Chronology of turn-based tactics video games

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Strategy video games
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See Lists of video games for related lists.

This is a comprehensive index of turn-based tactics video games, sorted chronologically. Information regarding date of release, developer, platform, setting and notability is provided when available. The table can be sorted by clicking on the small boxes next to the column headings.

Legend

Video game platforms
AMI Commodore Amiga
AMI32 Commodore Amiga CD32
APPII Apple II
ATR Atari 8-bit family
BROW Browser game
C64 Commodore 64
CPC Amstrad CPC
CROSS Cross-platform
DOS DOS / MS-DOS
DS Nintendo DS
FLASH Adobe Flash
GB Game Boy
GBA Game Boy Advance
GBC Game Boy Color
GCN Nintendo GameCube
JAVASE Java Platform, Standard Edition
LIN Linux
MAC Macintosh / Mac OS
MOBI Mobile phone
MSX MSX
NES Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom
PCD TurboGrafx-CD / PC Engine CD
PCE TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine
PET Commodore PET
PPC Pocket PC
PS1 PlayStation / PSone
PS2 PlayStation 2
PSP PlayStation Portable
SNES Super NES / Super Famicom
ST Atari ST
TRS80 TRS-80
VC Virtual Console (Wii)
WIN Microsoft Windows
WIN3X Windows 3.x
WIN9X Windows 9x
XBOX Xbox
ZX ZX Spectrum
  
  

