Three Moves Ahead

Shane DeBerry, Secret Door co-founder and former World of Warcraft leader, and Alan Dabiri, studio co-founder and veteran Warcraft III and StarCraft II engineer, revisit Blizzard’s RTS legacy. They discuss building more social games, the freedom of small-team development, and how Shadowstone transforms Sunderfolk’s tactics into a replayable roguelite. Expect deep dives into cards, enemy design, biomes, progression, cooperative combos, and balancing delightfully broken builds.

Ian Boudreau, a strategy game journalist and longtime strategy-game analyst, returns for a spirited tour of Total War: Warhammer’s Lords of the End Times. They explore Boris Todbringer’s wolf-fueled campaign, Beastmen raids, Neferata’s vampire cults, and Nagash’s diplomatic nightmare. Archaon’s apocalyptic army, faction variety, emergent wars, and a decade of Immortal Empires content also get their due.

Derek Paxton, game director, and Julien Gueguen, lead systems designer at Amplitude Studios, explore Endless Legend 2’s 1.0 launch. They discuss Tidefalls reshaping exploration, readable faction asymmetry, rogue factions, terraforming, narrative replayability, and lessons from player feedback. Plus, how analytics, surveys, and 60 major updates transformed the game over a year.

Ted Litchfield, PC Gamer editor and RPG specialist, joins gaming writer Luke Plunkett to explore Star Wars Zero Company. They discuss its Clone Wars setting, memorable squadmates, custom recruits, sharp turn-based combat, cinematic missions, and standout set pieces. Spoilers cover the Republic’s transformation into the Empire, emotional betrayals, and why the Coil storyline falls short.

A summer roundup of small games and odd obsessions. They riff on crown-management RPGs, Dispatch-style systems, and romance hooks. Heated tales from EU5 campaigns, Greenland tactics, and multiplayer automation. Quick takes on Civ 7’s Test of Time, Paradox’s new projects, and Mortal Shell II’s combat. Praise for Big Walk’s emergent co-op and shoutouts for quirky indies, mascot-horror, and puzzling gems.

A pirate city-builder with vertical construction, bridges and zip lines sparks a debate over neat planning versus chaotic 'goblin town' layouts. They dig into ship combat driven by cards and dice, and how captains and crew shape exploration and losses. Conversation covers logistics growth, UI routing tools, unique period materials, and the tradeoffs of cozy presentation against deeper management.

Len sits down with Game Director Marv Gouw and Consulting Art Director (and Relic co-founder) J. Aaron Kambeitz to talk about ZeroSpace, a new RTS inspired by the greats of the genre with BioWare-style cutscenes and story decisions. We dig into the odd place RTSes find themselves in the industry right now, how the "Homeworld look" relates to typefaces, and how the changes in the games industry today echo those the film industry went through decades ago.

Len and DM are joined by the current Age of Empires II world champion, Hera, to discuss the state of the game in 2026. We try to explain its longevity, examine what it takes to be a top-level esports player, and discuss Hera's streamer invitational tournament, The King's Gauntlet.

Evan Lahti, PC Gamer strategic director and games journalist, breaks down Slay the Spire 2 and the roguelike deckbuilder scene. He explains core mechanics, character differences, and co-op map strategy. They riff on wild combos, relic exploits, and accessibility versus deeper competitors. Expect talk of deck philosophy, timing big plays, and why players keep coming back.

Sin Vega, freelance games writer and critic of tactics games. John Boulding, strategy game critic and frequent commentator. They dig into Xenonauts 2’s old-school XCOM vibes and how it compares to classic UFO Defense and Firaxis reboots. Conversation hits action-economy changes, weapon and upgrade systems, base and squad design, mission pacing, and memorable chaotic combat moments.