If you have ever tried searching for online strategy games, then you probably know that there are lots of them that you can play from many different gaming websites. Unfortunately, the problem with these real-time strategy games is that they are either exciting to play with in terms of the game mechanics or are have cool visuals. Any veteran online gamer can tell you that it is difficult to see and experience online strategy games that are both engaging and visually impeccable.

This is the reason why we so love two games that we find visually appealing and challenging at the same time. We are talking about Fall of Rome and Eve Online.

Fall of Rome can be considered classic, by gaming standards. It is one of those turn-based strategy games that keep you on the edge of your computer chair. Here, players take turns attacking each other in efforts to reach the goal for every game session. Every game session can stretch up to a couple of months, concluding only when a player has reached the goal. Each session is also composed of segments that can run up to three days. Throughout these segments, players are allowed to control their characters by typing in their orders. When the segment closes, it is the job of the game servers to process the player inputs, update the player standings, and calculate permutations for all possible outcomes before the next segment opens.

Eve Online, on the other hand, is not one of those war strategy games that Fall Of Rome falls under. The storyline of Eve Online is more futuristic and the game environment is totally sci-fi. It is more classic than Fall Of Rome, but it was re-released a couple of years back, causing it to re-emerge in the gaming circle's consciousness. The re-release hyped about developments in the visuals and the storyline. Eve Online now revolves around a universal war involving many sides. Eve Online is somehow similar to massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG). However, it is also different in the sense that the outcomes are totally influenced by how the gamers play out their own strategies, unlike in MMORPGs where the system has some level of control over the outcomes.

Given these two famous and classic examples of how strategy games should be, what then are the criteria for rating games falling under this genre? For us, the secret to Fall Of Rome and Eve Online is first and foremost, their exciting game mechanics. Both games leave a lot of elbow room for the players to control their characters as well as the turn of events. As a result, the players are encouraged to return to previous levels or to play again in order to explore and experience the alternative outcomes.

In addition, and more importantly, in fact, both games are built in with "emotional hooks" that leave players thinking about the characters and their conflicts even after playing. In a sense, the characters are humanized, and the players, to some extent, end up genuinely involved and affected by their ordeals.