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PODCAST

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames

Critical Moves Podcast

Critical Moves is a strategy games podcast that takes RTS, 4X, and tactics seriously. Most gaming podcasts treat strategy games as an afterthought. We don’t. Every week we cover real-time strategy, turn-based tactics, 4X empire builders, indie experiments, and overlooked classics with long-form analysis and no wasted time.This isn’t quick reviews or recycled talking points. It’s sharp criticism and honest discussion about strategy game design. If a game is shallow or broken, we’ll say so. If it does

leisure video games

All Episodes

59:50

Our Best Strategy Games of 2025 Are a DLC, Another...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/12/26

Our best games of 2025 are a DLC for a 2023 game, a DLC for a 2022 game, and a remaster of a 2004 game. That tells you everything about the state of strategy gaming this year. Adam picked Spell Force Conquest of Eo's Children of Norn expansion because the developers keep supporting a game that deserves more players. The complexity puts it somewhere between Heroes of Might and Magic and Age of Wonders 4, with combat that stays interesting instead of devolving into auto-resolve spam. Tim went with

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55:35

Total War: Medieval 3 and Warhammer 40K - What...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/12/19

Creative Assembly announced Medieval 3 and Total War Warhammer 40K within two weeks. We break down what we know, what's missing, and whether the new Warcore engine can handle what these games need to deliver.Medieval 3 won't arrive until 2027 at the earliest, possibly 2028. The game promises more than just map painting with systems borrowed from Crusader Kings territory, but the challenge is finding the middle ground between Medieval 2 Definitive Edition and overcomplicated mechanics that alienate

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72:19

Developer Interview: Dr. Ben Angell - AOE2:...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/12/05

In this episode of Critical Moves, we sit down with Ben Angel, narrative lead and designer on the Age of Empires 2: Chronicles DLC campaigns. Ben shares fascinating insights into creating compelling narratives within the constraints of RTS gameplay, where players experience stories from a distant, zoomed-out perspective.We discuss how Chronicles tackles the inherent challenges of storytelling in strategy games—turning abstract barracks and identical units into specific, memorable moments through

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51:26

Anno 117: Pax Romana - Why Even Anno Fans Are...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/11/28

Does Anno 117: Pax Romana live up to the hype? Err... No. In this episode, Al (the Anno noob) got a chance to quiz Anno veteran Timothy on what the latest instalment of the franchise does right and what it does terribly wrong.Join us as we pull apart Ubisoft Mainz' latest city builder title and discuss if the Roman setting fits the Anno brand, if it adds anything to the series and why diagonal roads are such a big deal. We go through the core problems with Anno 117. The Roman setting sounds good on

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53:10

Football Manager 26 - A New Low For The Series (Ep.55)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/11/14

Joe and Big Sid talk Football Manager from Championship Manager 01/02 to the FM26 disaster. Big Sid has been playing for 25 years. Joe started with FM12 and the San Marino Challenge, spending a year building a lower Italian league team into Champions League contenders. Both have lost relationships and jobs to this game.FM26 launched in early access and immediately got review bombed on Steam. The new Unity engine brought performance problems. Menus take five minutes to open. Big Sid has a 4090 and

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58:26

New Year, New Game (Ep.53)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/10/31

To celebrate the new year of Critical Moves Podcast, Al, Tim and Adam sat down to recommend a new game for the others to try. These were games that the others had never played before but that each hoped their co-hosts would enjoy. Games recommended were: Tim: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1207650/Suzerain (for Al) https://store.steampowered.com/app/1434950/HighFleet (for Adam)Al: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2088550/Dying_Breed (for Adam)

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54:41

Heroes of Might and Magic: OE or Endless Legend 2....

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/10/24

Jack and Adam compare two modern revivals of strategy design: Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era and Endless Legend 2. We cover how HOMM OE modernises the classic loop, the daily and weekly map rhythm, city growth, unit upgrade forks, and where it stumbles with a cluttered spell UI and questions about handcrafted maps. We dig into Endless Legend 2’s Civ-style shell with heroes anchoring armies, event chains that create real attachment, and the tides mechanic that reshapes the map, plus the

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56:41

RTS Is Quietly Having a Comeback (Ep.50)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/10/10

Nuno, Al, and Jack talk about how modern real-time strategy has changed — and improved. Dawn of War: Definitive Edition shows the strength of classic design, while new projects like Tempest Rising and Broken Arrow push toward a leaner, more deliberate form of RTS. The conversation covers what recent games are getting right, where design has shifted, and why the future looks more promising than it has in years.https://criticalmovespodcast.com

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51:31

The Future of Total War (Ep.49)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/10/03

Al, Tim and Joe come together to discuss the future of the Total War franchise ahead of Creative Assembly's December announcement on what to anticipate next from the studio. With a look at what games the hosts expect to see and which ones they would love to see, the conversation covers settings such as Star Wars, Warhammer 40K and Lord of the Rings, along side what Medieval III might look like, or if Total War: Empire 2 will see the series return to the era of colonialism, sailing ships and cavalry

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66:06

Double Vision: The True State of 4X (Ep.47)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/09/19

