Top Turn-Based RPG & Strategy Games Releasing in March 2022 – On The Radar

“Well, we know where we’re going, but we don’t know where we’ve been
and we know what we’re knowing, but we can’t say what we’ve seen (…)
We’re on a road to nowhere“
– Talking Heads

About my foolishness and “turn-based NFT”

Nowadays, it seems impossible to avoid talking about NFTs. But honestly, until only a few days ago, I really couldn’t understand what the word truly means. Well, maybe, in some ways, I still don’t. Not sure if this is related to my age, or rather, my foolishness.

Lucky for me, my lack of understanding is compensated by curiosity. So – after some failed personal attempts, I finally decided to consult an expert.

The result? I received a ton of information – that still somehow failed to clear my confusion. I’ve never been the kind of person to give up easily, however. Finally, I figured – the only way for me to “assimilate” a concept, as abstract as NFTs, was to think about it in a… uhm… “turn-based way”.

In the end, what follows is what I understood:
1^st Turn) Someone (we can call him TSG, aka The Smart Guy) decides to put on the market something useless, that doesn’t even exist;
2^nd Turn) Someone else (we can call him TNSSG, aka The Not-So Smart Guy) decides that what’s useless to everyone is useful to him, essentially because, this way, he can distinguish himself from the others;
3^rd Turn) TNSSG buys the NFT, assuming HE is TSG.

When I tried expressing my doubts to my experienced friend – especially regarding the fact that NFTs don’t even exist – he patiently answered that those aren’t that different from stocks. In both cases, you are buying something you cannot touch…
Maybe my friend is right, but, to be honest, I still have that feeling that behind NFTs there’s hiding something fishy…
What Protagoras said 2500 years ago just might still be true:
“Man is the measure of all things, of the reality of those which are, and of the unreality of those which are not.”

NOTICE: My heart is with Ukrainian people who try to survive, day after day; my heart is with Russian people who are taking the streets and march for peace; my heart is with everyone who struggles for peace and freedom.

Best Turn-Based RPGs and Strategy Games of March 2022

HERO’S HOUR – 1^st March

You can think of Hero’s Hour, by Benjamin “ThingOnItsOwn” Hauer, as a sort of Heroes of Might and Magic – but with randomly generated maps and a real-time combat system. This means that the fans of the old classic will feel absolutely at home, as they gather resources, build structures, recruit units, and help their heroes gain skills and levels. While the real-time combat adds a unique, fast-paced element to the traditional gameplay.

KEY FEATURES

• 10 factions with special mechanics, strengths and weaknesses
• 20 hero classes, each with a special skill
• 36 common hero skills
• 134 units (without counting upgrades)
• 70 unique unit abilities
• 145 artifacts
• 75 spells & abilities
• Dozens of impactful map buildings
• Local “hotseat” multiplayer
• Co-op with other players or even with the AI

On Steam and Itchi.io.

SEA WOLF: TACTICS (E.A.) – 1^st March

A fierce fight against the Empire, trying to reconquer what’s yours even if you are outnumbered…
Well, believe it or not, this isn’t the incipit of a new Star Wars chapter. Set in the medieval world, Sea Wolf tells the story of a small group of vikings on their mission to defend their village, while also seeking “fortune and glory” (maybe I’m confusing them with Indiana Jones…).

Anyway, let’s see what are the game’s key features:

• Drive Back the Empire: The Empire conquered and expanded for centuries – now they are at your doorstep and threaten your way of life. Although vastly outnumbered, cunning tactics may allow you to destabilize their rule, incite a rebellion and disable their dominion.
• Explore Midgard: Accomplish quests that will have you exploring every corner of Midgard, capturing empire strongholds, completing trading missions, and hunting down dangerous bounties.
• Customize and Train: Build your raiding party with warriors you encounter on your journey and level them up. Carefully choose abilities from each class’ diverse skill tree to create warriors that can adapt to any situation.
• Honor the Gods: Provide the Gods some amusement by willingly accepting additional burdens in battle, and they will reward you with their favor. Burdens change the rules of combat, challenging you to adopt new strategies.
• Raid or Trade: Coexist peacefully with neighboring villages, and they will offer lucrative but dangerous trading contracts; Or raid them and take their resources for yourself.
• Tactics Modernized: Sea Wolf: Tactics was created from a love of classic tactics games. It aims to honor those iconic titles by adding new systems and streamlining old ones. Combat is responsive and quick. Battles are smaller scale to limit action-less turns, but Battle Campaigns challenges you to survive multiple battles in a row.

