Looking back at it now, 2020 doesn’t feel like a banner year for strategy games, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been a few gems. The list below – gathered by a panel of experts and regularly updated – contains games from as recently as 12 months ago alongside classics from as far back as 28 years ago. They’re all games we think you could play and love right now.

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After watching the trailer a bajillion more times, I am extremely excited for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It’s been around 48 hours since the announcement and I cannot possibly retain this state for much longer. By the time the Christmas-ish release date rolls around I will either have exploded like a poor little meat balloon, or gone full circle and lapsed into a coma. Like the engines of the Enterprise, she cannae hold – definitely not for around six more months, anyway.

Thank god that Vikings are an enduring and popular theme for games, then! I can inoculate myself against disaster by playing a few of these existing ones while I wait. Such is the versatility of Vikings that they pop up in almost every genre imaginable, too. So if, like me, you are already on the edge of your seat (and that seat is in a longship), here are some recommendations for varied and quality video games that will get you prepared for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

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For a time it looked as though strategy games had sunk into a kind of deathly malaise, unsure which territory to claim next and which ones it should leave well and truly alone. Fast forward to 2020, though, and strategy games have never looked healthier, which is why we’ve compiled this best strategy games list of all time. Whether you want to conquer the depths of space, wage historical warfare or hulk around in big mechanical robots, there’s a strategy game for you below.

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Tis the season / use a brolly / tra la la la / la la la la.

Hello, it’s me, the list goblin, here in this festive first week of December to deliver a big black bin bag of presents to you. And by presents, I mean a single irrevocable inventory of the most disastrous and terrible winters in the videogames of recent history. Yes, there will be cannibalism. Yes, thousands will die of exposure. But from this great compendium of coldness will come knowledge, strength, and, okay, at least one adorable puppy. Here are the 9 harshest winters in videogames. Wrap up.

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You’ll ocassionally find someone on the internet sounding off about how the strategy genre is dead. If you see such a person in the future, send them this list of the best strategy games ever made.

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You wimps. So what if there’s a terrifying eldritch beast spooking about the ocean: you’re still Vikings, aren’t you? A Norseman without a longship is laughable. Though I have to admit your replacement fisheries look rad. And the kraken does seem nasty.

RTS Northgard has added the Clan of the Kraken as paid DLC. They’re a motley non-crew of squid-worshipping, Valkyrie-training spellcasters. I’ve spent too long away from Northgard’s shores, and whacking a kraken right next to them is a promising way to tempt me back.

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The best free updates are those that make me instantly go “yes, I’d like to do that”. Yes, I would like to build a monument that summons friendly boars in every forest tile. Yes, I’d like to send giants on raiding parties, or spend food to conjure sheep.

My point is that the latest update for Viking RTS Northgard‘s goes beyond tinkering with damage numbers and resource costs (though it does that too). My point is that Northgard’s latest update lets you befriend giant boars and then eat them.

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Another impressive month of deals in the Humble Monthly – I’m impressed at how consistently good Humble’s subscribe-o-bundle has been this past year, and the next set headlines with a trio of gems. Northgard, Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden and Absolver cover a wide spread of genres, but all three games are united by one common thread; they all got free expansions recently. You can snag all three together for a mere $12 (roughly 9), and you’ll get an extra sack-full of mystery games at the end of the month. See some trailers and thoughts on the three games below.

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I don’t what is this? How many? Are we sure we’re in the right charts? This is definitely the Steam> Charts, where the mad-brained broken people just buy the same four games over and over and over? Because something is up. People have only bought the same three games over and over!

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Is… is it over yet? Are the Black Friday and Cyber Monday PC gaming deals finally finished? Just a couple more hours to go now, you can do it deals herald, you can get through this. You’ve got a week and a half holiday coming up soon, just get through the afternoon and then you can go and lie in a dark room and not dream about Cyber Monday graphics card deals you might have missed for the seventh night running.

Ahem. Sorry, I don’t know what came over me there. Probably the Cyber Monday PC gaming deals fatigue settling in, or the Black Friday fever dream I seem to have been living this past fortnight. But your deals herald is stronger than that. Nay, THE DEALER is stronger than that, and with a renewed sense of vigor that may in fact be frenzied despair, I thus present to you the final monolithic installment of our Black Friday and Cyber Monday PC deals bonanza. Gone are the deals swept away by the ever-grabbing hands of internet shoppers. All that’s left is the best of the best that are still up for grabs, from graphics cards and monitors to SSDs, gaming headsets, CPUs and mice and keyboards and more. If you’ve yet to do your Cyber Monday shopping, act fast, as these PC gaming deals won’t be around for long.

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