Strategy & Tactics

Victory measured in patience — tactical RPGs and strategy games where the grid, the turn, and the plan decide everything.

45 games in this room

Uncommon

Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Nobunaga's Ambition

信長の野望・全国版

Historical strategy simulation · 1988

Released for the Famicom on March 18, 1988, Nobunaga's Ambition: Lord of Darkness (全国版) was Koei's first home console ga…

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Same year as Final Fantasy II. Same studio. Nobuo Uematsu composed it. Hanjuku Hero (1988, Famicom) — Square's self-aware com

Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Hanjuku Hero

半熟英雄

Simulation / Strategy RPG · 1988

Hanjuku Hero is a 1988 real-time simulation RPG developed and published by Square for the Famicom — an uncharacteristica…

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Advance Wars (2001) borrowed maps from here. Famicom Wars — Japan-only Famicom strategy, 1988 — was called original by the We Uncommon

Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Famicom Wars

ファミコンウォーズ

Turn-based strategy · 1988

Released on August 12, 1988 exclusively in Japan, Famicom Wars is the turn-based strategy game that quietly launched one…

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Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Dokuganryu Masamune

独眼竜政宗

Historical Strategy / Simulation · 1988

A historical strategy game in which the player becomes the Sengoku-era warlord Date Masamune, the one-eyed dragon of the…

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Sangokushi (1988, Famicom) launched at ¥14,800 — the price of the console. Koei's wife insisted great craft deserved a seriou

Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Sangokushi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms)

三國志

Historical turn-based strategy · 1988

Koei's grand strategy game set in China's Three Kingdoms era, ported to the Famicom in 1988 after its original PC releas…

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Wargames belonged to PCs. Hudson put a hex grid on TV — Nectaris (PC Engine, 1989), lunar turn-based strategy. Predated Fire Uncommon

PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16

Military Madness

ネクタリス

Turn-Based Strategy · 1989

Released in February 1989, Nectaris was one of the earliest hexagonal turn-based strategy games to appear on a home cons…

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Uncommon

Sega Mega Drive / Genesis

Herzog Zwei

ヘルツォーク・ツバイ

Real-Time Strategy · 1989

Herzog Zwei (1989) is one of the earliest real-time strategy games in history — and the first to run on a home console. …

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PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16

Populous

Populous

real-time strategy · 1989

Populous is a 1989 real-time strategy for the pc engine, developed by Bullfrog Productions, with music by Rob Hubbard. I…

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Marth appeared in Smash Bros. Melee before Western players could buy his game. Fire Emblem (1990, Famicom) — Japan-only for 3 Uncommon

Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

ファイアーエムブレム 暗黒竜と光の剣

Tactical role-playing game (SRPG) · 1990

Released on April 20, 1990, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light established the tactical RPG as a genre on…

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Sega Mega Drive / Genesis

Ninja Burai Densetsu

忍者武雷伝説

Tactical strategy RPG · 1991

A turn-based tactical strategy game for the Mega Drive, released in Japan in 1991. The player commands a band of ninja a…

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Sega Mega Drive / Genesis

Advanced Daisenryaku: Deutsch Dengeki Sakusen

アドバンスド大戦略 ―ドイツ電撃作戦―

Turn-based strategy (wargame) · 1991

A turn-based military strategy game released by Sega for the Mega Drive in 1991, based on SystemSoft's Daisenryaku warga…

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Developed without knowing Fire Emblem existed. Shining Force (1992, Mega Drive) — the grid RPG that defined the tactical genr Uncommon

Sega Mega Drive / Genesis

Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention

シャイニング・フォース 神々の遺産

Tactical RPG · 1992

The game that defined tactical RPG gaming in the West, Shining Force arrived on Mega Drive in March 1992 as the second e…

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Family Computer (Famicom) / NES

Fire Emblem Gaiden

ファイアーエムブレム外伝

Tactical-RPG · 1992

Released in March 1992, Fire Emblem Gaiden is the second Fire Emblem game and a direct departure from the first — a Japa…

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Sega Mega Drive / Genesis

Caesar no Yabou II (Ambition of Caesar II)

シーザーの野望II

Strategy (Real-time tactics) · 1992

A real-time strategy game developed and published by Micronet for the Mega Drive in Japan in 1992, and the sequel to Cae…

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Sega Mega Drive / Genesis

Dune II

Dune II

real-time strategy · 1992

Dune II is a 1992 real-time strategy for the mega drive, developed by Westwood Studios, with music by Frank Klepacki. It…

