Turn-based strategy games offer some of the best opportunities for truly deep strategy. Without the crush of time to sway the battle in favor of the quick fingers, TBS games let you develop strategies that can divert your opponent’s attention from the true threat until it’s too late. Then you can swoop in for victory, knowing that the superior intellect has triumphed.
Unless, of course, you didn’t see your opponent’s strategy until it was too late. While TBS games can allow for some of the best strategy gameplay, there are also some major stinkers out there that will waste the player’s time, as hours are sunk in an attempt to redeem a game that sounds so good but is just too bad. Here are the ten worst TBS games of the decade, based on their Metacritic scores.
10 Guards (49)
Released August 19, 2016, Guards seems like an intriguing little game: It’s a bare-bones TBS game where just four heroes stand against a horde of enemies. There are 8 different heroes to choose from, and you control them by rotating them from the back to the front line.
Unfortunately, this game’s mechanism, while unique, is drab. Guards also lacks much in the way of a story. Plus, the design of the heroes is so bland, it’s hard to really feel for them or engage on an emotional level. But it’s still possible to enjoy this game, as long as expectations are kept low.
9 Grotesque Tactics 2: Dungeons & Donuts (48)
With a name like Dungeons & Donuts, it has to be good. Or bad. And this one’s bad. As one reviewer commented, “RPGs and pop culture, in general, could use some good satire,” but, unfortunately, this ain’t it. Released November 21, 2011, this game fails the key test of a satire: It has to be smarter than the texts it’s satirizing.
Grotesque Tactics 2 has a boringly linear plot, and it’s trapped inside a misogynistic viewpoint far worse than any of the games it mocks. Plus, the graphics were weak even for its day.
8 Arma Tactics (47)
There are many great squad-based strategy games, so there is no reason to waste any time on Arma Tactics. Released on October 1, 2013, many critics wondered if this was actually an alpha version that had been released by mistake. There is much that is broken about this game, making gameplay frustrating.
The best any critic could manage to say about this game is “not too bad at all,” but then qualified that assertion. While the user score is slightly more flattering, Arma Tactics is probably best left ignored.
7 Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Decade Duels (46)
Of all the Pokémon wannabes, Yu-Gi-Oh! felt the most like a contender. Even if many of the cards are not worth anything, it seemed like that was part of the schtick. Many people have enjoyed Yu-Gi-Oh! and continue to love this offbeat strategy game.
Unfortunately, this incarnation of the game, released November 3, 2010, offered little for fans to appreciate. It failed to represent the card art properly, and the gameplay lacked important features. Some users enjoyed the game, but even then they had to qualify: “This game is exactly what someone would want if they actually like the game of yu gi oh.” Remember, that’s one of the positive reviews!
6 Mad Carnage (46)
With all the excitement around Mad Max: Fury Road, it seems natural that somebody would want to develop a quality motorized combat strategy game. Unfortunately, this game, released February 2, 2018, is not it.
The pros: Mad Carnage is simple and cheap. It also has a comic-based story. The cons: Mad Carnage is BORING and repetitive. It is also uninspired and features poor graphics. As the most recent release on the list, this should be the most advanced game here, but it really makes one feel as if gaming technology was going backward. Which is a shame, because it would be really nice to have a new quality game in this genre.
5 Agarest: Generations of War (45)
Agarest is the game that least deserves its place on this list. It’s not a bad game. However, it’s also not a good game, despite having the potential to be a very good one. A JRPG with graphics that feel 20 years out of date needs to offer something really special to be enjoyed.
Agarest just doesn’t have anything significant to offer. It also doesn’t help that the developer has many other quality titles in the genre, which led to very high expectations. When those expectations were disappointed, fans got bitter.
4 Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter (44)
3 Making History II: The War of the World (38)
World War II offers probably the greatest setting for a historical TBS game. With huge logistical challenges facing both sides combined with some of the most epic combat the world has ever seen, the drama practically leaps off the screen with just the barest effort from a developer.
Unfortunately, the developer of Making History II didn’t see fit to put that effort in before releasing the game on June 15, 2010. Although subsequent versions have gotten better, and the game is fairly popular among users, critics savaged this game for its numerous flaws at launch.
2 Legends of Pegasus (36)
In case there are any developers reading this article, here’s a hint: Critics hate it when you release a game that’s full of bugs. Like the previous two entries, Legends of Pegasus released with too many bugs, and, unlike the other games, it never became what it could have been.
Which is a shame, because this game looks like it had the potential to be a massive, sprawling sci-fi strategy game. Sadly, untapped potential means nothing.
1 Langrisser Re:Incarnation -TENSEI- (35)
NEXT: The 10 Best Stealth Games Of The Decade, Ranked (According To Metacritic)