Personally, I’m rather curious, and you? On Steam, as usual.

LEGEND OF IXTONA – 4th March

The reign of peace is coming to an end – the shadow of war, once again, looms above the kingdom. Now, it’s up to the prince and his loyal allies to restore the balance and avert the crisis, threatening to engulf the realm. Across multiple maps, with sword, bow, and sorcery, the heroes will fight the enemy. Through tactical isometric battles – in a classic JRPG style – will they be able to save their homeland?

On Steam!

SOULASH – 4^th March

At a first glance, Soulash may appear to be a standard turn-based roguelike. However, I can assure you, its story is quite original.
Here we aren’t the traditional hero saving the world. On the contrary, our peculiar goal is to eat the poor villagers and devour their souls to gain power and conquer, in the end, the whole world. An ambitious and funny goal, no doubt about it…

If you are looking for something… uhmm unusual, this just might be the perfect game for you!

In a few days on Steam.

Paladin’s Oath

Enemies invade the land. No regular warriors are these, but creatures from across other, darker planes of existence. The cities fall before them – the mortal armies are powerless to defend their land. However, there’s still hope left. A Paladin gives a grim oath – to liberate the once free realm.

Paladin’s Oath is an RPG with deckbuilder elements, featuring plenty of complex and strategic mechanics – inspired by classical board games: Gloomhaven and Mage Knight among those.

Soon on Steam!

DIVINITY CHRONICLES: JOURNEY TO THE WEST (E.A.)-10^th March

Journey To The West, a 16th-century novel attributed to the poet Wu Cheng’en, is an enduring classic of Chinese literature. It’s been adapted for just about every form of media imaginable, many times over; in fact, the original Dragon Ball manga was loosely based on Journey To The West.
Now, Z Studio is offering its own take on the story with Divinity Chronicles: Journey To The West.

A roguelike deckbuilder strongly reminiscent of Slay the Spire, Divinity Chronicles trades in the Western fantasy aesthetics for characters and settings inspired by classical China. Ghosts, demons, and of course the Monkey King, are all present. If you’re a fan of Chinese mythology, definitely give this one a go; the first chapter is available as a free demo. The full game releases on 1 March.

Wishlist Divinity Chronicles: Journey To The West on Steam.

FLEET COMMANDER: PACIFIC – 10^th March

Fleet Commander: Pacific is a grand strategic simulation of the naval war in the Pacific from 1941 to 1945. All major surface combat ships of the Japanese and Allied navies are present in this streamlined reproduction of the biggest maritime war ever.

The game contains:

• A turn-based sequence of play, with US having the slight advantage to play second as they broke the enemy’s code, allowing for interesting counter-moves;
• All main battleships, carriers and heavy cruisers as individual units – and minor ships, marines or air units in groups and flotillas;
• A simple (but not simplistic) set of game mechanisms, focusing on taking control of key sea zones;
• Straightforward battle mechanisms, handling the various aspects of naval warfare: gunnery exchanges, submarines and airborne attacks;
• Day and night battles, island bases’ invasions, air raids against ports, reinforcements from other theaters of war;
• A challenging set of decisions each turn – choosing which areas to defend, and which ones to seize from the enemy or harass;
• An AI that will attempt to foil your grand strategic plans, or your local actions;
• A very accurate database with faithful ships’ sketches, 3D models, and actual historic photos;
• A streamlined UI and easy controls, and a wealth of in-game information;
• Many scenarios of variable length and difficulty.

On Steam.

Telepath Tactics Liberated – 14^th March

We could dismiss this game as an umpteenth SRPG, but Telepath Tactics Liberated is a lot more than that.
Think of Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem, but with trees and foliage you can hack through; with the ability to place traps or to build bridges and barricades on the fly; with the option to shove enemies off cliffs, to pull them into water or lava, or to hurl them into each other for crushing damage. All this and even more!
The game represents a remake of the 2015 indie classic Telepath Tactics, so we’ll have the same content, but with a brand new game engine!

Features:

• Build an army with dozens of unique characters from 24 base classes!
• Learn more than 150 different skills!
• Promote your characters to a selection of 48 powerful prestige classes!
• Shove enemies off of cliffs, or into each other!
• Fling enemies into environmental hazards like traps, chasms, water, and lava!
• Destroy walls, freeze water and lay explosives, changing the face of the battlefield to your advantage!
• Keep your army well-supplied; make hard choices about your priorities, both on and off the battlefield.
• Use the built-in campaign editing suite to create your own campaigns with unique characters, battles, cut scenes, items, skills, and dialogues – and download other peoples’ creations to play!