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Subtitle named after a Queen song, score by a pre-famous Sakimoto. Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen (Super Famicom, 1993 Uncommon

Super Famicom / SNES

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen

伝説のオウガバトル

Real-Time Tactical RPG · 1993

Directed by Yasumi Matsuno — who would go on to create Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story — Ogre Battle: The March …

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Uncommon

Super Famicom / SNES

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

タクティクスオウガ

Tactical RPG · 1995

Released in 1995, Tactics Ogre is the pinnacle of tactical RPG storytelling. Created by Yasumi Matsuno — the mind behind…

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Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995) for Super Famicom — Square's Japan-only Mana sequel with 6 heroes, branching story paths, and Hiroki Uncommon

Super Famicom / SNES

Seiken Densetsu 3

聖剣伝説3

Action RPG · 1995

Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995) is one of the finest action RPGs on the Super Famicom and among the most accomplished Japan-onl…

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Vocal singing on a 16-bit cartridge — no Super Famicom game had done it before. Tales of Phantasia (1995) launched the Tales Uncommon

Super Famicom / SNES

Tales of Phantasia

テイルズ オブ ファンタジア

Action RPG · 1995

Tales of Phantasia (1995) is the origin of one of JRPG's most enduring franchises — the Tales series — and arrived as th…

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Miss the recruit window and that character is gone forever. Suikoden (PlayStation, 1995) — 108 Stars, only the full set unloc Uncommon

PlayStation

Suikoden

幻想水滸伝

RPG · 1995

Suikoden (1995) is one of the PlayStation's most distinctive RPGs — a fast-loading, quick-battle system with 108 recruit…

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Square's director was told not to make a mech game. He built a prototype in secret. Front Mission (1995, SFC) — tactics RPG s Uncommon

Super Famicom / SNES

Front Mission

フロントミッション

Tactical RPG · 1995

The first entry in Square's long-running tactical mecha franchise, Front Mission is set in 2090 on the contested island …

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Nintendo 64

Command & Conquer

コマンド&コンカー

real-time strategy · 1995

Command & Conquer is a 1995 real-time strategy for the nintendo 64, developed by Westwood Studios, with music by Frank K…

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Choosing silence in Sakura Wars weakened your team in battle. Sega's 1996 Saturn tactical RPG made timed dialogue a combat me Uncommon

Sega Saturn

Sakura Wars

サクラ大戦

Tactical RPG / Visual novel · 1996

Sakura Wars is a 1996 Sega Saturn exclusive that blended tactical RPG combat with visual novel-style relationship mechan…

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Uncommon

Sega Saturn

Dragon Force

ドラゴンフォース

Strategy RPG · 1996

Dragon Force (1996) is a Sega Saturn strategy RPG in which eight rulers of the continent of Legendra vie for dominance —…

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Square's Kazushige Nojima directed this before Final Fantasy VII. Bahamut Lagoon (1996, Super Famicom) stayed Japan-only for Uncommon

Super Famicom / SNES

Bahamut Lagoon

バハムートラグーン

Tactical RPG · 1996

Bahamut Lagoon (1996) is one of Square's most overlooked gems — a tactical RPG set in a world of floating islands where …

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Super Famicom / SNES

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

ファイアーエムブレム 聖戦の系譜

Strategy RPG · 1996

Released in May 1996, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is the most ambitious entry in the series that Intelligent …

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PlayStation

Arc the Lad II

アークザラッド2

Strategy RPG · 1996

Released in November 1996, Arc the Lad II is the direct continuation of the original Arc the Lad — and one of the first …

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PlayStation

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

コマンド&コンカ―:レッドアラート3

real-time strategy · 1996

Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a 1996 real-time strategy for the playstation, developed by Westwood Studios, with music…

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PlayStation

WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness

WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness

real-time strategy · 1996

WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness is a 1996 real-time strategy for the playstation, developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It…

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Uncommon

Sega Saturn

Shining Force III

シャイニングフォースIII

Tactical RPG · 1997

Released in 1997, Shining Force III was Camelot Software Planning's final Shining game — and their most ambitious. Conce…

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Same month as Final Fantasy VII — June 1997. Matsuno's political RPG where Ramza wins the war but history records him as a he

PlayStation

Final Fantasy Tactics

ファイナルファンタジータクティクス

Tactical RPG / Strategy · 1997

Final Fantasy Tactics is the 1997 PlayStation tactical RPG directed by Yasumi Matsuno, set in the politically complex ki…

