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 Victoria 3's Charter of Commerce, the mechanics pack that fixed the global economy and turned trade from a micromanagement nightmare into something that works. Al chose Dawn of War Definitive Edition, which proves a 21-year-old RTS still plays better than most modern releases when you update the graphics and preserve mod support.

Civilization 7 was up for Game Awards strategy game of the year despite being a cash grab that copied Humankind's worst ideas. They've already patched in the ability to keep the same leader across ages because the backlash was immediate. Tempest Rising almost made Al's top pick but lacks the campiness that made Command and Conquer memorable. Broken Arrow exists but you still can't save during campaign missions. Final Fantasy Tactics Reborn won the Game Awards, which is fine, but it's another remaster.

The podcast covers why Spell Force's combat stays fresh, how Victoria 3's economy finally works, what Relic got right with the Dawn of War remaster, and why 2026 looks significantly better with Total War 40K, Dawn of War 4, and other releases on the horizon.