Tips on strategy games

[puke_face]

I love playing strategy games, be it in video games or in real life (chess for example). The only problem is I'm not very good at them, which can quickly lead to frustration. How do you guys try to better yourselves in strategic gaming? This includes any type of strategy game, from board games to SRPG to RTS. Please enlighten me

[Ack]

Keep in mind that playing a computer is different than a person. If you are playing people, the battle is often one through psychological warfare, or at least it can play a heavy part. I had a friend who specialized in pissing people off when playing games for the sole purpose of making them play poorly. It worked most of the time and built him a reputation which did all the work for him eventually.

[DinnerX]

It's hard to be general in advice.

Pretty much every game has basic strategies that are easy to understand. Look them up on the fansites/wikis for the game.

For many strategy games, you need to predict the reactions to your moves and plan accordingly. The more you play a game, the more you know about people's reactions.

If it's a game with several different units, try to roughly memorize the properties of each unit and how effectively they match up against other units.

[Erik_Twice]

There's no advice that fits all games. There's very little in common between, say, Starcraft ,Railroad Tycoon and Fire Emblem.

[puke_face]

Perhaps I should clarify. I wasn't really aiming for a "one size fits all" approach. I meant for it to be a continuating thread about how you interpret different strategy games. Which ones you are playing, if you need help, post here, sort of deal. Meant to be basic tips on strategy games in general, but not in general if that makes any sense.

[MrPopo]

In general strategy games are based around resource management. With RTS's it's your ability to take in resources and deplete your opponent's faster than your opponent depletes yours (through use of good unit match-ups, for example). TBS's will follow a similar theme, though in those you might not have any resource growth, so the importance of match-ups grows. SRPG's are similar; you want to be able to take out enemy units quickly without giving them a chance to deplete your health resource.

I suppose the biggest advice is to set yourself up so that you can inflict losses without taking losses yourself. Look at movement ranges (or movement speed), positioning, and what units are effective against other units.