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Game Boy Color

Pokémon Trading Card Game

ポケモンカードGB

Card game / Strategy · 1998

Pokémon Trading Card Game (1998) for Game Boy Color is a digital adaptation of the Pokémon TCG developed by Hudson Soft …

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Kohei Tanaka — One Piece, Dragon Ball Z — composed the score. Dragon Force II (Saturn, 1998) is Japan-only and considered dee Uncommon

Sega Saturn

Dragon Force II: Kamisarishi Daichi ni

ドラゴンフォースⅡ 神去りし大地に

Strategy RPG · 1998

Released in April 1998, Dragon Force II: Kamisarishi Daichi ni is the sequel to one of the Saturn's defining strategy RP…

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Japan got a 42-Pokémon Stadium in 1998 that never left. Pokémon Stadium (1999, Nintendo 64) was the world's first look at all

Nintendo 64

Pokémon Stadium

ポケモンスタジアム2

Strategy · 1999

Released in 1999, Pokémon Stadium brought all 151 original Pokémon to Nintendo 64 in fully animated 3D battles for the f…

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Matsuno had already left for Square before this shipped. Ogre Battle 64 (1999, N64) — one of few serious tactical RPGs on the Uncommon

Nintendo 64

Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber

オウガバトル64 Person of Lordly Caliber

Real-Time Tactical RPG · 1999

The direct follow-up to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen on Super Famicom, Ogre Battle 64 continues the Ogre Ba…

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Dreamcast

Vermilion Desert

バーミリオン・デザート

Strategy / Simulation RPG · 1999

Vermilion Desert is a Japan-only strategy title released for the Sega Dreamcast late in 1999. It was developed and publi…

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PlayStation 2

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

エイジ オブ エンパイアII

real-time strategy · 1999

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a 1999 real-time strategy for the playstation 2, developed by Hidden Path Enterta…

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Battle Tower debuted here and became a staple of every Pokémon generation after. Pokémon Stadium 2 (2000, N64) — 251 Gold & S

Nintendo 64

Pokémon Stadium 2

ポケモンスタジアム金銀

Strategy / Battle · 2000

Released in Japan in December 2000, Pokémon Stadium Gold & Silver — known internationally as Pokémon Stadium 2 — brought…

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Three people built the only real-time strategy game ever made for Game Boy Color. Warlocked (2000, Nintendo) — humans vs. gob Rare

Game Boy Color

Warlocked

Warlocked

Real-Time Strategy ·

Warlocked (2000) is the only real-time strategy game ever made for the Game Boy Color — a North America-only release dev…

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Miyamoto watched garden ants and built a game around them. Pikmin (2001, GameCube) — miss the deadline and Olimar actually di

Nintendo GameCube

Pikmin

ピクミン

Real-time strategy · 2001

Pikmin (2001) is a real-time strategy game created by Shigeru Miyamoto, released as a GameCube launch title in Japan. Ca…

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Dreamcast

Gundam Battle Online

ガンダムバトルオンライン

Strategy / Action · 2001

Set in the world of Mobile Suit Gundam, this Dreamcast title casts the player as a commander on either the Earth Federat…

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Cards age in real time — a lit torch burns down mid-battle. Baten Kaitos (2003, GameCube) was Monolith Soft's JRPG with a liv Uncommon

Nintendo GameCube

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

バテン・カイトス 終わらない翼と失われた海

RPG / Card Battle · 2003

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2003) is one of the GameCube's most distinctive RPGs — a card-based comb…

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Every treasure is a real object — bottle caps, toy cars, rubber ducks — reframed as priceless alien relics. Pikmin 2 (2004, G Uncommon

Nintendo GameCube

Pikmin 2

ピクミン2

Strategy · 2004

Released in 2004, Pikmin 2 expanded the original Pikmin formula in nearly every dimension — removing the time limit, add…

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Rare

Nintendo GameCube

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

ファイアーエムブレム 蒼炎の軌跡

Tactical RPG / Strategy · 2005

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is the 2005 GameCube tactical RPG developed by Intelligent Systems — the first entry in th…

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Super Famicom / SNES

Civilization V

シヴィライゼーション

turn-based strategy video game · 2010

Civilization V is a 2010 turn-based strategy video game for the super famicom, developed by Firaxis Games, directed by S…

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