disasters and wars. An expansion pack, Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile, was released in 2000, developed by BreakAway Games. In 2001, both the game and expansion pack were bundled together as Pharaoh Gold. A remake titled Pharaoh: A New Era was released by Triskell Interactive and Dotemu in 2023.
Mystic Heroes is a hack and slash video game developed by Koei. The game is loosely based on Investiture of the Gods, a Chinese supernatural novel about the fall of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty.
Zapper: One Wicked Cricket! is a platform game for the Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, and Microsoft Windows. For most platforms, it was developed by Blitz Games and published by Infogrames Interactive; Atomic Planet Entertainment developed the Game Boy Advance version. Zapper was released in North America in 2002 and 2003 in Europe. On November 17, 2008, Zapper became available on Xbox Live as part of the Xbox Originals range. On February 15, 2024, Zapper was rereleased for Microsoft Windows on GOG and Steam platforms.
Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon is a video game developed by Overmax Studios in 2000 for the PC. It is based on the historical background of the epic 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. As one of the three Warlords of the Kingdoms, in 184 AD China, the player must build their own kingdom, develop new technologies and create mighty armies to conquer the other Warlords and ultimately take control of the Three Kingdoms and reunify China. Fate of the Dragon is a real-time strategy game very similar in format to that of the Age of Empires series, developed by Ensemble Studios, in which the user takes on the role of a character, namely Liu Bei, Sun Quan and Cao Cao from one of the Three Kingdoms and controls their kingdom through such means as pointing and clicking on certain parts of the map to decide what to do. The player is tasked with collecting various resources and building a standing army in order to protect their borders and defeat the other kingdoms in the game.
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders is a tactical wargame developed by the Korean studio Phantagram for the Xbox. It is the sequel to the 2001 game Kingdom Under Fire: A War of Heroes, and continues its storyline. Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders combines third-person action and role-playing elements in its gameplay, which differs from its predecessor.
Tzar: The Burden of the Crown, also known as simply Tzar, is a real-time strategy game for Microsoft Windows published by TalonSoft and developed by the Bulgarian game developer company Haemimont Games. It received average reviews from critics.
Celtic Kings: Rage of War is a game developed by Haemimont Games. It is set during the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar.
The Settlers is a city-building and real-time strategy video game series created by Volker Wertich in 1993. The original game was released on the Amiga, with subsequent games released primarily on MS-DOS and Windows: The Settlers II (1996), The Settlers III (1998), The Settlers IV (2001), The Settlers: Heritage of Kings (2004), The Settlers: Rise of an Empire (2007), and The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (2010). There are also several spin-offs; The Settlers II (2006) is a remake of The Settlers II, The Settlers DS (2007) is a port of The Settlers II for Nintendo DS, Die Siedler: Aufbruch der Kulturen (2008) is a German-only spiritual successor to 10th Anniversary, The Settlers HD (2009) is a handheld remake of The Settlers IV, and The Settlers Online (2010) is a free-to-play online browser game. With the exception of The Settlers HD, Ubisoft Blue Byte has developed every game in the series, as well as publishing the first three titles. From The Settlers IV onwards, Ubisoft has published all titles.
The Sims Medieval is a life simulation game that was released in March 2011 by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, and on September 22, 2011 for iOS, as part of The Sims series. It was also made available for Windows Phone on March 26, 2013. Set in medieval times, it allows the player to build a kingdom through quest-driven gameplay. During presentation at E3 2010, a pre-order exclusive Limited Edition was also available.
Might & Magic Heroes VI is a turn-based strategy video game for Microsoft Windows developed by Black Hole Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. Some patches and downloadable content were developed by Limbic Entertainment, while the standalone expansion Shades of Darkness was developed by Virtuos. It is the sixth installment in the Heroes of Might and Magic series, and was released on October 13, 2011, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the Might and Magic franchise. Heroes VI acts as a prequel to Heroes of Might and Magic V, occurring almost five centuries earlier, and is set in the fictional world of Ashan. The story follows the five heirs to the Griffin dynasty in their quests to repel a demon invasion and assist or impede Michael, a legendary Archangel general plotting to revive an ancient war.
Kao the Kangaroo is a platform video game developed by X-Ray Interactive for Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance. During development it was known as Denis the Kangaroo.
