China in 190 AD, with generals who hold grudges; the best-written Total War.
Crusades, gunpowder and the fan mods that keep it alive twenty years on.
Soviet squids, psychic beacons and a full-motion cast having a wonderful time.
GDI and Nod after the tiberium spread; Westwood's voxel war.
Culture, borders and strategic resources; the Civ that added the map to the map.
Sid Meier's 1991 original: settlers, huts and one more turn from the beginning.
The reboot: Piccadilly, the embassy and night-vision raids.
Branching missions and a 2025 drone war; Raul Menendez is the best villain the series had.
Numbers stations, Vietnam and a Cold War conspiracy told from an interrogation chair.
The Pacific and the Eastern Front at their ugliest, and the first Nazi Zombies map.
El Alamein, Stalingrad and Normandy, with regenerating health for the first time.
The 2003 original: three armies through the Second World War, and squads that shout.
The Slayer's medieval war with a shield saw and a mech; the 2025 prequel.
The super shotgun and the Icon of Sin; thirty more levels of 1994.
The Strogg war on Stroggos; the first Quake with a story and coloured lighting.
Aiden Pearce hacks a Chicago that runs on one operating system.
Orcs and humans at sea and in the air; the RTS that made Blizzard.
The 1999 original: Warehouse, the Pump and a soundtrack of Goldfinger and Dead Kennedys.
Wall-running pilots and mechs that drop from orbit; the multiplayer that made Respawn.
One open neighbourhood with no loading screens, and Create-a-Style.
Ageing, genetics and wants; the Sims sequel that gave them lives.
Eddy Gordo, Jin Kazama and the arcade fighter of the PlayStation era.
A hacker wakes on Citadel Station with SHODAN in the walls; the immersive sim starts here.
V-Triggers and a rough launch that a decade of updates repaired.
Parries, hand-drawn animation and the greatest comeback in fighting-game history.
Salmon Run, Splatfests and the Octo Expansion.
Harry Mason looks for his daughter in a town that changes; the fog was a draw-distance trick.
Jill escapes Raccoon City with something following her between rooms.
Two to four cooks in a kitchen that slides, splits and catches fire while the orders keep coming.
Noir, Mona Sax and the Havok physics; Remedy's tighter sequel.
Infobox
