I'm crazy about strategy games, both turn-based and RTS. More the former and less the latter.
I've been playing Civilizations VI and Galactic Civilizations III about equally and I enjoy them both.
Questions:
1 - I'm looking for two or three game suggestions in each genre (Turn Based and Real Time).
2 - Can be Steam or GOG (I think; question below). Prefer not Origin.
3 - I don't mind if they're expensive, and I know that some bundles could be expensive. However, I am strongly anti-subscription, so I need to know if your suggestions are pay-to-play and you'll have to tell me why it warrants a subscription.
4 - How is GOG? It sounds great, and I know some games are available on both GOG and "other", but don't know if there are any fundamental differences that would make one or the other better. If I see this, then which service is generally better?
5 - I prefer single-player. I'd like to avoid all the drama, especially the drama with people getting mistakenly/unjustifiably banned. I hear that happens a lot, and I just don't need that in my life.
In no order of preference, here are the titles that caught my eye on Steam:
- XCOM2
- Cities:Skylines
- Kingdoms and Castles (a city builder with cartoonish graphics)
- Homeworld Remastered
- Oriental Empires (Early access RTS (I think it's an RTS))
- Medieval II Total War Kingdoms
- Stellaris
- No Man's Sky
- Caesar IV
- Cold Waters
- Endless Space ... I see ES2 and another one called "Endless Legend", but I don't know what's what here.
- Pharaoh + Cleopatra (I've played Pharaoh and I liked it a lot)
- Battlestar Galactica Deadlock (I think)
- Dark and Light - I'm so NOT into MMO, so I'm surprised that this one really looked amazing...but has mixed reviews.
And then there are tons of Star Wars, Star Trek, and other franchises.
Obviously, I can't play all of these and remain a contributing member of society. Got any suggestions to help me narrow down this list or build a better one?