Two quite different games released this period, Valve makes headlines.
Game Releases and Updates
Releasing on the same day as Elemental:Reforged, do not overlook Heroes of Science and Fiction. Slightly reductionist, but this is Heroes of Might and Magic, but in space. I have enjoyed playing it. Is this year the year of tactics games, or of HoMM likes?
Elemental Reforged has released . Steam reviews are positive, and it certainly looks shiny. Does it realise the dream begun so long ago?
Sticking with Stardock, the Ashes of the Singularity 2 demo was one of the best performing at the recent Steam NextFest. I played it, and can confirm – yes you can get some big battles! Does it live up to Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, Beyond All Reason etc? You decide. Come and join the Discord discussion. Is this the year of Stardock?
Next up, a hybrid of a strategy game and a flight arcade game? Space Reign promises “constant conflict over territory control.” Reviews are mixed.
Alternatively, is this the year of the city builder? Age after Age was announced recently, for Q4 thsi year, promising “deep city-building strategy with evolving logistics, citizen classes, diplomacy, and research.” The guy in the poster is clearly up to no good.
And another city builder this week. Terrascape: Ancient Egypt has the advantage of having already released (March 9th). And with the focus on ancient Egypt, really making me think about Pharaoh, one of my formative games.
Recently released (March 6th) and with a whopping 50% off currently, Heart of the Machine is available now. Sentient AI. Curious.
Hooded Horse, with GoldHawk Interactive, is launching another attack on our gaming hearts and wallets, this time in the form of Xenonauts 2. Think of this as classic, or old-school X-com. I look forward to failing hard at this!
Community and Industry News
Distant Worlds 2 celebrates it’s 4th anniversary this month. Congratulations CodeForce. If you have not already, this seems like a good time to jump in. DW2 is arguably the best space strategy game right now.
Turn Based Thursday! We were on it, it was fun You can see the videos on the Youtube channel. Speaking of Streams, we are thinking of doing a monthly stream, games to be decided by the community. Thoughts?
Is Valve in trouble? Numerous lawsuits. Is there something to this, or is it people smelling blood?
Community Discussion
We are recording our next podcast soon, the subject being the state of the strategy genre in 2026. To that end, any suggestions of games you would like us to discuss, the criteria being games that released (or should have released, but were delayed) in Q1. Your thoughts welcome.
We have a new forum on the Discord, a special place to jump in and philosophise on the ingredients of a 4X.
Questions to ponder:
- Are 4X games in something of a winter?
- How do you classify games?
- AI has been discussed again. AI discussion on Steam, and from this article. where do you stand on the use of AI in generating art, text etc?
Did we miss anything this fortnight? Be sure to let us know in the comments below if weâve missed an important news item!
Want to write for us? Have a game or two that you love to keep tabs on? Let us know! eXplorminate@gmail.com
Please support us by visiting our Discord and donating to our Patreon.
