Strategy games are no longer limited by the "stigma" of being "Smart Man's Games", says Ara developer

Ara: History Untold

Build a nation and lead your people throughout history to the pinnacles of human achievement as you explore new lands, develop arts and culture, conduct diplomacy, and go head-to-head with your rivals to prove you are the greatest ruler ever known. It's Your World Now.

It's a good time to be a strategy game developer, according to Oxide Games, developers of Ara: History Untold, which happens to be a strategy game. Speaking to me during a showing of Ara - which is notable among turn-based 4X games for playing out every player's turn simultaneously - the creators offered a rousing characterisation of the genre, suggesting that strategy games have somewhat shucked off their association with stifling complexity and elitism, thanks not least to the recent influence of board gaming.

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