Summary
Strategy games are often highly competitive and take themselves ultra-seriously so that the players can easily become engrossed in the game’s world and feel genuine stakes as they make a series of decisions that are going to affect it. That said, there are still plenty of games out there that take the complexities or mechanics most often used in strategy games and apply them to something more light-hearted.
Even classics of the genre likeCommand & ConquerandWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of Warare satirical takes on wartime combat, with their over-the-top plays on familiar troops and scenarios,but some games focus on humor and gameplayequally, be it with constant jokes, a wacky world, or a straight-up parody of another piece of media.
Platforms
PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
One of the oldest franchises on this list, the titular worms have been turning each other into comically designed tombstones since 1995. While nearly any entry from the series will provide turn-based battles on constantly crumbling maps, 2016’sWorms W.M.D.is easily available on modern consoles and has refined gameplay that makes it easy to jump into.
Players take control of a team of worms, scattered around a small and extremely destructible 2D map that is also home to multiple enemy squads. With an inventory of things like grappling hooks, banana bombs, TNT taped to sheep, and even nuclear warheads, no two battles are ever the same.
Metascore: 78
Pit People is a turn-based tactics game where the player controls a team of gladiators on a wild and ridiculous quest to stop a giant flying bear. It has a fun art style that will instantly remind players of The Behemoth’s previous comedy classicsBattleblock TheatreandCastle Crashers.
The troops are silly and the story is packed with jokes and puns. Plus, the whole adventure can be played co-op so players can enjoy the arena hi-jinks with a friend.
Xbox One, PS4, PC, Mac
WhileWarhammermay not reach full parody, the same cannot be said about its turn-based sports strategy spinoff. Players willrecruit, trade, and control a teamof elves, orcs, rats, goblins, and more traditional RPG races as they leave blood on the field in this ultra-violent send-up of American Football.
Fans of sports management games have a lot to dig into here, as keeping a constantly dropping team loaded with top athletes is vital to success. Then players of games likeFinal Fantasy: Tacticswill enjoy controlling the action as the games are played out via a unique turn-based grid system.
PC, IOS
Avid board game players have most likely had a run-in withMunchkin,a card-based game that parodies classic dungeon crawlers while begging its players to backstab one another. It’s a classic for a reason, due to its colorful and hilarious monster art andcartoonish armor and weaponry.
After being highly demanded for a full decade, a digital version of the game is finally available, with all the notable cards and creatures brought along.
Metascore: 75
The perfect game for when players want tolive out their Bond villain fantasies.Build a sinister secret lair and fill it with overly convoluted traps to protect it from agents of justice.
This base builder has simple mechanics, instead focusing on variety and overall goofiness. There is a massive selection of rooms, devices, technologies, and, of course, weaponry to be researched and developed.
Nintendo Switch, PC, IOS, Android
The most accurate title on this list,Over the Top Tower Defenseputs a comedic twist onthe classic wave battling genreby having the player control HeroCorp, a military organization (the 4th largest in the galaxy) tasked with defending the Earth from interdimensional threats.
Players will have to line up a plethora of different turrets to blow up flying laser sharks, robot squids, mech-driving bugs, and plenty more. The game starts simple mechanically, while still throwing way more enemies at the player than a typical tower defense would in its first levels, so the action skyrockets immediately.
Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One
This deep market manipulation gamelets players travel the galaxymeeting all kinds of insane aliens with even more insane internal organs to harvest and sell. The game is darkly humorous in concept and features a fully written campaign that is heavily satirical, but the true comedy comes from its randomness.
Many of the alien types and organs players will come across are procedurally generated, meaning there are practically infinite combinations of weirdness to stumble upon, all brought to life in the game’s surreal retro 2.5D graphical style.
PC, Mac
A business strategy game where the player starts a new technology company in the 70s and brings it all the way into the 2030s, trying to make it the top competitor in the world of computers. It might sound boring, but that is clearly an intentional part of developer Progorion’s aesthetic for the secretly funny game.
Everything is presented using nostalgic old computer visuals and design. The humor stems from ad campaigns, product reviews, new products, and more all being customizable and unconventional.
Metascore: 83
The patients in this hospital have a little more than just a common cold. Gamers that have playedTwo Point Campus,the wacky college management game from the same studio, know exactly what to expect from this hospital business sim.
As players expand and run their hospital efficiently, they’ll also need toresearch and cure rare fictional diseases, put out fires (sometimes literally), and even deal with an escaped mummy or two.
Steam Score: 10/10
A combat sandbox that allows players to finally figure out how many ninjas it would take to kill a T-Rex.TABSpresents itself like a serious simulator, only to prove how satirical its name is as soon as a single battle unfolds.
The game has wobbly physics, meaning as soon as a cannonball or big enough hammer hits a group of archers, they go flying like bowling pins. Plus, there is a lot of depth underneath the hilarious action, and many of the battles take some real strategy to win.
