For a genre that's been around at least as long as first-person shooters, strategy/empire-building games haven't gotten nearly as much attention—perhaps because they require patience and thought rather than adrenaline-fueled reflexes. Most of these games require you to build an enterprise—a casino, castle, or city—from scratch by managing resources and monitoring statistics. The games usually feature a scenario mode, in which players must achieve developmental goals, and a sandbox mode, in which there is no prescribed method of winning; all the fun is in the creation of your empire. The best of such titles allow for a certain degree of creativity in developing successful layouts and managing resources. Here we take a look at some new entries to see how the genre has evolved.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in PC Magazine.