7 Strategy Games That Totally Reinvent Themselves Halfway Through

Strategy games are often ever-evolving, though this often happens in quick cycles. Titan of the genre, StarCraft 2 is just one example, with its competitive matches quickly evolving as resources become scarcer and players become more aggressive.

However, other strategy games are slower to evolve. Be that by the halfway point of a match, like in Dune: Spice Wars and Northgard, or a complete and sudden flip on the head such as in Spore.

7 Dune: Spice Wars

A Political System That Reinvents Each Match

Dune: Spice Wars is a deep and thematic combination of 4X and real-time strategy that takes place on the iconic desert planet of Arrakis. The game features a complex web of politics, trading, warfare, and even espionage. All this together allows the game to drastically change about halfway through most matches.

At the beginning of each match, players will mostly just be scouting the surrounding territories and building basic structures. However, as players encounter one another, things begin to heat up. Perhaps more impressive, however, is the game's political system, which allows players to frequently vote on potentially game-changing effects. Often, the passing of one of these resolutions can completely reinvent the match.

6 Slay The Spire 2

Game-Changing Ascensions

For those unfamiliar, Slay the Spire 2 is a rogue-like deck-building game that can be played alone or with friends. It excels with its snappy pace and diverse build variety, allowing players to quickly create unique strategies every run.

While Slay the Spire 2's change is more gradual, players will find it drastically changes after a good few hours. This is thanks to the game's Ascension system, which gradually adds unique challenges as players continue to win runs.

5 Wild Bastards

An Increasingly Diverse Roster

Yes, Wild Bastards is a first-person shooter. But it's also a strategy game. In fact, its developers describe it as a roguelike strategy shooter on the game's Steam store page. Even better, Wild Bastards evolves throughout its campaign.

This is thanks to an ever-evolving roster of diverse playable characters. Each sector sees players adding a new member to the gang, providing both motivation and an exciting reward for success. By the halfway mark, Wild Bastards becomes a much more complex experience.

4 Northgard

An RTS With A Unique Method of Expansion

Northgard is an RTS that focuses heavily on base-building and resource management. The main reason for this is its unique method of expansion; the map is split into territories that players must scout before being able to freely move into, and this slows down the game dramatically.

Once the map is fully scouted and players have discovered their opponents, the game completely flips on its head and becomes much more aggressive. At this point, players must make use of their prepared military strength and work to defend themselves while striking against their neighbors.

3 Spore

An Ever-Evolving Experience

Spore doesn't start as a strategy game. Not at first. This is a game about building your own species, and it starts from ground zero; I'm talking about starting the game as a cell. Throughout the game, though, the player's species evolves. With these evolutions, the game changes.

Around halfway through, at the Tribal Stage and beyond, Spore becomes much more of a strategy game. Those looking for a more traditional strategy game may be disappointed, but Spore offers a unique level of customization that's worth trying out.

2 Battle Brothers

A Game-Changing End-Game

Battle Brothers is a sandbox strategy game set in a dark, Medieval-fantasy world. In the game, players take control of a company of mercenaries, and work to build up their numbers and reputation by completing dangerous contracts.

Battle Brothers really excels with its combat, that's why it's one of my favorite strategy games. However, its world is also tremendously dynamic, with faction play and wandering mobs. But what really reinvents Battle Brothers is its late-game crisis, of which there are three kinds: War of the Noble Houses, Undead Scourge, Greenskin Invasion. These make the world more dangerous and force players to adapt.

1 RimWorld

A Slow-Burning and Strategic Story Simulator

RimWorld is a management and simulation game in which a strong and confident strategy is key to success. The strategic gameplay that evolves from its random events, increasing difficulty, and light RTS elements make it perfect for fans of management and strategy games alike.

Best of all, RimWorld reinvents itself dramatically as it progresses. What starts as a tooth-and-nail fight to stay alive against rabid animals and tribal bandits turns into a sprawling game about managing a complete colony against and/or with entire factions.