List of released games

Year Title Developer Setting Platform Notes
1978 Tanktics: Computer Game of Armored Combat on the Eastern Front Chris Crawford Historical APPII, ATR, PET, TRS80
1981 Eastern Front (1941) Chris Crawford Historical ATR First computer game with a scrolling map
1982 Galactic Gladiators Sci-fi APPII
1983 Godzilla Code Works Sci-fi C64
1983 Nobunaga's Ambition Koei Historical GB, GEN, MSX, NES, SNES First title in the series.
1984 Rebelstar Raiders Julian Gollop Sci-fi ZX
1985 Under Fire! Avalon Hill Historical AMI, C64, DOS
1985 Kampfgruppe SSI Historical AMI, APPII, ATR, C64, DOS
1985 Mech Brigade SSI Alternate history APPII, ATR, C64, DOS
1985 Wizard's Crown SSI Fantasy APPII, ATR, C64, DOS, ST Role-playing game.
1986 Gettysburg: The Turning Point SSI Historical AMI, APPII, ATR, C64, DOS
1986 Rebelstar Julian Gollop Sci-fi ZX, CPC
1987 Breach Omnitrend Software Sci-fi AMI, ST, DOS
1987 Eternal Dagger, The SSI Fantasy APPII, ATR, C64 Role-playing game. Sequel to Wizard's Crown.
1987 Panzer Strike SSI Historical APPII, C64
1988 Famicom Wars Intelligent Sci-fi NES First title in the Nintendo Wars series.
1988 Grand Fleet Simulations Canada Historical AMI, DOS, ST
1988 Laser Squad Target Sci-fi AMI, C64, CPC, DOS, ST, ZX By the makers of X-COM: UFO Defense.
1988 Rebelstar II Julian Gollop Sci-fi ZX
1988 Typhoon of Steel Historical AMI, APPII, C64, DOS
1989 Desert Commander Kemco Historical NES
1989 Fire Brigade Panther Historical AMI, DOS, MAC, ST
1989 Nectaris (a.k.a. Military Madness) Hudson Sci-fi DOS, GB, MOBI, PCD, PCE, PS1, VC, WIN9X
1990 Breach 2 Omnitrend Software Sci-fi AMI, ST, DOS Sequel to Breach.
1990 Lords of Chaos Julian Gollop Fantasy AMI, C64, CPC, ST, ZX
1991 Battle Isle Blue Byte Sci-fi AMI, DOS, ST First title in the series.
1991 Game Boy Wars Intelligent Sci-fi GB First title in this sub-series of Nintendo Wars.
1991 Perfect General, The Mark Baldwin Historical AMI, DOS First title in the series.
1991 RoboSport Maxis Sci-fi AMI, DOS, MAC, WIN 4-player squad-level combat with simultaneous turn resolution.
1992 Battle Isle: Data Disk I Blue Byte Sci-fi AMI, DOS Expansion to Battle Isle.
1992 History Line: 1914-1918 (a.k.a. Great War: 1914-1918) Blue Byte Historical AMI, DOS
1992 Sabre Team Krisalis Contemporary AMI, AMI32, DOS, ST
1992 Tegel's Mercenaries Mindcraft Sci-fi DOS First title in the series.
1993 Battle Isle: Data Disk II (a.k.a. Battle Isle '93: The Moon of Chromos) Blue Byte Sci-fi AMI, DOS Expansion to Battle Isle.
1993 Grandest Fleet, The Fogstone Historical DOS
1993 Metal Marines Namco Contemporary WIN3X, SNES
1993 Patriot Artech Historical DOS
1993 SEAL Team Contemporary DOS
1993 Strike Squad Mindcraft Sci-fi DOS Spiritual sequel to Tegel's Mercenaries.
1993 UFO: Enemy Unknown (a.k.a. X-COM: UFO Defense) Mythos Sci-fi, Horror AMI, AMI32, DOS, PS1, WIN First title in the series.
1994 Panzer General SSI Historical DOS First title in the series.
1994 Battle Isle 2 Scenery CD: Titan's Legacy Blue Byte Sci-fi DOS Expansion to Battle Isle 2200.
1994 Battle Isle 2200 (a.k.a. Battle Isle II) Blue Byte Sci-fi DOS Sequel to Battle Isle.
1994 Jagged Alliance Madlab Contemporary DOS First title in the series.
1994 Perfect General II, The Mark Baldwin Historical AMI, DOS Sequel to The Perfect General.
1995 Battle Isle 2220: Shadow of the Emperor (a.k.a. Battle Isle III) Blue Byte Sci-fi WIN3X, WIN9X Sequel to Battle Isle 2200.
1995 Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games Madlab Contemporary DOS Expansion to Jagged Alliance.
1995 Steel Panthers SSI Historical DOS
1995 X-COM: Terror from the Deep MicroProse Sci-fi, Horror DOS, PS1, WIN Sequel to X-COM: UFO Defense.
1996 MissionForce: CyberStorm Dynamix Sci-fi WIN
1996 Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles SSI Historical DOS
1996 Wages of War: The Business of Battle Random Contemporary WIN
1997 Demonworld Ikarion Fantasy WIN First title in the series.
1997 Fallen Haven Micomeq Fantasy WIN First title in the series.
1997 Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000 Holistic Sci-fi, Fantasy WIN
1997 Game Boy Wars Turbo Hudson Sci-fi GB Sequel to Game Boy Wars. Part of the Nintendo Wars series.
1997 Incubation: The Wilderness Missions Blue Byte Sci-fi WIN Expansion to Incubation: Time Is Running Out.
1997 Incubation: Time Is Running Out (a.k.a. Battle Isle IV) Blue Byte Sci-fi WIN Spin-off of Battle Isle.
1997 Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command 1939-1999 SSI Historical DOS, WIN
1997 X-COM: Apocalypse Mythos Sci-fi, Horror DOS, WIN Sequel to X-COM: Terror from the Deep. Option to switch to real-time instead.
1998 101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy Interactive Simulations, Shrapnel Historical WIN
1998 Fall Weiss: 1939 Marksoft Historical DOS
1998 CyberStorm 2: Corporate Wars Dynamix Sci-fi WIN Sequel to MissionForce: CyberStorm.
1998 Dunkle Manöver TriNodE Cyberpunk WIN
1998 Game Boy Wars 2 Hudson Sci-fi GBC Sequel to Game Boy Wars Turbo. Part of the Nintendo Wars series.
1998 Incubation: Hidden Worlds Blue Byte Sci-fi WIN Expansion to Incubation: Time Is Running Out.
1998 Liberation Day Micomeq Fantasy WIN Sequel to Fallen Haven.
1998 Mobile Warfare Applaud Contemporary AMI
1998 Soldiers at War Random Historical WIN
1998 Super Famicom Wars Intelligent Sci-fi SNES Sequel to Famicom Wars. Part of the Nintendo Wars series.
1998 Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate Random Sci-fi, Fantasy WIN
1999 Gorky 17 (Odium) Metropolis Software Sci-fi WIN, LIN, OSX
1999 Jagged Alliance 2 Sir-Tech Contemporary AMIOS, LIN, WIN Sequel to Jagged Alliance.
1999 Titans of Steel Vicious Byte Sci-fi WIN Freeware BattleTech-style game.
