Complexity through simplicity; this is the principle that I enjoy the most in every type of game, but especially strategy games in particular. I can't stand older titles that function more like a spreadsheet sim than an actual, ya know, fun game! Some complexity can be loads of fun and tons of depth, but it becomes troublesome when you have a tutorial for how to use the tutorials (I'm looking at you, EVE...).

Enter; Banner Saga: Factions. I've only played but one match and spent about an hour in-game, but it was easily some of the most fun that I've had with a turn-based strategy game. In fact, I would rate this up there with the Fire Emblem series, it's that good. The tutorial was concise and demonstrated just what you needed to know. The game mechanics are quite simple, but that's a great thing-- this forces strategic gameplay on the players' end instead of simply having them spend many hours to get past a steep learning curve and the cap out at what you can do. I won't go into specifics about the mechanics since the tutorial is so well-done, but be assured that it is very easy to grasp, but very obviously has a decently high skill-ceiling for those looking for a deep strategy title.

I highly reccomend this game, especially considering that it's COMPLETELY FREE and 783MB in size. There's really no losing in just trying it out. Even if turn-based strategies aren't your thing, this could be the game to drag you in ;)

Darksiders is Metroid + Legend of Zelda with the best hack-n-slash combo-based combat system that I've ever used, and if that doesn't make you want this game then you're probably dead to me. Probably.

Or not. Meh.

If you think this is a watered-down DOTA-like, then you're sadly mistaken. Awesomenauts makes the MOBA (side-note: I hate that term, but it's what everyone calls it, so meh) genre accessible to first time players whilst being hard to master. And on top of the wonderfully deep gameplay, the artwork is absolutely gorgeous-- hand-painted textures galore and a killer soundtrack (each Awesomenaut has their own theme song music that plays when they go on a Kill Streak!). You should get Awesomenauts if any of these apply: 1) You're a MOBA fan, 2) You enjoy games that encourage good teamwork, 3) You want a game with tons of replay-value, and/or 4) You want a game that gets balanced and gets new content added on a regular basis. I couldn't recommend Awesomenauts enough; it's really *that* good-- I've already put in over 100 hours of gametime over the 3 months or so that I've had it, and I plan on pouring many more into it over the coming years. GET IT. PLAY IT. LOVE IT.