Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

The Common Elements of Strategy Games

Strategy games, whether turn-based or real-time, all feature a core management mechanic. The primary factors that influence whether a strategy game is compelling are listed here:

• The theme. For example, not many people will be interested in managing a colony of nematodes. Strategy games tend to have themes with sweeping importance, such as conquest (Age of Kings), exploration (Sid Meier's Colonization), or trade (the Tycoon series of games).

• The presentation layer. By nature, strategy games often have extremely complicated underlying mechanics. Consequently, the design of the player interface to the game is critical. The interface can organize and simplify this complexity for a player or, if not handled ...