Steam Next Fest events are some of my favorite gaming events. They bring hundreds, if not thousands, of new demos for us to try and decide whether a game we’ve been anticipating is worth our time. It also helps a ton with discoverability, with a lot of games rising up to go from dark horses to some of the most anticipated games of the year.
Despite my initial excitement for this Steam Next Fest, I have to say that this one just doesn’t sit right with me. There are row after row after row of what seems to be completely AI-generated slop all over this event. In a universe of over 7000 games, it’s important that you spend your time wisely with titles that aren’t complete trash. So, I have decided to put together a list that will do just that. Here are the best strategy games of the Steam Next Fest.
County of Fortune
If you are looking for a medieval builder that pushes past simple city management, County of Fortune scales things up significantly. Instead of micro-managing a single settlement, you act as a noble steward overseeing an entire region. You grid out multiple interconnected towns and watch procedurally generated hamlets grow into bustling hubs tied together by river trade and supply lines. It has players thinking on a very different scale from something like Manor Lords, which kinda does something similar with its multiple settlements, but it isn’t as intrinsic a system as County of Fortune, which is built atop that basis. Very cool, give it a try.
Stronghold 4
As one of the world’s biggest fans of the Stronghold franchise, I think that Firefly Studios returning to its roots with Stronghold 4 and delivering a narrative-driven prequel to the original castle sim is the right move. The formula of Stronghold is so tight and timeless that there’s not a whole lot to change, except add more stuff. I do get the temptation of adding more and more systems, and Stronghold 4 certainly does that by adding weather systems and army composition mechanics. I think the biggest endorsement I’ll ever be able to give to a 3D Stronghold game is that I don’t hate it outright, so I’m confident that Stronghold 4 will be everything that Stronghold 2 and 3 failed to deliver.
War Company: Fortress Europe
Despite being a bit around the edges, I consider War Company: Fortress Europe to be a worthwhile experience to play while it’s still available. Not many games attempt to bridge the gap between high-level operational planning and squad-level action in a World War 2 setting. In fact, I think we’re a long way off before we finally get a worthwhile experience in that regard. However, I do have to praise the developers working on War Company, because of its ambitions and its work! Here’s the gist of it: You command forces across a dynamic 3D campaign map of Western Europe, handling supply lines, reinforcements, and unit fatigue. When conflict erupts, the game zooms into the hex for a real-time tactical battle fought directly on terrain generated from the strategic map. Imagine Total War, and you would be somewhat close. Give it a try and wishlist it! I hope this game makes it to the finish line!
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