Strategy game ideas built around one hard decision

Name the decision first

Every strategy genre has one decision at its core. In tower defense it is where to build. In a deckbuilder it is which card to take. In Into the Breach (Subset Games, 2018) you see every enemy attack before it lands, so the decision is how to stop all of it with three units. If your idea has no hard choice, it is a simulation.

Placement, cards and boards

• Brainrot army. Decision: which memes go in front. Try: "army placement battle with brainrot units, place them, press fight"
• Castle siege. Decision: walls or archers with the same gold. Try: "siege defense, spend gold on walls or archers, 5 waves"
• Lion line. Decision: where on the path each lion sits. Try: "tower defense with lions on a savanna path, they roar to stun"
• Chess deck. Decision: which piece card to play this turn. Try: "chess where my pieces are cards, draw 3 a turn, take their king"
• Meme board. Decision: buy the meme now or save for a better one. Try: "board game like Monopoly with memes as properties, 10 rounds, 2 rivals"
• Card towers. Decision: spend cards on towers or on attacks. Try: "card tower duel, each card is a tower or an attack, break the enemy tower"
• Market day. Decision: what to stock before the weather changes. Try: "trading strategy, buy goods in one town, sell in the next before prices drop"

Squads and maps

• Bug nest. Decision: which tunnel to burn first. Try: "top-down squad strategy, burn out the bug nest, 4 troopers"
• Fire crew. Decision: save the house or stop the spread. Try: "firefighter strategy, 3 crews, choose which fires to fight"
• Island grab. Decision: expand fast or defend. Try: "conquer islands with boats, expand or defend, 3 rivals"
• Zombie town. Decision: who scouts, who builds. Try: "zombie town strategy, send survivors to scout or build walls each day"
• Football coach. Decision: the play before the snap. Try: "football coach strategy, pick a play each down, the other coach guesses"

Strategy games on Roam

Totally Accurate Brainrot Battle and Clash of Legions are army placement sims in the style of TABS. SOOTFALL is a top-down squad RTS against bugs. Mate the Machine is a chess roguelike card battler. Meme Mogul is a Monopoly-style meme board game. Huddle and Roar is lions on a tower defense path.

Questions people ask

What makes a strategy game good?

Hard choices with clear information. The player should lose because of a decision, not because of luck they could not see.

What are the main types of strategy games?

Real-time strategy, turn-based tactics, tower defense, deckbuilders, 4X empire games and auto-battlers.

How do I make a simple strategy game?

Pick one decision, like where to place units, and build a small map around it. Test it, then add one unit at a time.