That demo is the major reason I got into PC gaming. As a hobby it’s kept me indoors and sheltered from the harsh sun for more than a decade and for that I am thankful. During that time I’ve always kept a flame lit in my gamer heart for the RTS genera. Even during the dark times, my mmorpg phase, my gaming has always been punctuated by the gratifying animations of units under my command slicing, shooting or blowing up the ‘enemy’.

RTS have come along way since then and I still love them. To my surprise I’ve also come to love other game genres from Shooters to RPGs but when it comes down to it, the most satisfaction I get from gaming is playing usually from a RTS games. I’ve spent countless hours playing them and don’t think even I can list all of them.

What I can list are the ones that I’ve like best and wasted the most time with. Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2, StarCraft, WarCraft ‘two and three’, Dawn of War and most recently Company of Heroes. All of them rank high in my personal pantheon of time consuming games. That level of exposure has given me the experience necessary for easy pick up and play of the next variation produced in the genera.

But I’m getting ahead of myself; most people don’t even play RTS games. For the most part they only really appeal to a certain type of gamer, which makes them a bit of a niche market in most cases. So for the uninformed let me lay down the general concept of a Real Time Strategy game.

The main goal of most RTS games is to eliminate the enemy from the play area. To achieve this goal you take charge of units which are almost always produced from base structures that are constructed on site. These units and buildings usually require the investment of your initial supply of resources which intern forces you to collect more. Eventually this collection forces you to contest the playing field’s supply of resources with the enemy. This is where the strategy comes into play.

I define strategy as an overall plan of battle developed from an assortment of tactics which mesh well with each other. Tactics in this case can be loosely defined as the ‘when and where’ you confront the enemy in battle and how you utilize your units to their maximum effectiveness in that battle. Tactics can also include which units you choose to build, in what order and a host of different upgrades and researchable upgrades available. Each game is fundamental different in that regard. But regardless of complexity tactics are always present in a RTS.

Thought the proper use of tactics you can prefect an over all blanket strategy and using it eliminate the enemy the over all goal of the game. Even though the objectives may vary from game to game that general idea is a constant theme. And that’s what makes me love them.

In an RTS it’s all about the keenness of your mind. Your aptitude at reacting to a changing battle field is center stage, and your knowledge of the game and terrain paramount. Nothing rocks more than winning with the knowledge you just didn’t get lucky but rather out played the enemy and snatched victory for your self.

Yeah, that’s a great feeling.

If you’re interested in getting into an RTS I suggest starting with the popular WarCraft 3. It’s straight forward, easy to get into and can be played on a PC or a Mac.