I spent years dismissing tactics games without ever really trying one. That changed in 2022 when I picked up Marvel’s Midnight Suns, which showed me just how mistaken I had been.
The nearest I’d come to the genre before that were Worms and Hogs of War, two games I sank plenty of hours into as a kid. People kept praising the XCOM series, and I still never took the plunge. As a teenager I mostly gravitated toward first-person shooters, sports games and action RPGs, the kind of quick, reflex-heavy titles that reward fast hands. The idea of positioning units one turn at a time, mapping out each move and then sitting back to see what happened struck me as a chore.
Turns out it’s nothing of the sort. The genre is in the middle of a full-blown renaissance that has been gathering momentum for some time, with an impressive slate of releases already available and still more on the horizon.
There’s already plenty to catch up on
Just consider what has come out over the past few years: Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Blood Bowl 3, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, Gears Tactics, Jagged Alliance 3, Wargroove, Mewgenics and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. For a genre many still consider niche, that’s an impressive track record.
Still, if you only have time for a single game, Star Wars Zero Company should be it. Anyone who loves Star Wars won’t need convincing.
Zero Company is the Andor of tactics games
Zero Company isn’t out to reinvent how tactics games work. What it does instead is come remarkably close to perfecting the formula, and its Star Wars backdrop gives it plenty of space to shine.
You take control of Hawks, a former soldier who now leads an independent band of mercenaries and is deep in debt to the Hutts, to the tune of a hell of a lot of money. Republic Intelligence shows up offering a way out of that debt, but there’s a condition: you’ll be working for them.
In the same vein as Andor, this is a rougher, grittier slice of Star Wars that stays well away from the large-scale Skywalker shenanigans. Each character brings a distinct personality, charm and set of special abilities. New soldiers can be recruited into your crew, and every one of them is fully voice acted.
Upgrade and buff systems are abundant. Lose a crew member in battle, however, and that character is gone for good. (Grow attached at your own peril.) The opening couple of levels serve as a tutorial, and after you clear them, putting the controller down becomes a real struggle.
Worms is finally going full tactics
For complete newcomers looking for an even gentler entry point, Worms Galactic Tactics lands in 2027. It marks the franchise’s first real move into the tactics genre while holding on to the classic Worms appeal: simple to pick up, tough to master.
It shares something with Star Wars: Galactic Racer (two things, if you include the word “galactic” in both titles). Both games blend their core genre, tactics for one and racing for the other, with a roguelite structure.
Your squad signs up for the Galactic Gauntlet, a tournament in which each round ramps up the difficulty as you eliminate rival worm squads across a variety of environments. Terrain can be destroyed, a host of classic Worms weapons and gadgets make a comeback, and the series’ trademark humor is fully intact. Picture Worms, only in 3D and with greater tactical depth.
I got my hands on it at Gamescom earlier this year and walked away eager for more. It played wonderfully, and the roguelite elements appear to offer almost endless replayability.
Rainbow Six Tactics plays like chess with breaching charges
Worms wasn’t the only tactics title to leave an impression on me at Gamescom. I also got a look at Ubisoft’s upcoming Rainbow Six Tactics, albeit only through a hands-off demo. Tonally, it sits about as far from Worms as possible: it’s a military tactics game, and Rainbow Six Siege fans will spot plenty of familiar operators.
Its standout feature is the “breach planning phase.” The majority of encounters kick off with your squad breaching and entering an enemy-filled area, and you’re able to plan several moves in advance, somewhat like a game of chess. Hand your operators as many orders as you want, then watch them execute everything in real time.
Get it right and you can wipe out whole rooms of enemies in the blink of an eye, before a single one of them can react.
Where to start
Plenty of other tactics games deserve your attention, both available now and arriving soon, many of them made by indie developers. If the genre hasn’t won you over yet, begin with Star Wars Zero Company, Worms Galactic Tactics or Rainbow Six Tactics. It wasn’t until Midnight Suns that I realized the real fun lies in watching a plan come together one turn at a time.