The Economies of War

Real Time Strategy (RTS) games have come a long way since the pixelated battlegrounds of The Ancient Art of War (1984). These wargames have thrived to become more realistic, both visually and with their gameplay mechanics, while retaining the essential element of fun. The driving force of such games – the in-game economy, is the one thing that has constantly evolved. Over the years, these economic structures have shed their simple and minimalistic form, and taken up a more matured and complex frame, around which some of the best war-gaming experiences are built. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the milestones in the evolution of The Economies of War…

Dune II (1992)

With its revolutionary gameplay mechanics, Dune II is considered the father of modern RTSes. The game’s plot was based on Frank Herbert’s novel ‘Dune’ (1965), and revolved around three political interplanetary ‘houses’ battling over the control of planet ‘Arrakis’ which is abound with an extremely valuable resource, called ‘Spice’. Since the entire war revolved around gaining this resource, you’d probably have guessed that resource management played an important part of the game. The game required you (while you played any one of the three houses) to harvest ‘spice’ from the arid lands of Arrakis, after which you’d refine it and use it as the game’s currency. The spice would then fuel your warfare needs, and allow you to purchase infantry and tanks. This was one of the first few games that had an effective economy that formed an integral part of the gameplay, without making it seem like a drag. And as you can see, the structure was pretty straightforward and simple, but effective enough to lay a path for the thousands of wargames that followed.

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