One of our favorite 4X games is holding an extra-long free weekend starting today

Age of Wonders 4 reveal — (Image credit: Paradox)

I like strategy games, but they start to lose me as they grow increasingly complex to the point of near-impenetrability. That's largely kept me away from grand strategy and 4X games, which tend to offer the richest sandboxes to the most committed players, occasionally at the cost of accessibility to newcomers. The only series in the style that's truly won my heart is Age of Wonders, the fourth of which you can try for free this weekend until Monday, Nov. 17.

If you're not familiar, Age of Wonders marries the deep strategy of 4X to turn-based tactical RPG gameplay. It also grounds a lot of the map-painting in intuitive, tangible roleplay scenarios: You don't play a faceless nation, but a customizable ruler and culture, gathering magical artifacts, schools of magic, skills, and provinces as you explore the world. You can play as anything from classic fantasy dwarfs to gothic, power-mad molemen, and territory is won with turn-based battles made up of your custom troops.

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Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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