Merry 4Xmas!
As I sit here in England, I hope the weather is better where you are. It is just wet enough to be annoying, and just cold enough to require a layer or two. But it is not cold enough to really feel like winter. Just plain misery!
Thankfully we have some fun games in our 2025 list.
You can hear us talk about them here, on the podcast. Be advised, it is a long podcast.
In this article, we are going to, very scientifically, rank the games we discuss.
There were 6 of us on the podcast, comprised of the usual team of myself (BBB), David, Drexy, Ricky and William. We were joined by our resident Beard Ambassador and lover of old school games, Battlemode. I suspect his list won’t surprise too many people.
So, if a game was 5th in someone’s list, that game got a point. If it was 4th, it got 2 points. And so on.
You will notice some people, myself included, have multiple games at a position. Let’s have fun with this, no need to be too strict!
| BBB’s picks | Commentary (BBB) |
| 5. HoMM: Olden Era; Songs of Conquest, Songs of Silence (1 point each) | You could summarise this as the HoMM resurgence. A very distinct strand of strategy, tickling the part of my brain that likes to wander the map, pick things up and beat up the enemy. |
| 4.Tower Dominion (along with Bad North, Wool at the Gates, Thronefall and Spires of Morosith) (2 points each) | Tower defence and minimalist games! What can I say, I have ignored them for a while but this year they really sucked me in. I liked TD so much I made a video of it. |
| 3. Rogue Hex (3 points) | This came out of nowhere when we did the “not the Steam fest” game series. It hooked me in, intensely fun and intensely frustrating. |
| 2. Old World (4 points) | We often debate “What is a 4X?” This, ladies and gentlemen and not so gentlemen, is the purest and smoothest distillation of what a 4X is, highlighting all that is good and smoothing out many of the common pitfalls, like cheating AI, stalling combat and a dead endgame. |
| 1. Age of Wonders 4 (5 points) | Like every game in the series, number 4 makes giant strides to greatness, and then skips over alot of good stuff. The debate rages on endlessly, and the AoW4 podcast done by myself, Battlemode and Ricky remains the most controversial thing we have done this year. The things this game does well appeal to me mightily, and only Dominions comes close to me for enabling my fantasy of being a rampaging Dragon. |
| Battlemode speaks | Commentary (BM) |
| 5. Europa Universalis 5 (1 point) | Not had that much chance to play EU5 yet but the expansion of the trade and economic systems alone showed me Paradox are moving forwards with this series in a serious way. Not a 4X game. |
| 4. Total War: Warhammer 3 (2 points) | I’m very critical of the TW: Warhammer series. It’s a big, buggy, messy sandbox with too many Legendary Lords stuffed onto an increasingly cramped map, with gameplay that comes more from unit variety than any real tactical nuance. But once you accept that it’s not at all like the historical games, it has some great gameplay with a lot to explore. It’s pretty dumb but it’s a lot of fun nonetheless and it’s easy for me to just pick this up and play whenever I want something familiar. Also not a 4X game. |
| 3. Conquest of Elysium 5 (3 points) | This is probably my favourite game these days, tied with Shadow Empire. CoE5 has extremely engaging dense gameplay while remaining very easy to play. Illwinter excel at filling their games full of content without bloating the gameplay with boring downtime and CoE5 is probably their tightest game in that respect. CoE5 has so much to explore, and you can have as much fun approaching it as a roguelike-style tactical RPG game as you would a classic strategy game. It’s not strictly a 4X game but it ticks most of the same boxes for me. |
| 2. Eador: Genesis (New Horizons mod) (4 points) | Eador Genesis New Horizons has the best tactical combat in all of 4X: easy to read, deep and meaningful mechanical complexity and tonnes of content to explore. The strategic map game plays quickly with strong commitment enforcement ensuring that each unit or spell set you pick is permanent and locks off other choices. New Horizons is probably the best classic fantasy 4X game out there and you can play it for free, so there’s no excuse not to try it. |
| 1. Emperor of the Fading Suns: Enhanced Edition (5 points) | Holistic Design Inc. have returned to the development of this fantastic and expansive 4X/RPG hybrid game, originally released in 1997, and the bugfixes and extra polish have raised this to a top S-Tier game. This is the gold standard for tight 4X games design with absolutely no extraneous systems and a well thought out set of mechanics that support it’s incredibly well crafted victory condition. EFSE is the also the best multiplayer 4X game ever owing to its heavy emphasis on diplomacy alongside systemic safeguards to discourage player dogpiling. It has become very playable and fun in single player too, especially with the new inbuilt modding tools. This was my 4X game of the year and alongside Eador Genesis showed me that games can become very good if they get years of dedicated extended development. Nothing that’s been released in recent years comes anywhere close to either of these in terms of games design. |