2000 Armies of Armageddon: WDK 2K Buku Post-apocalyptic WIN Based on the board game Advanced Squad Leader.
2000 Avalon Hill's Squad Leader Random Historical WIN
2000 Battle Isle: The Andosia War (a.k.a. Battle Isle V) Blue Byte Sci-fi WIN Sequel to Battle Isle 2220: Shadow of the Emperor
2000 Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord Battlefront.com Historical MAC, WIN First title in the series.
2000 Hogs of War Infogrames Studios, Sheffield House Fantasy PS1, WIN Also features artillery game elements.
2000 Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business Sir-Tech Contemporary WIN Expansion to Jagged Alliance 2.
2000 Shadow Watch Red Storm Sci-fi WIN
2000 Steel Panthers: World at War! Matrix Historical WIN
2001 Advance Wars Intelligent Sci-fi GBA First title in this sub-series of Nintendo Wars.
2001 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel Micro Forté Post-apocalyptic WIN Spin-off of Fallout. Option to switch to real-time instead.
2001 Game Boy Wars 3 Hudson Sci-fi GBC Sequel to Game Boy Wars 2. Part of the Nintendo Wars series.
2002 Combat Mission II: Barbarossa to Berlin Battlefront.com Historical WIN Sequel to Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord.
2002 Demonworld: Dark Armies Ikarion Fantasy WIN Sequel to Demonworld.
2002 Dynasty Tactics Koei Historical PS2 First title in the series.
2002 Laser Squad Nemesis Codo Sci-fi WIN By the makers of X-COM: UFO Defense.
2002 Pyrrhic Tales: Prelude to Darkness Zero Sum Fantasy WIN Role-playing game.
2003 Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising Intelligent Sci-fi GBA Sequel to Advance Wars. Part of the Nintendo Wars series.
2003 Combat Mission 3: Afrika Korps Battlefront.com Historical WIN Sequel to Combat Mission II: Barbarossa to Berlin.
2003 Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics SystemSoft Historical Xbox
2003 Dynasty Tactics 2 Koei Historical PS2 Sequel to Dynasty Tactics.
2003 Massive Assault Wargaming.net Sci-fi WIN
2003 Silent Storm Nival Alternate history, Sci-fi WIN First title in the series.
2003 Temple of Elemental Evil, The Troika Fantasy WIN Role-playing game.
2003 Titans of Steel: Warring Suns Vicious Byte Sci-fi WIN Remake of Titans of Steel.
2004 Ancient Empires Macrospace Fantasy MOBI First title in the series.
2004 Cops 2170: The Power of Law MiST Land Post-apocalyptic, Cyberpunk WIN
2004 Future Tactics: The Uprising Zed Two Sci-fi GCN, PS2, WIN, Xbox
2003 Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 Intelligent Sci-fi GBA Compilation of Game Boy Wars Advance and Game Boy Wars Advance 2 . Part of the Nintendo Wars series.
2004 Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire I-Deal Contemporary WIN Expansion to Jagged Alliance 2.
2004 Shadow Vault Mayhem Post-apocalyptic, Cyberpunk WIN
2004 Silent Storm: Sentinels Nival Alternate history, Sci-fi WIN Expansion to Silent Storm.
2004 Yu Yu Hakusho: Tournament Tactics Sensory Sweep Fantasy GBA Based on the anime series YuYu Hakusho.
2005 Famicom Wars DS/Advance Wars: Dual Strike Intelligent Sci-fi DS Sequel to Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. Part of the Nintendo Wars series.
2005 Ancient Empires II Macrospace Fantasy MOBI Sequel to Ancient Empires.
2005 Battles of Prince of Persia Ubisoft Fantasy DS
2005 Dofus Ankama Fantasy BROW (FLASH) Fantasy MMORPG.
2005 Domination Wargaming.net Sci-fi WIN First title in the series.
2005 Flashpoint Germany Simulations Canada Historical WIN
2005 Hammer & Sickle Novik&Co, Nival Alternate history WIN Successor to Silent Storm.
2005 Land of Legends Tiny Hero Fantasy WIN
2005 Night Watch Nival Contemporary, Fantasy WIN Based on the novel of the same name.
2005 Rebelstar: Tactical Command Codo Sci-fi GBA
2005 Shattered Union PopTop Alternate history WIN, Xbox
2005 Steel Panthers: World War 2 Cameo Historical WIN
2005 Battle for Wesnoth, The Various Fantasy CROSS
2006 Field Commander SOE Sci-fi PSP
2006 Mecha Taisen on Planet Oldskool Damage X Sci-fi MSX
2006 Pocket UFO SMK Software Sci-fi PPC Clone of X-COM: UFO Defense.
2006 Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank Cameo Historical WIN
2007 Combat Mission: Shock Force Battlefront.com Alternate history WIN Sequel to Combat Mission 3: Afrika Korps.
2007 Dungeons & Dragons Tactics Atari Fantasy PSP Roleplaying based on D&D 3.5 ruleset.
2007 Panzer Tactics DS Sproing Interactive Historical DS
2007 UFO: Extraterrestrials Chaos Concept Sci-fi WIN Spiritual successor to X-COM: UFO Defense.
2008 Famicom Wars DS Ushinawareta Hikari/Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Intelligent Sci-fi DS Stand alone part of the Nintendo Wars series.
2008 Combat Mission: Shock Force – British Forces Battlefront.com Alternate history WIN Expansion to Combat Mission: Shock Force.
2008 Combat Mission: Shock Force – Marines Battlefront.com Alternate history WIN Expansion to Combat Mission: Shock Force.
2009 Dofus Arena Ankama Fantasy BROW (FLASH) Fantasy MMORPG. Sequel to Dofus.
2009 Star Wars Tactics Jordan Williams Sci-fi BROW (JAVASE)
2009 StellarForces Various Sci-fi CROSS Originally an Open source clone of Laser Squad, but now more advanced. Not to be confused with the unauthorized Starcraft expansion pack.
2009 Blood Bowl Cyanide Fantasy WIN Based on the board game Blood Bowl.
2012 XCOM: Enemy Unknown Firaxis Games Sci-fi WIN Remake of a classical X-COM: UFO Defense.
2014 Xenonauts Goldhawk Interactive Sci-fi WIN Spiritual successor to X-COM: UFO Defense.
2014 Wasteland 2 inXile Post-Apocalyptic WIN, MAC, LIN Crowd-funded sequel to Wasteland (video game).
2014 Blood Bowl Tablet Cyanide Fantasy iOS, Android Tablet adaptation of the Blood Bowl board game and port of the Windows version of Blood Bowl.

