Critical Moves - Strategy Gaming

The Democratisation of Strategy Game Development (Ep.103)

Anyone can now build and release a strategy game, but is that good for the genre? Al is joined by Jack, Adam and Drexy to debate whether free engines, asset packs and cro

Distant Worlds 2 and Shadows Rising with Elliot Gibbs (Ep.102)

Drexy is joined by Dastactic to talk to Elliot Gibbs of Code Force, the designer and programmer of Distant Worlds. They cover how the series began as a side project, the

Imperium: Reviving Ascendancy (Ep.101)

Al and Drexy talk to Dan, solo developer of Imperium, a spiritual successor to the 1995 cult classic Ascendancy. They cover the game's modular ship design, hybrid real-ti

The Great Big AI Game Dev Debate Ft. BATTLEMODE (Ep.100)

Critical Moves hits episode 100. To mark the milestone, Al is joined by regular co-hosts Drexy and Jack for a big debate on generative AI in game development, plus a spec

Gamescom & BlizzCon Roundup, Humankind 2, Rainbow Six Tactics, Warcraft 3 Reforged & More (Ep.99)

Jack hosts this week with Drexy and Joe as they run through a stack of strategy adjacent announcements from Gamescom and BlizzCon. Topics include Lego Skylines, Paradox's

The Last General Dev on Drones, Delays and Doing It All Alone (Ep.98)

Alejandro Nunez is building The Last General entirely alone: a massive scale RTS where you command thousands of troops with high level strategic orders, then jump into an

Can RTS Be Saved? (Ep.97)

RTS isn't the genre it once was. Al is joined by Jack and Nuno to work through why real-time strategy fell off the map - the shift from PC to console, the rise of FPS, mo

What Even is a Drexy? | The Death of 4X (Ep.96)

New face on the pod. Drexy joins us for the first proper sit-down — where he came from, how he got into strategy games, and why he reckons 4X is quietly dying on its feet

Virtual Economies in Strategy Games (Ep.95)

Jack and Adam dig into how strategy games model their economies — from Victoria 3's fully simulated supply and demand to Stellaris treating resources as a means to an end

Strategy Gaming on a Budget: Free and Cheap Ways to Play (Ep.94)

Al is joined by Adam and Jack to work out how to build a strategy library on a budget, or for nothing at all. This one came straight from the Critical Moves Discord: comm

Strategy Simulations and War Games: Where to Start (Ep.93)

Jack, Adam and Nuno get into strategy simulations and war games: what separates a war game from an RTS or a turn-based strategy title, why so many people love the idea of

Strategy Board Games: Eclipse, Dune and the Tension Video Games Can't Match (Ep.92)

Tim and Adam step away from the screen this week to talk about strategy on the tabletop. It turns out board gaming and strategy gaming sit right next to each other, and t

Sanctuary Shattered Sun: Kickstarter Live! T5 Titans, Shatter & Freeze (Ep.91)

Jack and Drexy are joined by nine2 and FoneE from Enhearten Media, the team behind Sanctuary: Shattered Sun, on the day their Kickstarter and free demo finally go live. T

The Strategy Games That Defined the 1990s (Ep.90)

Marking episode 90 with the only decade fitting for the number, Al is joined by Joe, Adam and Drexy to work through the strategy games of the 1990s and the genres they cr

The RAM Apocalypse: Why Gaming Got So Expensive (And What To Do About It) (Ep.89)

Al, Drexy, and Joe tackle a question hitting every strategy gamer's wallet: is modern gaming too expensive? From the RAM price surge and the Steam Machine's launch price

A Pile of Shame: Critical Moves Hosts Force Each Other's Backlog Games (Ep.88)

Drexy hosts this week, joined by Adam and an early-rising Joe (5am and counting). The trio raid each other's Steam libraries for a "Pile of Shame" challenge, picking game

Steam Summer Sale Must Buys (Ep.87)

It's Steam Summer Sale time, and the Critical Moves crew has recommendations. Al, Jack, and Drexy each bring one game they'd recommend to listeners and one they're taking

Upcoming Strategy Games We're Watching in 2026 (Ep.86)

Adam, Jack, and Drexy run through the strategy and tactics releases worth watching in 2026 — from Star Wars Zero Company to Stronghold 4, a pirate city builder from the T

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 — New Engine, New Galaxy, New Concerns (Ep.85)

This week on the Critical Moves Podcast, Al, Joe, Nuno, and Drexy dig into everything revealed so far about Total War: Warhammer 40,000. Fresh from the PC Gaming Show 202

Firaxis in Crisis: Is Civ 7 a Disaster, a Success, or Both? (Ep.84)

This week on Critical Moves, we welcome back co-founder Nuno — and introduce brand new host Drexy — for a deep dive into one of strategy gaming's biggest stories: Civiliz