Title. I like games that require a lot of work to get into. Here are some of my favorites:

  • Eve Online
  • Dwarf Fortress
  • Satisfactory
  • Stellaris - Big real-time space strategy game

    Dominions 5 - Fantasy turn based fantasy strategy game with tons of nations often based on real world mythology mixed with fantasy elements.

    Kingdom Death: Monster - Tabletop (play on tabletop sim) game that mixes Darksouls/Monster Hunter like boss-fights with a little bit of Darkest Dungeons like colony management/attrition/madness

    • Kingdom Death: Monster is awesome. Love it to death. It’s also absolutely terrifying in so many ways. From learning the rules, setting up the game and obviously playing it. Unfortunately we never play it because of location. Sometimes a years goes by between sessions and we are always too overwhelmed setting everything up and getting back into the rules.

    • I was super in to Dominions 3 back in the day, played it online a ton, won a few big games. It’s got a brutal learning curve though. Late game when the turns were on a 96 hour timer and that still felt too short…

  •  mozoa   ( @mozoa@beehaw.org ) 
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    61 year ago

    Factorio for sure. It just so satisfying to build a well oiled factory.

    Can also recommend Dyson Sphere Program, little less polish than Factorio imho but it’s basically building production facilities spanning a universe.

    • It’s amazing how much is possible in Factorio. I don’t think any other game has given me half as many “aha!” moments from coming up with (what I think to be) a clever solution for a problem.

      I approached it as a puzzle game and think that served me well. I have on the order of 200 hours and I’ve yet to try building a proper megabase.

    • I never really understood how obtuse learning Stellaris can be. I’ve been playing it since release and have been with it through every step of its massive changes. This year I had two friends pick it up and attempting to explain the basics plus the intricacies along with slowing down my playstyle in order to explain why I do what I do was a learning experience in and of itself. I wish the new coop mode had been out when I was initially showing them the ropes. They’ve since started to to get the hang of things though and I’m proud!

  •  Sewot   ( @Sewot@feddit.de ) 
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    1 year ago

    Dwarf Fortress of course. Other good mentions are Factorio and Rimworld, if you understand them and are done with it, install a couple hundred mods and have a whole different game!

  • It’s a mod, but the original long war mod for XCOM 2012 holds a very special place in my heart. You basically have to have reference material open because of how large the research trees got, along with just no ability to really in game teach you about any of the mechanical changes.

    Maybe not quite as sprawling as something like a paradox game or dwarf fortress, but LW also demands you fully understand the complexities it introduces over the base game or you can find yourself in unwinnable or extremely difficult to pull out of positions, and you easily end up playing tons of missions in a doomed session if you miss, say, upgrading your interceptors enough quickly enough to pop the overseer UFO or find yourself in a massive resource pit because you sold all your elerium early and now you can’t keep up techwise.

    The sequel mod for xcom2 never to grabbed my attention the same way long war 1 did.

  • Europa Universalis 4, Crusader Kings and XCOM in harder difficulties in iron man mode. I love brooding over difficult decisions and devising strategies in turn-based (and similar) games.

    • I played like only one real game, as Spain, and I just repeatedly took took bites out of Portugal, until my ally France turned on me. Lost some ground but was able to stop them. I should play it again.