List of upcoming games

Year Title Developer Setting Platform Notes
TBA Blood Bowl 2 Cyanide Fantasy WIN Based on the board game Blood Bowl and sequel to Blood Bowl
TBA Glory Dreamloop Games Fantasy Gladiatorial Combat PC This game is a genre-bending game with strong Multiplayer Online Battle Arena and Management elements

List of To Be Announced games

Year Title Developer Setting Platform Notes
TBA Crimson Fields Various Sci-fi CROSS Open source clone of Battle Isle. A development version is available.
TBA MegaMek Various Sci-fi CROSS Open source game based on the Classic BattleTech wargame. A development version is available.
TBA UFO: Alien Invasion Various Sci-fi CROSS Open source clone of X-COM: UFO Defense. A development version is available.

List of cancelled games

Year Title Developer Setting Platform Notes
Cancelled Tactica Online Imaginary Numbers Fantasy WIN Planned[1] MMORPG that never made it.
Cancelled Tegel's Mercenaries 2 Mindcraft Sci-fi DOS Planned sequel to Tegel's Mercenaries.
Cancelled Project Xenocide Various Sci-fi WIN Open source clone of X-COM: UFO Defense. A development version is available.

References

  1. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (March 22, 2005). "Imaginary Numbers' CEO Luke Carruthers opens up the world of Tactica Online". GameZone. Retrieved 2009-03-21.