XCOM (most enjoyed Enemy Within, with Long War, other versions also generally good), just a masterpiece.
Into the Breach, probably the cleanest, and a great theme.
Lots of deck-ish based battlers: Slay the Spire (1 and 2), Backpack Hero, Monster Train
The Last Spell, Battle Brothers
Lots of D&D or adjacent stuff that board/tabletop-like: Balder’s Gate 3, Gloomhaven/Frosthaven.
Edit: Wasteland series and Shadowrun series also great.
Backpack hero doesn’t get enough love. I love to see it!
I generally prefer turn based, so no specific game
What do you find engaging about it?
There’s no pressure to act fast
I want to think about my moves. It’s deeply rewarding to puzzle your way out of a pickle in FTL, just to make one small example
Baldur’s Gate 3.
I normally hate turn-based games with a passion, but they way they handled it is amazing. Combat is visceral, brutal, and rewards the player for spending time to think before they act. You can do some really crazy stuff if you think outside the ~~box ~~prism.
Chrono Trigger comes to mind
Advance wars on the gameboy advance. When I was in the navy weʻd do the turn based 4 person mode with fog of war, and just hand it around the ship or when we were on leave.
Played this for the first time yesterday and I’m totally hooked
It’s super fun, very well thought out, and like, really takes good, positive advantage of turn based strategy.
Brogue, Hoplite, Stone Soup and other roguelikes
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Battle for Wesnoth
Heroes of Might and Magic
various card games
basically, any game with significant tactical depth can benefit from well-done turn-based timing
I came here to say Battle for Wesnoth. Something about the game has kept me hooked for like a decade
chess
Go
Worms. Literally any Worms title.
Additionally: Transistor
The original fallout had fantastic turn based combat, and some of the kill animations were superb
I played the original fallout as well. Excellent game, I enjoyed every second. To everyone I’ve ever known, they all unanimously love fallout 3 and 4 and know nothing of the first two. I couldn’t finish the 3rd, not because it isn’t excellent but because I went into it with memories of a top down turn based and couldn’t get I to the whole fps thing.
I feel the same way. I played FO3 and 4, beat 3 but never finished 4. They just didn’t have the same feel that the old ones did. FO1, 2 and Tactics are all great
Advance Wars 1 and 2, absolute bangers
X-Com Enemy Unknown & X-Com 2, Baldurs Gate 3, Expedition 33 are all wonderful turn-based games. I like games where I can set up and execute a plan of action.
I grew up playing the Final Fantasy series starting on the NES. I recently got FF7 remake on steam sale and have been putting time into that, but they did change it from turn based. I think at least FF1 - 11 are solid turn based games. Don’t think I played any after 11
You can make the later ones closer to turn-based with settings, but that does also make it easier.
Very rarely. Pokémon and Expedition 33 are the only ones that come to mind outside of more casual games like Super Auto Pets or Balatro
Does Balatro really fit into that genre? I’d consider it 95% rogue-like deck-builder.
Maybe not, but to me one of the defining features of turn-based is that the game does not go if you are not playing, or taking your turn so to speak. The rounds are similar enough in function to super auto pets, and those feel like turns to me so I just lumped them in together.
Heroes of might and magic 3 and 4. It’s just fun to watch the animations, it’s tense in big battles, and the battlefield is small enough to not let it take ages.
some of the new ones are good too. notably the newest.
Yeah I’ve been hearing about this. I haven’t played since 5 (which was good but the art style looked so silly it put me off). I will give it a spin in the holidays
I generally enjoy turn based. I like casual stuff I can be interrupted while playing and not be fucked. All the way back to final fantasy.
But my favorite, bar none, is bg3. The immersion level is high for me, the overall gameplay is top end, and the whole d&d world ties the knot
