Widelands

There's something about strategy and empire-building games that have a certain charm to them, maybe because you can act as a benevolent king, or a warmongering despot. Gathering resources, training troops, trading and going to war are all aspects that have a special place in our hearts, and we love it that way. In Widelands, you are the regent of a small clan. You start with nothing but your headquarters, where all your resources are stored.

If you're used to the flashy 3D graphics with shaders and all that in your RTS games, then you might as well stop reading right now. Widelands boasts beautiful 2D graphics reminiscent of early 20s RTS games, like Warcraft II, making it both easy on your system's resources (your browser probably consumes more), but also a game that will probably garner a more mature audience, for nostalgia reasons.

Since both single-player and matches held over the Internet all involve you meeting other clans sooner or later, you'd be best figuring the way you want to deal with your clan'smen via either war or diplomacy. The problem is that the game itself leans in favor of the warpath since war is the only way to become the number one clan in the realm.

Widelands offers single-player mode with different campaigns which tell stories of tribes and their struggle in the Widelands universe. However, those of you seeking a bigger challenge can join wends over the Internet or LAN to build up new empires together or to crush each other in the dust of war.

Widelands is well designed in both terms of visuals, mechanics, and the unscrupulous way it manages to tug on your heart strings with the nostalgia it generates. This makes it a great game to have when you want to enjoy a casual Sunday or an intense online session against friends.