These Are The Top 10 Must-Have Features For Wargames In 2025

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All Wargames Must Have These 10 Features!

Do you enjoy strategy games but find that many newer ones are too simple? You’re not the only one. While making games easier to pick up can be good, it often leaves players feeling bored during longer gameplay sessions. To stand out in today’s crowded market, a new war game needs to offer real depth – mechanics that make thoughtful, long-term planning worthwhile and keep players coming back for more.

Okay, so I’ve been thinking about what *really* makes a war game great, and here’s my list of features any new game needs to have if it wants to hook players like me and keep us coming back for more.

10 – Random Battle Generators

Many wargames aim to recreate historical battles with great accuracy, allowing players to experience them as figures like Rommel or Napoleon. While this is a key attraction for many, a problem arises when players become overly familiar with the same scenarios after years of play, memorizing every detail of the map and troop formations. To genuinely challenge experienced players, games need to incorporate the unpredictable nature of real combat, mirroring the uncertainties faced by historical commanders.

I have fond memories of games from the 1990s, such as the Age of Empires series, that used randomly generated landscapes and kept much of the map hidden in a ‘fog of war.’ VR Designs’ Advanced Tactics Gold is the only recent game that really captures that same feeling; it’s a fantastic, open-ended wargame.

I understand developers need to earn money by crafting realistic situations and downloadable content, but I think introducing some randomness could really make competitive gameplay more exciting and force players to adapt instead of just memorizing patterns.

9 – Customizable Key Bindings

It’s strange that so few game developers let you customize the keyboard controls. This is really annoying when games in the same series use different default settings, making you have to learn the controls all over again. As I’ve gotten older and my posture isn’t great, using comfortable controls like WASD is more important than ever. It’s hard to understand why some developers are still stuck with outdated keyboard layouts from the 1990s.

Games like Age of Empires 4 let you completely customize your keyboard controls, which is fantastic. Command & Conquer Remaster also offers a lot of flexibility in this area. It’s puzzling why some game developers find it so difficult to include this feature, as it’s really important to many players.

8 – We Need More Obscure Conflicts

As a history buff and gamer, I adore those huge, sweeping conflicts like World War I, WWII, the Roman Civil War, and the Napoleonic Wars – I know we’ll be seeing games about them forever! But honestly, I feel like we’ve had *so* many games set during those times that it’s getting a bit repetitive. There are tons of other amazing historical battles out there that deserve some attention, and I’d love to see developers explore them!

I want to give a special mention to Avalon Hill, who were masters at turning lesser-known historical battles into computer games. Their *War Across the World* series lets you experience unusual conflicts, like the actual Soccer War between Honduras and El Salvador. You can even play through Che Guevara’s campaign in the Congo, a game that features challenging and sometimes controversial elements, such as recruiting child soldiers and taking hostages. While the historical accuracy of those specific details is debatable, they do reflect the harsh tactics used by African rebel groups after World War II.

TrickySoft’s *The Operational Art of War 4* lets you play out large-scale battles in conflicts like the Iraq War and the Sino-Soviet War, as well as fictional scenarios like Kashmir ’99. For a truly comprehensive experience, Shrapnel Games’ *WINSPMBT* offers a huge range of options.

Several wargame series feature lesser-known conflicts. Jason Pethros’s Campaign Series: Middle East includes missions based on the Algerian Revolution. Graviteam Tactics: Mius Front covers the Iran-Iraq War and features scenarios set in Rhodesia. The Every Single Soldier series has focused on conflicts in Angola and Ireland, with Rhodesia planned as a future setting.

Beyond these impressive cases, most developers prefer to follow industry trends, and large publishers are particularly hesitant to take risks.

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2025-09-20 15:43