| Special Notes | BM works for Stardock, and most of is gaming time this year ahs been on Stardock related properties. For obvious reasons those games are not on this list. |
| David’s (Frequent Weaver) picks | |
| 5. Anno 117: Pax Romana (1 point ) | I love city builder games, and Anno is still the gold standard. There was a lot to love about Anno 1800, and I’m not sure yet if this game is a significant improvement, but I always disliked 1800’s cartoonish representation of the 19th century. The switch to antiquity is worth the price of admission for me. |
| 4. HoMM: Olden Era (2 points) | Heroes of Might and Magic III was a huge game for me, and it’s a big reason I became a strategy game enthusiast. There have been a ton of HoMM-likes in recent years, but none look or play as well as this, which feels like a return to the series’ roots after a ton of lackluster releases. It’s also a very polished demo with a ton of content, and it promises great things for the full release. |
| 3. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (3 points) | I was craving a tactical RPG this year, and Wrath of the Righteous scratched the itch. I bounced off of Kingmaker, but Wrath polishes the formula and provides a much smoother and more enjoyable experience. |
| 2. Old World (4 points) | I’ve never been a huge fan of stone-age-to-space-age historical strategy games, and Old World’s setting in the iron age/classical period feels perfect to me. This is a complex and incredibly designed game – in many ways a game designer’s game – and it can feel overwhelming at times, but this is a polished masterpiece that I expect to keep playing for years to come. |
| 1. Age of Wonders 4 (5 points) | Well on its way to being my most played game of all time, Age of Wonders 4 remains an absolute joy. I get that there are criticisms about the strategic layer, but the tactical battles are complicated and deep and fun, and no matter how much I play, I’m still thinking about my next build as soon as I finish a campaign. New content and updates have been keeping the game fresh, and I fully expect to keep this game installed until there’s an Age of Wonders 5. |
| Drexy takes the stage | commentary (Drexy) |
| 5. Zephon and Endless Legend 2 (1 point each) | Potential to be great |
| 4. F Heroes 2 (2 points) | Classic Homm2 with a lick of paint |
| 3. Conquest of Eo (3 points) | Perfect balance between tactics and strategy |
| 2. Elemental: Reforged (4 points) | A classic reforged to right the wrongs of the past |
| 1. Distant Worlds 2 (5 points) | New coke now in 3d |
| Ricky’s picks! | commentary (Ricky) |
| 5. Farthest Frontier (1 point) | A city builder and colony management game with some production chain goodness from the makers of Grim Dawn. The fact that this was such a departure for them had me intrigued. One of the more immersive city builders I’ve played, it’s a chill time whilst having enough pushing against you (be it wolf attacks, bandits, illness, winter) to keep it interesting. The crop management systems in particular are very deep and interesting, and the game overall is the perfect companion when I’m in the mood for something a little lighter on the brain that I can tinker away with for a few hours |
| 4. Knights of Honor 2:Sovereign (2 points) | A sequel to the original Knights of Honor from around 20 years ago. This one is largely a graphical upgrade but with a few tweaks across the board and some additional systems. I like grand strategy games but after a long day I’m not always in the mood for something as deep as a Paradox game, and this game had a nice balance of being easy to learn, but with enough interesting decisions to keep it engaging throughout a playthrough. It plays like a slow-paced rts, but it won’t be long until you’ll be making alliances and enemies all over the map. The map is static but the resources and points of interest on the map are randomised each game to help with replayability, and while I think the unit variety and combat could be improved, it’s a small portion of a larger game that is largely very entertaining. |
| 3. Victoria 3 (3 points) | I’ve had this in my library since launch and have attempted to learn it a few times, but never stuck with it enough to internalise the insane amount of rules and complexity on offer. After a fair amount of updates and with the game seemingly in a much better place now, I dived in properly this year and it all started to click. With only 65hrs in the game, I don’t feel qualified enough to comment on whether the game mechanics are well tuned or not but I’ve been having a great time manipulating with my economy and trying to keep my population happy. I also really like the shorter playtime of 100 in game years, as each time I play I’m learning more and more about how I can improve or go down a different route when I start a new game. |
