Modern living has put us in a funny spot. We live surrounded by devices that are perfectly capable of running good games, but life often forces us to limit how much time we can dedicate to that.
If you’re like me, you enjoy sinking your teeth into a strategy game to give the old brain a workout. This genre is typically associated with spending upwards of 3 hours going through an age inCivilization, or coloring maps from dusk till dawn on assortedParadoxtitles.
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The games on this list are for players who want to make things happen but are not able or willing to invest hours in each playing session.
For consistency’s sake,we’re going to define a short game session as anything at or below 30 minutes. A few of the entries here can comfortably go lower than that, but this is a number that I’ve found good when planning around my own schedule.
8Company of Heroes 3
Less Micromanagement, More Excitement
Company of Heroes 3
The third installment in the series had a lot of expectations to live up to, which was not helped by a buggy launch. Despite all that,Company of Heroes 3eventually rose to be a better game than its predecessor.
Company of Heroes 3punishes mistakes harder, but it also rewards good tactics.Since units die a lot faster, the games tend to resolve quicker as well, with most players clocking out at about 15 minutes. Once in a blue moon, an online match can drag out well past that, but don’t count on it.
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Thefaction designand balance in the third game are miles aboveCompany of Heroes 2, which has helped stomp out some sweaty practices that made multiplayer hard to enjoy in the past.
The new dynamic campaign adds near-infinite replayability, which is a great complement to the 20-hour story campaign.
7Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Playing The Long Game
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
When you think of the best strategy games for short sessions, your mind no doubt reaches for those that have clear-cut matches that end in a reasonable amount of time. Well-defined short sessions are fine, but you have even more freedom if you have no boundaries at all.
Workers & Resourcesis acity-builderthat puts you at the helm of a budding Soviet republic. While it comes with a rudimentary campaign that is really just a tutorial, the real fun comes from the sandbox mode.
The game has no explicit goal or limit, and you’re able to happily span multiple decades trying to achieve self-sufficiency.
For players looking to do short sessions, think of this like gardening: youtune in, tend to your little Soviet republic, save, and then come back later to work on another task. You can do it in 100 hours, or in 20 minutes, and it’ll still feel good.
It’s a slow but extremely gratifying strategy game, except when that beautiful high-rise you built your workers is on fire and your fire brigade is struggling to get there on time.
6Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
A Tale of Sand and War
Blackbird Interactive
Real-time strategy
Release Date
January 20th, 2016
Windows, MacOS
TheHomeworldseries has been a stable of space strategy gaming since its 1999 release, but its 2016 prequel does a fantastic job telling the story from the ground.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharakthrives on its vibes, with a strong story and setting that are matched by the beautiful presentation and soundtrack. The strength of the campaign and decent AI are a godsend, given the meager multiplayer population.
What I love the most aboutDeserts of Kharakis thatit gives you a feeling of overwhelming firepower without burying you in micromanagementlikeStarcraftorCompany of Heroes 2. You are there to lead, not to play as every single subordinate unit at once.
You can happily push through in 30-minute bursts without missing out, and I’d even say it’s the ideal way to enjoy the campaign without rushing through it.
5Into The Breach
Turn-Based Puzzle Heroics
Into the Breach
Into The Breachisthe definition of high-risk, high-reward in game design. Subset Games put out a turn-based strategy game based on mechs, pixel graphics, andenough puzzlesthat you almost forget you’re fighting to save the world at times.
The best part? It all works beautifully.
It’s always a joy to see a game go decidedly against the grain. Behind its minimalistic appearances,Into The Breachhides plenty of depth and difficulty. Most strategy games define the genre as ‘you manage things’, but this one actually requires overarching strategic thinking to get anywhere.
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Each island inInto The Breachtakes about 20 minutes unless you’re extremely committed to taking it slow. The fun part about it is that,most of the time, these minutes will end in defeat.
That’s not to say it is a grindy game, though.Into The Breachrewards you for doing well, so you feel motivated to get up and try again. And again. And again.
4Age of Empires IV
Back To Basics
Age of Empires 4
Few franchises have stayed as relevant asAge of Empiresfor so long. As the decades pile on, one thing remains constant:Age of Empiresis hard to beat for a quick strategy fix.
I pickedAge of Empires IVpurely because it represents the latest and greatest in the franchise in terms of tech and content depth, but most of the previous entries would fit here just fine.
The game thrives on matches that range from 15 to 25 minutes most of the time, and it offers a challenge bothagainst playersand AI. I feel the campaign has yet to reach the highs ofAge of Empires II, but it is leagues aboveAge of Empires III.
Despite the short match times,Age of Empires IVplays out slowly, so you are not falling victim to 360 no-scope capital-G gamers who move units at the speed of light like inWargame: Red Dragon, the predecessor of the next entry.
Divisional Mayhem
If you’re like me and spent more time than you should have building decks and learning about the F-35, Russian president Vladimir Putin, and the act of love between two men, you probably have a love/hate relationship withWargame: Red Dragon.
WARNOtook the late Cold War theme and the base real-time combat mechanics but married them with competent AI and excellent sound design.
Eugenchanged things up inWARNOwith a divisions system rather than the regular all-out deck, with better visual feedback for tactics.
Whether against players or AI,most matches inWARNOresolve after 20–25 minutes, with a hard limit of 40 minutes.
2Radio Commander
“This Is Papa Bear”
Radio Commander
Most strategy games are divided between turn-based and real-time. In both genres, you have a clear view of your assets, while enemies are visible once they are in range.Radio Commanderflips the script on you by hiding your own assets on top of the enemy’s.
You play the role of a US Army company commander, leading your men throughcombat in Vietnam. All you have at your disposal is a radio and a paper map.
The action plays out in real time, but you’re able to speed things up until the next radio report.The missions last 10 to 20 minutes, though every one of these feels eternal as you sit waiting for news from the other end.
One of the coolest features ofRadio Commanderis its replay system, which plays back the mission but with all units visible. It’s nice to see where you got lucky by a few meters, or when one small mistake costs you the lives of an entire squad.
1Regiments
The Sum of All Fears
Bird’s Eye Games
August 16th, 2022
Cold War-gone-hotis an overused trope in strategy games, but none of them have done it better thanRegiments.
The game goes all-out on presentation, with strong voice acting, punchy explosion sounds, gritty graphics, and a unit encyclopedia that is as fun to read through as the game itself.
Regiments' finest mechanic is its campaign, which tellsthe story of how a series of minor events eventually triggered World War 3in Europe.
Each campaign mission has a hard 20-minute limit, but you spend that time commanding units in combat rather than building a dozen support buildings.
With theWind of Change DLC, you’re able to also play a dynamic campaign with time limits that fit your taste and needs.
Regimentsis one of those games that captures the bloodbath of modern war and gives artillery units the respect they deserve on the battlefield.The fact that it accomplishes so much with such short matches makes it the rightful top entry in this list.
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