Nowadays, when we think of strategy games, our mind might go to things like RTSes, strategy RPGs, as well as those grand strategy games, but all of these games have a lineage going way, way back, well beyond the advent of video games. Whether you want to improve your tactician’s mind, or simply to enjoy a simpler kind of strategy game, here, we’re going to look at some of those traditional favorites, what they’re about, and why they’re still popular.
Chess
One of the oldest games ever known, with evolutions throughout the world that have seen different cultures playing much the same game with a host of variations. Chess is still one of the most challenging and expressive board games of all time, with players able to execute any number of strategies. Of course, there is no shortage of video games that spice up the presentation, such as Chessarama which has a whole host of different themed boards to play with. Other chess games will give you that chance to add slightly more videogame-style rules or will add combat animations to bring a little immersion to the idea of two armies facing off across the board.
Checkers
If you’re looking for something a little simpler, a little more kid-friendly, or one not quite as varied as chess, then checkers can be just the game for you. With online versions like Christmas Checkers that you can play for free, it’s not difficult to find a digital version of this game for your device of choice. However, while checkers is much simpler than chess, this game of moving tiles diagonally with the aim of hopping over and taking your opponent’s tiles is not mindless. It’s a game about trying to control the center and playing aggressively while leading an opponent into traps. Basically, it’s like keeping your attention sharp across an entire battlefield, not being lured into winning skirmishes only to lose the war.
Backgammon
If you like a little chance to go with your strategy, then Backgammon might offer just what you want. It’s one of the oldest known video games, older even than chess, to the point that we know the Ancient Babylonians used to play much the same game we do today. It’s all about moving checkers from one side of the board to the other, using dice to make their movements, and deciding which piece to move based on that dice roll, so the addition of luck adds a little variation to each game, too. Backgammon might be the most strategically simple of the games named above, as mostly you’re trying to do one thing and one thing only with the tiles that you have, but it’s a very fun board game to play with beginners.
Go
Just about every civilization in the world has its own variations of strategic board games and, hailing from the east, Go offers a new spin on the turn-based board game. You place tiles, with one player being black and one being white, on a square board. By encircling enemy tiles with your own, you can capture them, turning them over to change them to your own color. It plays out much like a war, capturing and recapturing territory, hoping that you don’t leave yourself open on any part of the board that might allow the enemy to encircle you. Go can easily be played online and, while not quite as popular as chess, you’re never going to have any difficulty finding an opponent. It’s a game with a tradition just as deep as any game we have here.
Scrabble
A slightly different take on the classic strategic board game, and not one that’s as old as any of the games mentioned above, but Scrabble is still a deep game in its own right, and has plenty of both official videogames as well as inspired derivatives, like Words with Friends, that can easily be played online. Scrabble is a game about word construction and recognition, but it’s also a game about resource management, as the better you are able to use the resources, aka the letters, in your tray, the higher your score. There’s something distinctly RTS-flavored about that.
If you look at many of the modern strategy games of today, especially the competitive ones, it’s not difficult to see that they still inherit a lot of their bones from these kinds of board games mentioned above. Of course, now it’s easy to play any and all of these online, too, so you can dive right in.
