Ask HN: Strategy games that positively push your cognitive boundaries? Hey, folks. I'll keep it simple. Does anyone have any recommendations for strategy games that have helped you develop new ideas that are useful in the life of an engineer/entrepreneur? Looking to do a bit of gaming and maybe get a little bit of brain exercise. Thanks =) |
You also end up watching the pros and seeing the strategies they develop. If you find it difficult, the single player, and group modes (2vs2, 3vs3 etc) are an easier way into laddering
I play a lot of EVE Online these days. I do solo and small gang in frigates and there is some strategy in building a ship fitting and engaging and enemy but not in the same way as an RTS. I just prefer the slower pace compared to Starcraft
In fact, most competitive games in the professional scene are played on a strategical level, such as MOBAs.
I loved planning things out in incredible detail. I actually researched what military did, so we split it into several squads. There'd be a main assault squad with a mix of short and long range weapons, depending on the map. Then a few support teams. Some might be suppression teams with heavy damage but slow and vulnerable. You can also have a couple of sniper nests with a long range assault rifle supporting them.
And then the fun happens when you watch your plans fall apart and do a post mortem.
For example, your train bus smelting depot is fantastic until you suddenly realise you have train throughput issues and need to completely rethink your rail architecture to keep up.
A word of caution, it's called 'cracktorio' for a reason: it scratches a certain kind of itch in a certain kind of brain troublingly well.
For me, the lack of enemies makes the game purely about scale and overcoming "bad luck" with resource allocations on the starting planet and local star system, without having to make hard choices about siphoning off resources to defend against critters
---
Speaking of hard choices, I'll also submit Banished ( https://store.steampowered.com/app/242920/Banished/ ) for consideration in the "games that altered the way I think" category. I gained a lot of sympathy for project management after playing that game because it's (mostly?) about prioritizing assignment of people who could be doing any number of jobs, but which of them are the most urgent and advance the goals of the group?
It's actually that "yikes, too close to reality" that makes me not play Banished very often (similar to the Zachtronics games mentioned elsewhere in the comments) but unquestionably I think they're good games and change thinking patterns
I don't think it is going to be particularly useful to push cognitive boundaries though.
There are lots that are essentially optimization exercises but that quickly becomes a diminishing returns situation.
City builders like Anno and skyline are also worth a look. I personally enjoy Anno 2205 a fair bit
Chess - it's a solved problem, and the rest is pattern recognition that won't help. It's still a fun game, but no better than Candy Crush.
Strategy MMOs - they'll teach you leadership and training, but mostly taking responsibility. You'll learn to stay up at 3 AM putting your tribe above all else. You'll be pitted mostly against people who thought they could pay to win when things got bad enough.
If you're talking about strategy (long term) and not just tactics (correct next moves), a simple beginner trick is to try to control the middle 4 squares, then castle the king so it's not vulnerable, then start attacking.
Past the early game it's mostly pattern recognition and geometry. Your moves try to threaten two pieces at a time. e.g. a bishop might threaten two pieces in a row. Or it may force a protecting piece away from a critical tile you need to win.
I'm not sure what this has to do with programming though.
I thought it would get me into rigid patterns like SimCity did, but it was actually very organic.
Its a real time strategy game set in WW2 and there are lots of different ways to tackle games and different factions as well.
not sure if I can tell you what ideas it has given me exactly but I am relatively new to the scene.