The experiences of your initially tiny outpost are largely lived through a cast of colorful, well written characters. That’s the eagle eye view of the situation in Battle Nations, but the geopolitical situation on the fictional continent of Asteria isn’t the only story being told here. As a member of the 95th rifle company of the 3rd army, you’re tasked with reinforcing the northern territories against some local threats – and helping to search for this “uranium” resource that the Empire seems to be keenly interested in… Unfortunately, right on the cusp of what seemed to be an impending, decisive victory, that same general makes an inexplicable decision… and a war that seemed as if it would end in months has now been trudging along in an apparent stalemate for years. Two generations of aggressive leaders expanded the nation’s borders through a mixture of conquest and industry, leading to the current state of affairs – the last vestiges of a rebellion being stamped out by the Emperor (the self-absorbed, seemingly clueless grandson of the man who started it all), with the Empire’s greatest general at his side. Where other F2P city-building games would throw some adorable big-eyed creature at you and show off some of the cash-shop-exclusive topiaries, Battle Nations tells a silent story about the growth and expansion of the Empire. You can see some of the story for Battle Nations seeping through in the introductory movie. For the Empire’s Glory! Not the Emperor, though – he’s a twit.

A damn good one, well-written and played out by characters who have interests and personalities and lives beyond simply giving you tutorial advice and then trying to talk you into spending cash on in-app purchases. The first thing that sets Battle Nations apart from its competition is visible before you even start to play the game: while other city-builders have a mere setting, Battle Nations has an actual story to it. From FarmVille to the now-defunct Facebook SimCity game to various other titles, there are a slew of options available on this front – most of them bad, or excessively gimmicky affairs largely made with sufferers of obsessive-compulsive disorder in mind. Free-to-play city-building? It’s not only been done before – it has been done to death. Now, I can understand the initial skepticism. I’m talking about Z2Live’s Battle Nations – quite possibly the best free-to-play turn-based combat and city building games out right now, and it’s a title which brings story, depth and long-term fun to a genre that desperately needs all three. The inaugural choice for this column happens to be a personal favorite of mine, one I’ve been playing on and off since 2011 on the iOS platforms, and which is currently in need of some Steam Greenlight votes to bring it to the PC. Whatever the reasons, sometimes many games either fail to get much notice at all, or don’t nearly get as much as they deserve to get – and these are the titles I want to cast a spotlight on, to let you know what you’re missing. Maybe it’s just a title so niche that most people are reluctant to give it the chance it really deserves.

Maybe it showed up in the midst of some major releases when the collective gaze of gaming journalism was directed elsewhere. Maybe it’s put out by a company or even a one-person team that relied on word of mouth over a major advertising push. Every now and then a great title manages to show up in the video game scene, only to fail to get the attention it really deserves.

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