TacticsDesign

The best tactics game I ever played were **Final Fantasy Tactics** (FFT) on the Playstation and **Advanced Wars** on the GBA.

What did they have in common:

• Every move counts. Total blunders are ok when I can learn from the experience and still save the battle – once. It is better if loosing due to mistakes is terrible and quick. Let us not extend the agony and shame.
• Brains required. Just amassing the greatest army is either futile or impossible. The last battle in Advanced Wars required a huge war of attrition. If this was the correct tacticts, then it required no brains. Bad. If it was the wrong tactics, then not every move counted. Bad.
• A new trick every battle. This is why random encounters suck so much, they are not *designed* to be interesting. This is why FFT got a bit boring towards the end – travelling resultet in many useless random battles.
• Constant complexity. When the final bosses are few, and their power immense, then the final battle will require less brains. Boring! Another reason FFT got boring towards the end.
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