Incline Best spreadsheet games

[Humanophage]

'Spreadsheet gaming' is a term routinely used to describe excellent games with lots of well-organised information that produces an interesting narrative.

What are your favourite games that could be described as such? I think Victoria 1 & 2 sometimes get the moniker, and they indeed have very nice tables where you compare nations or look at pops. Other Paradox strategies somewhat qualify as well, particularly with improvements like MEIOU and Taxes for EU4.

One nice game that sort of fits is Fate of the World, where your actions are reflected in detailed information about things like economic structure and types of renewables.

I've also heard Football Manager is quite good and have been meaning to try it.

What are some good spreadsheet games you'd recommend?

 

[Glop_dweller]

The Disciples series; by Strategy First.



IMO it's fine to start with Disciples 2.

__

D3, and its followups are very different.

 

[Catacombs]

I love these games. Aurora 4x is peak spreadsheet gaming:

 

[ADL]

I'm too much of a pleb to play Aurora 4X even though the featureset looks amazing.

 

[Catacombs]

I'm too much of a pleb to play Aurora 4X even though the featureset looks amazing.

The game is a slow walk, not a sprint. There are also good LPs on YouTube to learn the ropes.

 

[Savecummer]

lose all your income on penny stock uranium and silver mines !1
or become a billionaire!

 

[Ol' Willy]

Games where you look at spreadsheets are good, but I like games when you look at maps more. You look at them, without hurry, think, go out for a smoke; the experience is similar in a way between the two of these

 

[Ol' Willy]

I've also heard Football Manager is quite good and have been meaning to try it.

Most definitely, there's a ton of things to manage from team tactics to contracts and a search for a new players

 

[madbringer]

Yes, hello.

 

[Lady Error]

Games where you look at spreadsheets are good, but I like games when you look at maps more.

Maps and spreadsheets together is the way to go. Europa Universalis IV is my drug of choice.

 

[janior]

RTW 2

 

[downwardspiral]

Democracy series is a game that just about spreadsheet.

Tho I like to have my spreadsheet representing some eye candy explosion. I am a graphic whore.

 

[Humanophage]

I've also heard Football Manager is quite good and have been meaning to try it.

Most definitely, there's a ton of things to manage from team tactics to contracts and a search for a new players

I gave Football Manager 2019 a run for two seasons, and was unfortunately underwhelmed. It is nicely detailed and seems addicting while the illusion of realism is sustained, but then you realise that it fails to simulate anything. Top teams get crushed, whilst your trashy 2nd division team beats the top premier team with the default lineup if you just put them on attack and give them optimal positions.

 

[RobotSquirrel]

Space Empires 1 2 3 4 5 (though I'm not the biggest fan of 5 because its buggy, 3 is the most enjoyable because its a perfect balance of complexity with ease of play) (they're on 80% discount on steam atm btw)
Screenshots:

Spoiler

I'm also probably gonna blow a few minds with Nostalgia with this one but Star Knights is also really fun though I've never played the full version. It has a really cool combat system where you can control the ship.

Oh I forgot about Capitalism Lab! that games awesome I was a huge fan of Capitalism 1 back in the 90s

Also forgot MegaMek,MekHQ MegaMekLab. Unfortunately it requires JRE which is a pain. But its the king of spreadsheet games.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Master or Orion 3

 

[RobotSquirrel]

Emperor of Fading Suns. Very cool 4x game inspired by Dune. Basically Panzer General but with multiple planets and space.

Imperium Galactica as well, probably has the best art of any 4x I've played.

 

[tindrli]

Master or Orion 3

i love that game as well.especialy with mods

 

[Arryosha]

Patrician 3 has spreadsheets and maps. The variety of spreadsheets is limited, but you use them a lot.

Also, stock market simulators, like howthemarketworks, have you looking at spreadsheets and graphs a lot. No maps, though.

 

[Nutria]

Capitalism Lab

This annoyed me because as soon as I bought it, they stopped updating it and started selling DLC. But maybe I ought to go back and see if they've added enough features to be worth getting into again.

Master or Orion 3

One of those formative experiences in my life like Star Trek: Voyager where I learned not to judge something by its name.

Emperor of Fading Suns. Very cool 4x game inspired by Dune.

Not just Dune, although that is a big influence. If you can get a hold of the sourcebooks for the tabletop RPG system, it's really fascinating. It's based on the history of all kinds of different cultures, especially the Byzantine Empire. Emperor of the Fading Suns unfortunately was too ambitious and the AI just doesn't know how to play the game. I wish they had instead made a proper sequel to Merchant Prince/Machiavelli the Prince.

Patrician 3

I bounced off of this one. This happens to me a lot with German games, where it's a spreadsheet game but it's too obvious that it's just a spreadsheet game. When I was a kid my dad watched me playing Darklands and he pointed out that if you changed the artwork and text, the underlying mechanics of it aren't that different from running a laundromat. Call me a storyfag, but I need a little decoration to get me interested in the numbers I'm typing in. (A couple German games that are great examples of how to do it right are Mad TV and The Guild. At least the original versions, I'm no fan of their sequels.)

 

[anvi]

I think EVE Online is the only one I play like that. But I've played lots of 4x games. Imo games where you have to think are an endangered species.