4 – Slow Down and Experiment With Everything

Games are supposed to be an extension of the player’s expression and should give them enough tools to allow for this. I encourage players to experiment with everything, every nook and cranny of the game, attempt several runs using the same settings and experimenting with different tactics (that’s one way I review my games, for example), strategies, and see what outcomes you can force out of the game. Sometimes you’ll win, others you’ll lose, and sometimes you’ll be bored, but others you’ll find something new and exciting. I can’t tell you how many times I have played the first scenario of the Battle of Gettysburg in Ultimate General: Gettysburg. You’ll start to develop a different appreciation for a game when you understand it a lot better. Sometimes playing the initial scenarios a couple of times can also be a great way to ease yourself into a hard title.

This tip is mostly for titles with a grand-strategy scope, where the player is supposed to have time and put some consideration into their decisions before pushing the play button and letting the game roll. Consider the implications of your decision, try to understand how it’s going to affect your short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies. It can be tempting to keep the ball rolling constantly and just pick something and see how it eventually pans out, and while that is a fun way to play (and how I often play as well), I think that’s a much better experience to just try and see how the bigger picture might look like before a decision is made. A lot of strategic wargames are also another great example of this. Before even moving a single division, try to understand what each of them is going to do, where they’ll be moving, why you want them to be there, and what you’re going to do after their first and secondary objectives are completed. Things like this will also help mitigate frustration, at least in my experience.

3 -Play With Period-Appropriate Music

This one might sound silly, but it can lead you down a lot of fun and funny rabbit holes. While most videogames do attempt to be somewhat serious when it comes to trying to create period-accurate music, there’s nothing like the real thing. The best part? You have an endless collection of music, adaptations, and interpretations of historical music freely available on YouTube. Pick a random playlist of 17th century music and just let it roll.

2 – Roleplay Your Character, Be Someone

Most of the games we play often put us in a sort of “God” perspective, where we are almost all-knowing and all-powerful about our surroundings and what’s happening in the game. Real historical characters were extremely limited as to what information they had, and sometimes it can be hard to identify ourselves with the challenges real humans faced, so I have always found that trying to embody a given character also helps a lot with immersion. Some games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 do this normally, but with strategy games, it can be a bit hard, because you’re more distanced from whatever is going on. Limit yourself on purpose, create a custom challenge, and see how long you can keep at it.

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