In this episode we brought in Ricky and Drexy from eXplorminate to correct the mistakes we made in episode 41 on the state of 4X. The discussion pulls apart what separates 4X from grand strategy, where games like Stellaris, Total War and Victoria 3 sit, and why the labels aren’t always useful.We cover direct control versus large-scale influence, why Total War is neither 4X nor grand strategy, the failure of Humankind’s civ-swapping mechanic, and how Ara History Untold burned out with poor pacing and

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76:26

Beyond All Reason – Behind the Scenes of BAR (Ep.46)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/09/12

Beyond All Reason (BAR) is a free open-source real-time strategy game based on Total Annihilation. In this episode we interview community manager PtaQ and our very own Timothy. Learn about RTS game development, community-driven gaming projects, epic-scale strategy battles with thousands of units, upcoming campaign mode, new faction releases, and Steam launch plans. This strategy gaming podcast episode covers BAR's 60,000+ Discord community management, volunteer-based game development, the "Ragnam

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50:36

When Developers Quit, Players Keep Games Alive (Ep.45)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/09/05

Community supported games are the reason classics like Age of Empires 2, Company of Heroes, and Heroes of Might and Magic 3 are still played decades after release. In this episode of the Critical Moves Podcast, we look at abandoned strategy games, how modding scenes keep them alive, and why some titles survive long after developers stop updating them.We cover Dawn of War and its Definitive Edition, the ongoing debate of Civilization 6 vs Civilization 7, and the communities behind Command &

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35:10

Does Dawn of War 4 Have What It Takes? (Ep.44)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/08/29

Dawn of War 4 exists! We talk about what we know and what we expect. The franchise has one good game, one mediocre sequel, and one disaster. Dawn of War 3 killed the series for eight years. Now KING Art Games and Deep Silver are taking another shot at Warhammer 40K real-time strategy. We cover the confirmed details, the studio behind it, and the current state of RTS games. Dawn of War 4 needs to solve problems that Dawn of War 3 created while breaking new ground for a 2026 audience. This isn't

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62:40

Chris McElligott-Park on Game Design, Narrative, and...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/08/15

What does it take to make a critically acclaimed strategy game? Chris McElligott-Park, designer of Heart of the Machine, joins the Critical Moves team to talk through: – How Arcen Games started – The design thinking behind AI War – Making strategy games without traditional narrative – Engineering AI opponents that can out-think players This is Part 1 of a two-part interview.

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50:42

The State of 4X Strategy. Can It Be Fixed? (Ep.41)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/08/08

We try to avoid Stellaris. We really do.But if you're talking about the state of 4X games in 2025, it keeps dragging you back.Al, Joe, and Tim take stock of a genre that’s running out of excuses. Innovation is rare. Pacing is broken. AI can’t keep up. And the line between 4X and grand strategy has nearly vanished.Is anyone pushing things forward? Are we just reskinning old ideas? And why do most 4X games still fall apart by turn 100?

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48:23

Building a Sci-Fi RTS from Scratch – Fungal Front Dev...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/08/01

We talk to Matt, the solo developer behind Fungal Front — a hard sci-fi real-time strategy game set on a hostile alien planet. In this interview, we cover what makes the game unique, the challenges of building complex systems solo, and what players can expect from the factions, mechanics, and world design.If you're into asymmetric gameplay, grounded sci-fi, and RTS games that don’t hold your hand, this one's worth watching.

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45:54

Can a Strategy Game Work Without a Story? (Ep.39)

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/07/25

How important is narrative in strategy games and what kind of story actually works? In Episode 39 of Critical Moves, Adam, Jack, and Al dig into the role of storytelling in the genre, from scripted campaigns to player-driven chaos.We cover:• Emergent vs scripted storytelling, and where each one shines. • Why some strategy games succeed without a story, and others absolutely need one. • A heated debate over whether a Total Annihilation-inspired game deserves a narrative at all.Whether you think

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54:38

Celebrating Indie Developers on "Indie-pendence" Day...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/07/04

Can indie strategy games do what big studios won’t... or can’t? In Episode 36 of Critical Moves, we highlight the independent titles that impressed us, surprised us, and in some cases outclassed their AAA counterparts.We talk about:The design risks indie games are willing to take.How smaller studios punch above their weight in innovation and depth.Why some of these titles stick with us more than mainstream releases.From space command sims to tactical roguelikes and political sandboxes, it’s a

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47:58

When RTS Was King: The Best Real-time Strategy Games...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/06/20

When did the best RTS games get made and why have we seen nothing like them since?Let's take a look back at the golden age of real-time strategy. From peak base-building to iconic faction design, we talk about what made this era so good, the games that defined it, and the influence they still have today.Whether you grew up on it or missed it entirely, this is a look at RTS when it was fast, focused, and everywhere.

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92:05

Building Worlds with Game Dev Tatsu – Sanctuary,...

Critical Moves Podcast - Strategy Videogames ·

2025/06/13

What does it take to build a strategy game that stands out in a crowded genre? Game developer Tatsu (Sanctuary: Shattered Sun, ZeroSpace, Ablight) joins us to break down the craft behind deep, immersive RTS experiences. From indie passion projects to ambitious sci-fi warfare, we explore how worldbuilding, player agency, and innovative mechanics shape the future of strategy games. This is a no-fluff conversation on design risks, lessons from development hell, and why games like ZeroSpace are pushing

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