Strategy Games With No Combat

The core goal of strategy games is to challenge the player intellectually. Said challenge comes from out thinking the opponent. This contest of wits sometimes unfolds in tense battles, but that's not the extent of the genre.

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Some strategy titles have no combat. Most of these pacifistic gems are builder games. They task players with crafting a park or city, complete with material-gathering and other details inherent in the process. Sometimes, the developers extend this to entire nations. Not only do these titles reward creativity, but they often carry more suspense than the most breakneck battles. By the end, fans are of a mind to create rather than destroy.

6 The Sims

Start A Family, Build A Home, Progress A Career

Ordinary life can often provide a tremendous challenge, and The Sims series capitalizes on that. The title refers to the virtual people whom players create. They then build homes for those people. It doesn't take much to make these hubs into habitable dwellings, but humans are never satisfied with sedentary living.

As such, fans must keep their Sims happy. Food and water are obviously essential to that end, but the citizens should also have something to stimulate them. Thus, players construct additional buildings for business or pleasure, such as gyms, theaters, hospitals, etc. On top of all of this, they may have to adjust further due to unpredictable factors. For example, one Sim may strike up a relationship with another or pursue a particular hobby. In other words, they are a living, breathing society. As tricky as it is to navigate that behavior, the resulting spontaneity is exhilarating.

5 Cities: Skylines

Design Roadways, Develop Neighborhoods, Create Efficient Infrastructure

Cities: Skylines doubles down on the building elements found in The Sims. That should be obvious by the title. Here, players construct a thriving metropolis. This process involves structures of all sizes, from single-story shops to towering skyscrapers. Interspersed throughout are roads and highways for ease of travel, lending a multi-leveled quality to even the humblest hub. That quality isn't just for show, though.

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People have to navigate these cities. Players must organize the traffic systems so that the routes don't conflict, ensuring the road is a well-oiled machine. That need extends to the administrative level. Would-be mayors have the final say on policies for different districts. With these tools, Cities: Skylines fans can craft an urban paradise or a concrete jungle.

4 Banished

Start A Medieval Settlement From Scratch, Engage In Tradecraft

Starting from scratch can be daunting, but it offers endless possibilities. Banished embodies that spirit. In the Middle Ages, a group of refugees seeks to begin anew. Thus, they use their meager resources to construct a village or settlement. That premise sounds standard for a builder title, but Banished has a major deviation.

Currency lies in tradecraft instead of money. As long as the settlers have the resources, they can build any structure. Acquiring those resources takes harvesting and/or bartering. In turn, the resulting building can further boost the production of goods. This process is how the occupants get food, pursue professions, and construct shelters. Unfortunately, hiccups occur. Some resources are rarer on certain maps. In addition, the inhabitants may contract a disease and spread that sickness throughout the camp. Players must adjust their strategy accordingly. They have the skills to succeed.; it's just a matter of how they use those skills.

3 Frostpunk

Collect Resources, Battle A Frozen Climate, Make Sacrifices To Survive

Frostpunk boasts similar beats as Banished. Namely, it's a Medieval builder about a small band of survivors making the most of their meager resources. Keeping the settlers alive means exploiting the environment to gather food, wood, and other items. Players use these materials to construct buildings, mainly to further improve their steam engine and other facilities. These all serve to bolster their defenses, but not against hostile factions.

Rather, the enemy is the climate itself. As the title suggests, Frostpunk takes place in a tundra. That environment is tough to endure in general, but it can also hamper productivity. Bad weather drains settlers' motivation and creates hazardous working conditions. In turn, it forces players to make compromises or innovations. These include instituting new labor laws or modernizing medicine. They could even tie the entire system to faith, essentially turning villagers into religious zealots. These approaches all have benefits and drawbacks due to the different societies they create. It's up to players to determine what they sacrifice to survive.

2 Suzerain

Command A World Power, Enact Policies, Read Allies For Potential Betrayals

The framework of Suzerain should seem familiar to fans of Civilization or Total War. The game makes players into a global power, tasking them with expanding their reach and competing with other factions. However, the aforementioned strategy titles occasionally result in open battle. Suzerain calls for a less direct approach.

This game is a text-based adventure. Players make decisions about how to run their nations, and those decisions mainly come down to policies. Leaders forge political alliances, invest in plans, control information channels, and make other legislative choices. These decisions influence citizen welfare, economic trajectory, military power, foreign relations, and even family standing. In the middle of this, players must also read people in their own circle and determine their agendas. Trusting the wrong person can result in backstabbing power grabs. Misjudging any of these elements has far-reaching ramifications. Players aren't just building a city, but a whole government. That's something even the sharpest minds have trouble with.

1 Jurassic World: Evolution

Build A Prehistoric Theme Park, Keep Attendees Happy, Keep The Dinosaurs Contained

Many might pass on strategy games for not having enough excitement, but throwing dinosaurs into the mix can solve that problem. Jurassic World: Evolution lets players build a sprawling theme park with genetically-engineered giants as the attractions. It has all the challenges of other park-builder titles, namely the emphasis on creating bigger thrills and accommodating guests. However, fans must also pay heed to animal needs, specifically in terms of food, water, and climate. Thanks to inclement weather and sabotage, any of these factors could go wrong in an instant. The cost of those events can be catastrophic.

Much like in the Jurassic movies, dinosaurs can break out and run amok. At that point, players might expect the game to turn into Turok, but that's not the case. Instead, they must contain the asset, pay a settlement, and regain any lost publicity. In other words, they should think like a theme park manager in Jurassic World: Evolution, even at the cost of human life. That comes with the territory of this corporate position. Unfortunately, life and all of its unpredictability constantly undermines the bottom line.

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