Many of the most popular games have players roaming around in an open world, providing a sense of freedom. However, there is a certain magic in being restricted to a grid when playing video games. The limitations on where you can go give you more time to consider your actions.
Regardless of the genre, games that use a grid system tend to have sharper game design, better balance, and an emphasis on strategy. While grid-based games may not be as immersive as open worlds for many, they often excel in gameplay and level design.
What makes Into the Breach so unique is how it combines strategy games with puzzle elements. In Into the Breach, you control a team of three mechs, each with its own abilities. You engage in short missions where each battle feels like a mini-chess game.
Into the Breach excels at game planning, allowing you to experience strategic improvement as the game progresses, starting very early in your playthrough. Figuring out ways to use the map to your advantage and solving your missions as quickly and efficiently as possible gives Into the Breach astounding depth.
Tetris is a timeless puzzle game that still holds up today. Your goal is to prevent bricks from stacking up to the ceiling. you may manipulate the blocks as they fall into different shapes, fitting them together in ways that will clear lines and grant you points. Tetris tests your quick thinking, problem-solving skills, and spatial awareness.
The Tetris series hasspawned many great variations. Older versions from the 80s are still worth playing, as they place a greater emphasis on strategy and decision-making than many modern renditions.
Much more than a farm simulator, Stardew Valley focuses on a relaxing experience with fun social interactions. The game gives you a lot of freedom to play how you want. There are many items to discover and people to talk to, each leading to a unique playthrough every time.
Grids are seemingly not at the forefront of Stardew Valley, but they are pivotal to what makes playing the game feel so effortless. Your farms and materials are all arranged on a grid, and you need to organize them to make your farm more efficient. It’s a fantastic feeling to check on your farm and see all the wonderful things you’re producing and crafting.
7Baba Is You
The simplicity of Baba Is You highlights its remarkable game design. You (usually) control a character called “Baba” and must move him to a specific cell to advance to the next stage. By rearranging word blocks to form sentences, you change the “rules” of the game. Each word is placed on a grid, so if you spell “Baba is You,” you gain control of Baba. If you spell “Rock is Push,” you enable the ability to push rocks out of the way.
Baba Is You is intuitive and engaging in the early stages. However, the puzzles quickly ramp up in complexity. It’s a perfect game for the mobile, allowing you to ponder a puzzle throughout the day and progress inch by inch until you have an eureka moment and solve it.
6Tetris Attack
Despite its misleading title, Tetris Attack is not a Tetris game but was marketed as such to Americans. Tetris Attack, or Panel de Pon in Japan, is a grid-based puzzle game featuring horizontal blocks of different colors that you’re able to swap around. You must match the colors of blocks so that at least three of them are in a row to make them disappear, preventing the pile from reaching the top of the screen.
Tetris Attack is fast-paced and offers an engaging single-player mode. The speed increases significantly, especially when facing Bowser. The game presents blocks that are challenging to use at higher levels, putting your reflexes, ability to think ahead, and composure to the test.
The roguelike nature of FTL: Faster Than Light makes it hard to put down. You navigate a ship through a galaxy, engaging in space battles along the way. These battles unfold within your ship, which operates on a grid. You control a handful of characters to pilot the ship and manage various tasks during combat.
The multitasking aspect of FTL: Faster Than Light intensifies gameplay. You must assign characters to maintain the ship, combat aliens that board your vessel, pilot the ship, and operate weapons. Randomly acquired characters bring diverse attributes, each suited differently to specific tasks, adding depth to strategic decision-making.
The Tactics Ogre series is not for the faint of heart. Fans of the tactics series consider it to be more challenging than Final Fantasy Tactics. What makes Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together so good is the wide variety of characters and classes you may mix and match.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together also has a complex plot that feels more mature and less convoluted than the average JRPG from its era. It also has good map selection, providing a challenge that is difficult but feels fair.
A mix of history, strategy, and board games creates the Civilization series. Civilization 6 gives you the choice of controlling over 40 civilizations, making it one of themost interactive empire-building games. The map is layered on a grid filled with tiles, each containing different resources that you can build on or move units on.
What makes Civilization 6 work so well is that every game feels completely different from the last. While Civilization 6 has many systems and complexities to learn, its grid-based layout means you don’t need the muscle memory and execution skills required for real-time strategy games like Starcraft.
2Ms. Pac-Man
The sequel to the original iconic Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Manmay be one of the best arcade games of the 1980s. The premise of Ms. Pac-Man is similar to that of Pac-Man. Your character navigates a maze to collect all the pellets before being touched by one of four ghosts.
Each level features a slightly different maze in Ms. Pac-Man, adding variety to the gameplay. The key to success is strategizing how to maneuver around corners and timing the collection of power pellets so you may devour the ghosts.
The remake of the original X-Com: UFO Defense, X-Com: Enemy Unknown, successfully revitalized the franchise. This is a turn-based strategy game where you control a unit of military-like characters that engage in battles with aliens. All your characters in X-Com: Enemy Unknown use firearms, allowing you to attack from a distance across the grid.
The RPG elements are light compared to traditional tactical RPGs, placing a much greater emphasis on strategy. While there are only a handful of classes, the roguelike randomization keeps the experience fresh. Utilizing distance is crucial, as you’re able to easily be flanked by enemies, leading to the permanent death of one of your valued party members.
