Best Tactical Games That Are Immediately Fun

Tactics games are typically dense in mechanics and systems, providing players with diverse and expressive combat encounters that are often supported by RPG elements. Though the typically turn-based nature of these games lends them a certain accessibility, their mechanical depth can result in a slow onboarding process.

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There are, however, a variety of tactical games that provide faster fun through a combination of excellent presentation, immersive atmospheres, and intuitive interfaces. By being fun to simply interact with or look at, and by offering a design that unpacks itself naturally, rather than front-loading the game with ideas, these titles are able to offer immediate engagement.

8

Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden

An Immediately Immersive Atmosphere & Real-Time Exploration

Released

December 4, 2018

Developer(s)

The Bearded Ladies

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden is a strategy RPG that combines tactical turn-based combat with real-time exploration. This allows players to sneak around and set up ambushes before engaging enemies in combat, making for a unique gameplay loop that can be tremendously rewarding.

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This real-time exploration also elevates the pace of the game dramatically, allowing players to freely venture through its post-apocalyptic environments. This presents players with an immediately fun loop, taking typical menu navigation out of the equation and replacing it with playful exploration and an immersive atmosphere.

7

Tinyfolks

An Immediately Accessible Tactics RPG

Systems

Tinyfolks is an immediately accessible tactical RPG that plays similarly to games such as Darkest Dungeon but with a minimalist approach that’s friendly to newcomers without compromising its strategic integrity. This is facilitated by a clear user interface, simplified dungeon-crawling, and a combat system that emphasizes resource/risk management.

Tinyfolks is also a much more forgiving experience on the surface, as it’s free of the brutal frustrations present in games such as the aforementioned Darkest Dungeon. This accessibility and the forgiving nature of the game allows it to provide an upbeat and immediately fun experience. This is further supported by a fast pace, with the game taking only a few hours at most per playthrough.

6

Shogun Showdown

Tactical Turn-Based Action

Released

September 5, 2024

Developer(s)

Roboatino

Publisher(s)

Goblinz Publishing, Gamera Games

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Shogun Showdown is a tactical turn-based roguelike that plays like a fast-paced action game. This is thanks to an intuitive combat system that tasks players with using a variety of movement abilities and attacks to outmaneuver enemies on a single axis.

As a result of this action-packed gameplay and the small scale of its wave-based encounters, Shogun Showdown is able to offer a remarkably fast-paced experience that’s immediately fun. And, as an added boost, the game is tremendously easy to learn, featuring minimal controls that emphasize positioning and strategic thinking over skillful control and extensive knowledge.

5

Into The Breach

Small-Scale Tactics With Accessible But Satisfying Mechanics

Released

February 27, 2018

Into The Breach is a grid-based tactics game with small-scale combat encounters that encourage creative thinking, patience, and critical analysis. The game’s abundance of open information and clear telegraphing of enemy attacks presents fair and frustration-free scenarios in which failure is almost always down to a strategic mistake, only furthered by the addition of an undo button.

As a result of the game’s clear user-interface and the small scale of its encounters, Into The Breach is able to get players into the nitty-gritty of its mechanics in a fast and efficient manner. This offers immediate fun, as it doesn’t take long before players are experiencing the core mechanics of the game, rather than being caught up in learning controls or being confused by the behavior of enemies.

4

Cobalt Core

Tactical Card Play, Charismatic Characters, & A Cozy Atmosphere

Roguelike

Digital Card Game

Systems

Released

November 8, 2023

Developer(s)

Rocket Rat Games

Publisher(s)

Brace Yourself Games

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Cobalt Core is a cozy sci-fi deck-builder with a colorful pixel-art style and charming atmosphere facilitated by a soothing, warbling soundtrack and a cast of quirky characters. In addition, the game’s lighthearted tone, colorful visuals, and clear user-interface make it an experience that’s incredibly welcoming.

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This allows Cobalt Core to be immediately fun, offering players tactical spaceship battles with strategic card play that’s easy to learn but takes time to master. With such a friendly appearance and stylish presentation, it’s hard not to be instantly won over by Cobalt Core’s unique charm.

3

Battle Brothers

A Quick & Brutal Pace That Rarely Relents

Indie Games

Tactical

RPG

Strategy

Adventure

Released

April 27, 2015

Developer(s)

Overhype Studios

Publisher(s)

Overhype Studios

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Battle Brothers is an open-world sandbox RPG with brutally unforgiving combat encounters that offer immediate fun. This is thanks to a fast-paced introduction and an intuitive set of gameplay mechanics that are easy to learn but hard to master.

The game gains additional depth via its RPG character progression, which offers players an abundance of perks that grant meaningful abilities and upgrades. With a steadily increasing difficulty curve and a generous leveling system that gives players almost immediate access to their first perks, Battle Brothers is able to offer challenge and fun right out of the gate.

2

Wildfrost

A Tactile Deck-Builder With A Quick Pace

Digital Card Game

Strategy

Roguelike

Released

April 12, 2023

Developer(s)

Deadpan Games, Gaziter

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

​​​​​​​Wildfrost is a roguelike deck-builder that breaks the norm with an emphasis on tactical positioning. Connecting the game’s tactical combat encounters is a generous helping of rewards that gives players a surge of new items, upgrades, and companions. This allows players to quickly craft and adapt their build as the run progresses, making for a tremendously fast-paced loop.

As a result of Wildfrost’s generosity, players are able to get instant access to new cards and companions by being immediately rewarded for defeating enemies. Along with the game’s charming cartoon art style and tactile user-interface, this allows Wildfrost to offer instant fun.

1

Tactical Breach Wizards

Stylish Presentation, Witty Writing, & Neatly Packed Level Designs

Tactical Breach Wizards

Turn-Based Strategy

Tactical

RPG

Systems

Released

August 22, 2024

Developer(s)

Suspicious Developments

Publisher(s)

Suspicious Developments

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

​​​​​​​Tactical Breach Wizards is a stylish tactical experience that offers immediate fun via its cinematic introduction and slick presentation. The overall experience is supported by a cast of quirky characters brought to life through witty writing, easing players into the experience and driving them home with truly satisfying turn-based gameplay.

Focusing on neatly packed level designs that emphasize close-quarters encounters and clever positioning, Tactical Breach Wizards is able to offer a strategic puzzle in which there’s almost always more than one solution. However, it’s the sheer power of each character’s abilities that gives Tactical Breach Wizards such an immediate sense of fun, allowing players to let loose on enemies in encounters that slowly ramp in difficulty.

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