
If you’re someone who enjoys the challenge of problem-solving and strategic thinking, strategy games should be one of your favorite genres as a casual gamer. It’s an opportunity to let your critical thinking shine, flex your mental muscles and prove to yourself that you’ve got what it takes.
Strategy games allow you to stick your head above the parapet and push yourself to the limit. If you can’t come up with solutions or approaches to win, you lose or you simply don’t progress. It’s that simple. That’s why those with highly competitive streaks are consistently drawn to this genre.
If you’re sat reading this and you fit into this camp, we’ve put together a quartet of video and table games that require thorough processes and strategies in order to prevail.
Contents
1. Scythe

Scythe is a fascinating board game that demands your attention. Set in an alternate 1920s reality, Scythe is described as an ‘engine-building game’. Each player takes control of an individual ‘faction’ of Eastern Europe, each looking to grow and expand as a new superpower.
With clever decision-making, players can invade and conquer new territories, yield new precious resources and commodities, build new villages, towns, and cities, and construct state-of-the-art mechs to do some of the dirty work for them. This title was a Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Winner in 2016, underlining its enduring playability.
2. Blackjack

Blackjack is a card-based game that’s one of the most popular pastimes for visitors of both brick-and-mortar and online casinos. It’s a game played between the dealer and the player – you only need to build a hand that’s better than the dealer’s without going bust, i.e., building a hand worth over 21.
Although the game of blackjack requires you to focus on the dealer’s hand, the cards dealt to the other players at a blackjack table can influence bet sizing. For instance, if a heap of low-value cards are dealt to players, this suggests there are more high-value cards left in the dealer’s deck. Thereby increasing the potential for getting a blackjack or building a strong hand. There’s also such a thing as ‘optimal strategy’ which experienced blackjack players use to make in-game decisions when probability dictates it’s the right thing to do. This includes doubling down and taking one extra card as well as knowing when not to double down or split cards into two separate hands.
3. League of Legends

League of Legends is one of the most popular Esports titles on the planet right now. Attracting some of the biggest prize pools in competitive gaming, League of Legends also welcomes Esports professionals with strategic frames of mind. That’s because this is a team-based strategy game. Two teams of five ‘champions’ do battle in a bid to destroy their opponent’s base.
It’s not a strategy game in the sense that you have to build the base from the outset. However, the click-based control movements in League of Legends are akin to other real-time strategy titles like Starcraft and Warcraft III. Players are tasked with patrolling the battlefields while locking horns in fast-based battles akin to an action role-player or a battle royale game like Apex Legends. In many ways, League of Legends is amongst the most unique Esports titles, fusing multiple gaming genres into one clever package.
4. Chess

The ancient board game of chess is making a triumphant comeback. You only have to look at the App Store to see that Chess.com’s platform is one of the most popular free games this year – and even the most popular title in some nations. Chess is one of the oldest games on the planet. Conceived in India some 1500 years ago, it is a strategic, move-based game.
In some nations, like Armenia, chess is a compulsory school subject. The dynamics of chess are such that players need to think several moves in advance to try and get the upper hand over their opponents. Even social media is now jam-packed with chess-related content, attracting a new generation of chess players who now have a platform for their analytical personalities.