On Steam!

Titan Saga: Chains of Kronos (E.A.) – 18^th March

At a first glance, Titan Saga may look like the umpteenth JRPG (even made with the “beloved” RPG Maker), but I can assure you that this is just a superficial impression.
If you follow the development diary of the game, you can easily discover that its developer aims to follow a more “western” approach. The influence of the D&D tradition is evident: From the goal to create a game where the player’s choices really impact the story – to features like the skill and the alignment system.
You can imagine this game like an illegitimate son of an old Final Fantasy and any D&D RPG.

Very laudable intentions! The only thing I really don’t like here is the combat system…. too “JRPG-ish” for my taste.

On Steam quite soon!

Twilight Wars: Declassified – 21st March

In a dark cyberpunk future, the greedy, sinister corporations have divided the world amongst themselves. Their brutal, lawless rule knows no opposition – they tolerate no interference in their endless struggle for more power. Still, there is one group that is determined to put a limit on their dominion. Rising from the ashes, the Anonymous Arbitration Agency is once again ready to defend the society from corporate wars, unfolding in the shadows.

A dungeon crawler RPG, in a grim style of Darkest Dungeon, the game follows the struggle of a group of agents, as they fight in tactical turn-based battles across the gloomy cyberpunk “dungeons”.

On Steam, this month!

INDIES’ LIES – 21^st March

Already available on Android, Indies’ Lies is a roguelike / card-battler with nice graphics, a smooth deck building progression and an engaging exploration phase. The motto of the game is “Fun for Beginners, Depth for the Experienced“, so this means that there is a chance also for me…

Obviously, the levels and their whole content are randomly generated. Besides, the game can boast a rich and varied talent system, an innovative “lieutenant system”, and a rune system (whatever it is!). All this, combined with hundreds of cards, allows for a different experience each time the players enter a level.

On Steam, Google Play, Apple Store.

KING ARTHUR: KNIGHT’S TALE – 29^th March

Based on Arthurian mythology, KING ARTHUR: KNIGHT’S TALE is a turn-based tactical role-playing game – a unique hybrid between turn-based tactical games and traditional, character-centric RPGs. Its narrative is a modern retelling of a classic Arthurian story, filtered through the dark fantasy tropes – a twist on the traditional tales of chivalry.
If you want to know more, just check our great preview! Personally, this is my favorite of March.

At the end of the month on Steam!

FORWARD: ESCAPE THE FOLD – 29^th March

A bite-sized roguelike/dungeon crawler where every action, event, monster or item is represented by a card.
Go FORWARD and choose a path from 3 cards at every turn, defeating restless hordes of fierce monsters.
Among its features:

• 7 Champions to unlock, with unique powers and backstories. Learn more about this mysterious underworld and understand what brought these enigmatic champions there. Additionally, master their powers, as they will radically alter your ascent, and your playstyle.
• 100+ fully detailed item-cards to discover.
• Leaderboards for the most powerful players. Easier said than done to be up there.
• Fast-paced style, enabled by the one-input gameplay. Keeps the game dynamic, at all times.
• Gorgeous 2D pixel-art.

On Steam at the end of the month!

COROMON – 31st March

The first day as a Battle Researcher! Everything seems to go perfectly fine – until the attack happens. What’s behind the strange event – and, more important, what’s the scale of the threat? Well, there’s one way to find out – to pursue the mysterious invaders across the world of Velua. From cold caverns to scorching deserts – a team of creatures is ready to battle the enemy in this monster-taming turn-based JRPG.

On Steam, by the end of March.

NEURA MECHANICUS – 31^st March

Imagine a deadly arena and a great tournament, where, in the distant future, homemade robots can team up and play against each other.
Neura Mechanicus is a brand new turn-based squad tactics game where you take the role of Aria, an orphan girl living in a harsh cyberpunk world. On her way to becoming a champion, Aria must assemble a team with different skills, while solving the secret behind her father’s death – a very talented engineer, mysteriously assassinated.

If you are curious about the game, you can try it for free, downloading the demo on Steam.

Let us know what you think about the Turn-Based RPG & Strategy Games releases of March 2022 in the comments below. That’s all folks! See you next month.