We all enjoy a good strategy game, whether it’s a real-time classic like Age of Empires or a turn-based epic like the Total War franchise.
But some strategy games are less well-known than others, especially in the 4X strategy game subgenre, where juggernauts such as Civilisation and Stellaris have become the mainstays.
4X is the abbreviation for Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate, and a good strategy game within this subgenre must therefore provide each of these features in abundance to allow players to chart their path to victory.
There is a series of games that meets these requirements but isn’t as well known as the genre’s juggernauts despite its obvious quality.
The series in question is the Endless franchise, which is developed by AMPLITUDE Studios and has two particular titles that are worth your time depending on whether you’re more inclined towards fantasy or science fiction.
These two games are Endless Legend and Endless Space 2.
Endless Legend
Endless Legend is a good bet if you have a penchant for high fantasy and would like to play a 4X strategy game that isn’t Total War: Warhammer.
Like many 4X games, there are additional objectives beyond merely dominating your opponents, and in the case of Endless Legend, the goal is to escape your planet.
This planet is dying, and the only way to survive is to uncover relics from the previous, hyper-advanced people (the Endless) and use these to construct a ship that can escape into the stars.
This goal is overlapped by each faction’s story missions that grant an interesting secondary set of objectives that you can attend to as you manage your empire.
The world and gameplay
Endless Legend is a turn-based 4X strategy that uses a hexagonal map layout in its combat and expansion elements. The gameplay is centred around a material known as Dust.
Dust is like Spice from Dune in that it’s a hyper-versatile substance that acts not only as your currency but can also be used to craft armour for your generals and troops.
Along with Dust, there is a slew of various resource types you will use to enhance your position in the world; whether you do this through economic superiority, military might, or diplomatic influence is entirely your prerogative.
Factions
The greatest strength of Endless Legend is its playable factions, each of which offers a drastically different experience.
Unlike other strategy games where most factions play the same aside from perhaps a few unique units and some passive traits, the factions you can play in Endless Legend are each a truly unique and fantastic experience.
One faction is focused on diplomacy and starts the game knowing the location of all other capitals, allowing one to negotiate and plan a peaceful interaction with all.
Another is a war-driven hivemind that can sacrifice its populations to gain advantages.
There’s even one faction that is permitted only one city that endlessly grows and exerts its influence through vassal states.
If the myriad of base factions aren’t enough for you, there’s also a faction creator option that allows you to craft custom factions with all the traits and features you could want.
Endless Space 2
If fantasy is less your speed and you’d prefer something more interstellar, then Endless Space 2 is a better choice.
More than just Endless Legend in space, the second game in the Space series offers an accessible but enjoyable spin on galactic conquest (or peace).
Like Legend, Endless Space 2 uses a turn-based system built around a galaxy of node points representing the planets you and your opponent control, and your fleets can travel between these planets.
Dust is again the primary resource, taking the Dune comparison to greater heights, and it acts as your currency as you expand the bounds of your chosen faction’s empire across the stars.
However, such expansion comes with its risks, and from time to time, you will engage in fleet combat with your enemies.
Fleet combat is a genuinely cinematic experience as you determine your formations ahead of battle and then watch the combat play out like a scene from Star Wars.
Like in Legend, the factions on offer in Endless Space 2 are just as diverse and exciting, ensuring that whatever your preference, you’ll be able to play the way you’d prefer.
So, if you’re looking for a strategy game to play and have run out of options, then one or both of these games are excellent choices.
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