| 2. Endless Space 2 (4 points) | Amplitude can be a polarising name in the eXplorminate community, but for me, Endless Space 2 saw them in their prime. Learned lessons from the first Endless Space and Endless Legend, and a really tight game design that makes me actually want to try all the different factions and figure out what makes them tick. There are many space 4Xs out there but not many come close to the flavour and elegance of Endless Space 2 in my opinion. There are no superfluous mechanics (that is, if you leave out the last couple of DLCs) and its focus on empire management over combat ticks all the right boxes for me. It also had a patch recently to address some of the lingering AI problems. |
| 1. Conquest of Eo (5 points) | An absolute gem of a game, and a fantastic entry into the 4X-adjacent space with so many interesting design choices that turn the genre on its head, including the way it handles exploration, faction design and bloat. The game has a weird cadence but once you figure out how to approach it, it becomes an absolute joy to play, and the latest DLC released this year introduces one of the most innovative classes I’ve ever seen in a game. It’s one of the few games I actually want more content for, because the game has gone from strength to strength since its initial release. More |
| Extra Notes | Watch Ricky play Conquest of Eo. |
| William (pareod) wades in | commentary (by Pareod) |
| 5. Anno 117:Pax Romana ( 1 point) | Anno 117 has had a rough launch, but given how fantastic Anno 1800 turned out after many years of support and dlc, I have no doubt the same will be true in this case. 1800 is the better package currently, especially on sale, but if you’ve played it to death, then 117 will give you plenty of new logistics problems to solve in a beautiful Roman setting |
| 4. Demigoddess (2 points) | a little known game inspired by the also niche Dominions, which I called the best fantasy strategy game in my review. Demigoddess excels is the one area in which Dominions stumbles: singleplayer. Don’t let the art style put you off, this game offers a quick and varied Dominion’s-style experience that will keep you coming back for more. |
| 3. Field of Glory: Kingdoms (3 points) | the Rajas of India dlc released this year, expanding an already dense board game style medieval grand strategy experience. Why play this game over the typical Paradox affair? Well because there is really nothing else like it. It is fully turn based, has very unique and fun construction and trade systems, and allows battles to be played out in the amazing Fields of Glory 2 |
| 2. Europa Universalis 5 (especially the soundtrack) (4 points) | I’ve become burned out by Paradox games, but EU5 pulled me back in by taking inspiration from the underappreciated Imperator Rome. EU5 is surprisingly a very complete package with a great tutorial and gripping mechanics that will have you fighting over trade power as well as land in the New World. And the soundtrack? Sublime. |
| 1. Against the Storm & Timberborn (5 points each) | AtS received more dlc this year, and while Timberborn has been in Early Access for a few years, I only dove in recently. I am very picky about city building games because it is a very saturated genre with many games that are just fine. These two games however really distinguish themselves with unique mechanics and thoughtful designs. Timberborn is all about playing the map: it has production chains and your usual city builder trappings, but to accomplish anything you must effectively build dams to manage water and energy, which turns out to be a challenging task. AtS focuses on the beginning of a city builder, arguably the best part, and asks that you satisfy your queen’s demands while fending off starvation and the perils of the forest. |
Honorable mentions:
Absolum (the demo continues to beat me down), 9 Kings (distilled, fast, auto battler, addictive rogue like kingdom builder), Fantasy General 2 (for the combat) and Mega-Lo-Mania (old school, never been a game like it since).
So, our super-scientific-not-at-all-subjective weighting determines the following:
Our number 5 game, with 5 points is – well, 4 games with 5 points each:
- Against the Storm
- Timberborn
- Emperor of the Fading Suns
- Distant Worlds 2
Next, with 8 points, we have:
- Spellforce:Conquest of Eo
- Old World
Our number 1 game, with 10 points, and top pick by 2 of us, we have:
- Age of Wonders 4
As we move into 2026, the upcoming AoW4 dlc brings the Nomads, allegedly with some interesting mechanical changes to the game.
Enjoy, and keep exploring!
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Also known as BBB in many places, Andy is well known for his love of strategy games of all types, especially the Age of Wonders series.