Armored Core is a third-person shooter mecha video game series developed by FromSoftware. The series centers on a silent protagonist who takes on work as a mercenary pilot in the far future, operating large robot combat units known as Armored Cores at the behest of corporate and private clients. As the player completes missions for these clients, they gain credits to improve their Armored Core and unlock further opportunities to make money. Some games include an "Arena" mode in which the player fights other Armored Core pilots in head-to-head battles, which can reward the player with further income or prestige.
Tactical role-playing games, also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as simulation RPGs, are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical strategy video games. The formats of tactical RPGs are much like traditional tabletop role-playing games and strategy games in appearance, pacing, and rule structure. Likewise, early tabletop role-playing games are descended from skirmish wargames such as Chainmail, which were primarily concerned with combat.
Turn-based tactics (TBT) is a video game genre of strategy video games. They are turn-based simulations of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic considerations of turn-based strategy (TBS) games. Turn-based tactical gameplay is characterized by the expectation of players to complete their tasks using only the combat forces provided to them in a generally realistic manner.
Real-time tactics (RTT) is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time, simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics. It is differentiated from real-time strategy gameplay by the lack of classic resource micromanagement and base or unit building, as well as the greater importance of individual units and a focus on complex battlefield tactics.
Strategy is a major video game genre that emphasizes thinking and planning over direct instant action in order to achieve victory. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, as a genre, strategy games are most commonly defined as those with a primary focus on high-level strategy, logistics and resource management. They are also usually divided into two main sub-categories: turn-based and real-time, but there are also many strategy cross/sub-genres that feature additional elements such as tactics, diplomacy, economics and exploration.
Iron Brigade, formerly titled Trenched, is a 2011 video game, developed by Double Fine Productions, published by Microsoft Studios as a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade title on the Xbox 360, and released for Microsoft Windows in 2012. Iron Brigade is a hybrid tower defense and third-person shooter game, set after World War I in an alternate reality, where the player controls units from the Mobile Trench Brigade to fight off robotic species called the Monovision. The player controls giant mecha-style robots with weapon and armor customization through a variety of missions set across the world. The game was released on the Xbox Live service on June 22, 2011, with a delayed release in certain European areas due to trademark issues with the title, with its release scheduled for November 30, 2011 but was ultimately released on December 1, 2011 under the alternate name Iron Brigade. The name of the title was updated worldwide to Iron Brigade alongside the European release.
MechWarrior Tactics was a free-to-play turn-based tactics video game set in the BattleTech universe. It was originally under development by Roadhouse Interactive and A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games, but was taken over by Blue Lizard Games and published by Infinite Game Publishing for the Unity Web Player platform. The game remained in closed beta for two years, with Founder Packs allowing players to purchase instant access, but development has been on hold since of end of 2013 and the game's website has been unavailable since the end of August 2014.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a 2015 action-adventure stealth video game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami. Directed, written, and designed by Hideo Kojima, it is the ninth installment in the Metal Gear franchise, following Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a stand-alone prologue released the previous year. Set in 1984, nine years after the events of Ground Zeroes, the story follows mercenary leader Punished "Venom" Snake as he ventures into Soviet-occupied Afghanistan and the Angola–Zaire border region to exact revenge on those who destroyed his forces and came close to killing him during the climax of Ground Zeroes.
Space Hulk is a turn-based tactics video game developed by Danish studio Full Control. It is based on the tabletop game of the same name by Games Workshop. It features the Blood Angels Chapter of the Space Marines battling grotesque aliens known as Genestealers. A follow-up game, Space Hulk: Ascension, was released in 2014.
SteamWorld Heist is a 2D turn-based tactics shooter developed by Swedish video game developer Image & Form. The third installment of the SteamWorld series and the sequel to SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Heist has the player control Captain Piper Faraday, a smuggler and occasional pirate, as she recruits a ragtag team of robots and sets out on a space adventure. The objective of the game is for players to board, loot, and shoot their way through enemy spaceships.
Star Trek Timelines is a strategy role playing video game developed by Disruptor Beam for iOS and Android devices, Facebook, Facebook Gameroom, the Amazon Store, and Steam. On March 4, 2020 Tilting Point acquired the game from Disruptor Beam and created a new studio Wicked Realm Games to support the title. The player is the captain of a ship and can form their ship's crew from characters from any era of Star Trek, while steering the fate of the galaxy through diplomacy, science and force of arms.
Celeste is a 2018 platform game developed and published by indie studio Maddy Makes Games. The player controls Madeline, a young woman with anxiety and depression who aims to climb Celeste Mountain. During her climb, she encounters several characters, including a personification of her self-doubt known as Badeline, who attempts to stop her from climbing the mountain.
The Messenger is a 2018 action-platform game created by indie developer Sabotage Studio and published by Devolver Digital. The player controls the eponymous ninja, who is appointed by a great hero to deliver a scroll. As the Messenger explores levels and defeats enemies, he gains a currency called Time Shards used to purchase useful upgrades and abilities. The game begins as a linear adventure featuring elements of time travel, with the audio and visuals changing from an 8-bit style to 16-bit to represent the ninja's journey from the past to the future. In the second half, The Messenger becomes a Metroidvania-style game where the player revisits previous levels to find key items.
Unity of Command II is a turn-based wargame developed by 2x2 Games, and co-produced by Croteam. The game was released on November 12, 2019. It is the sequel to Unity of Command.
Forts is a 2D real-time strategy video game developed and published by Australian studio EarthWork Games. It was released on April 19, 2017. Forts started development in March, 2003, as a game originally based on early bridge building games. Forts had sold over a million copies as of March 9, 2022. In Forts, the player builds a base, defends it, and acquires weapons through tech trees in an attempt to destroy the opponent's reactor.
The King's Bird is a platform game developed by American indie game studio Serenity Forge and published by Canadian indie game publisher Graffiti Games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on August 23, 2018 and presented at PAX East 2018 and the E3 Media Indie Exchange.
Desperados III is a 2020 real-time tactics video game developed by Mimimi Games and published by THQ Nordic. It is the newest installment in the Desperados series since the 2007 spin-off title Helldorado, and it was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, and macOS.
