[PC/Mac] Good hot seat games?

[Ianuagonde]

My better half and I really enjoyed Heroes of Might and Magic, and having played through the series (3 and 5 were our favorites), we were curious what else is out there.

We have a PC and a Mac, so that's not the issue. If Age of Empires or Warcraft 3 could be played as hot seat games, we'd go for that, but alas. Solo, I usually go for RPGs or Warcraft, while my wife has spent quite a lot of time with Sims Medieval.

Any recommendations?

[Wookieetank]

There's always Civ and its many incarnations.

Searching hotseat games on steam gave me this list. (http://store.steampowered.com/search/?snr=1_4_4__12&term=hotseat)

[Dragonus45]

Battle for Wesnoth is one of my favorites, its a turn based game with a deep deep system that is absolutely 100% free.

[ChaosArchon]

If you like strategy games, HoMM (heroes of might & magic) has hotseat modes for most of its games. I personally loved playing hotseat when I was younger playing this game with my siblings. So thats my recommendation.

[Don Julio Anejo]

If you like strategy games, HoMM (heroes of might & magic) has hotseat modes for most of its games. I personally loved playing hotseat when I was younger playing this game with my siblings. So thats my recommendation.
This. I grew up playing it with a few friends back in the late 90s/early 2000's, back when only like 2 of my friends even had computers, and Internet wasn't around much.

[Grif]

If you like strategy games, HoMM (heroes of might & magic) has hotseat modes for most of its games. I personally loved playing hotseat when I was younger playing this game with my siblings. So thats my recommendation.


This. I grew up playing it with a few friends back in the late 90s/early 2000's, back when only like 2 of my friends even had computers, and Internet wasn't around much.

OP already mentioned that he has played 3 and 5. :smalltongue:

I'll second the Civ suggestion, if nothing else. The games definitely can be played hotseat, but it'll feel weird seeing your partner's screen especially if you're both competing against each other. Less of an issue in team games though.

[Shyftir]

Best hotseat game ever is Worms.

Especially, Worms2, Worms: Armageddon, Worm's World Party, and the newest one, Worms Revolution.

They aren't exactly strategy but they are just so good. It's a turn based 2d tank shooter, but it's so much more.

[Wookieetank]

Best hotseat game ever is Worms.

Especially, Worms2, Worms: Armageddon, Worm's World Party, and the newest one, Worms Revolution.

They aren't exactly strategy but they are just so good. It's a turn based 2d tank shooter, but it's so much more.

I can't believe I forgot about this. I played the abyss out of Worm's World Party back in the day. Exploding sheep and bananas FTW! :smallbiggrin:

[Knaight]

For Mac only there is Lightning's Shadow: It's not deep, but it's basically a Worms style game which can be fun for a while.

For Mac and Windows, there is the Dominions series. More specifically, there is Dominions 3 and Dominions 4 - these are very deep, quite complex, and absolutely loaded with content. Games also tend to run long, so you need to be playing with the same people over multiple days - if you have something like a weekend group, that's a non-issue, otherwise it could be a deal breaker. It does work with just two people, but it's far from ideal.

[Mattarias, King.]

May I ask what it is to be a "hotseat" game? :smallconfused: Does it mean games you can play quick? Or the opposite?

[Knaight]

May I ask what it is to be a "hotseat" game? :smallconfused: Does it mean games you can play quick? Or the opposite?

Basically: A turn based game played on one computer, where one person takes their turn, then lets someone else take the computer to take their turn, etc.

[tensai_oni]

May I ask what it is to be a "hotseat" game? :smallconfused: Does it mean games you can play quick? Or the opposite?

The best way to play multiplayer, ever.

Ah, the memories.

[Tengu_temp]

Similarily to the HoMM series, there's also Age of Wonders 2. And I second the Worms series. They're pretty great.

[Drascin]

For a quick hotseat duel, me and my sis like Carcassonne. It's a simple, tabletop game, but it's good and entertaining if you know the base game.

[Mattarias, King.]

Basically: A turn based game played on one computer, where one person takes their turn, then lets someone else take the computer to take their turn, etc.


The best way to play multiplayer, ever.

Ah, the memories.

OH! :smallbiggrin: I remember games like that! They were hilarious!

Pretty much always devolved into violence. Ah, I wish I had friends to play some with. :(

[Ianuagonde]

Lots of tips, thank you!

HoMM is indeed a lot of fun, but, well, just read the first post.

I didn't know there was a Carcassonne game. We've got the board game, and it's been gathering dust for quite a while.

Civilization it is! The possibility of victory without war is quite appealing to my better half.

[Otomodachi]

Dominions games are both great, as mentioned; very detail oriented, though, and there is micromanagement by late game. Depends on your tastes. But if actual UI complexity isn't a turn-off, this is my first recommendation.

Civilization 5 is way more user friendly, and a very good game. If you and your girlfriend are both coming from playing some different strategy games, though, there's a lot of depth to be gotten out of Civ 4 with various mods applied. Rhy's and Fall of Civilization makes it complicated as heck, but still real world; Fall from Heaven 2 adds a spellcasting system and all kinds of fantasy stuff.

Blood Bowl has hotseat and despite being about sports is also delightfully silly.

Worms is also great, as mentioned; also has a nice silly vibe but a good depth of gameplay.

Hot Seat sadly is dying out. Anecdotally, I've seen several different interviews with different developers of strategy games who talk about it being silly for two people to hang out in the same room and want to play a turn based game together.

Here's (http://www.giantbomb.com/hotseat/3015-354/games/) a giantbomb list to go with that steam one.

It lists Galactic Civ 2 as having hotseat, but I think that's a lie. If it's not, that game is also pretty fun.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

It's worth noting that there's a massive Sid Meier Bundle (Civ III, IV, and V plus a few others) up at the Humble Bundle (https://www.humblebundle.com/). Pay what you want for III and IV, and at $15+, you get V with all expansions.

[psilontech]

I see Master of Orion II hasn't already been mentioned, so I'll go ahead and throw that into the pile as well.

Some of my fondest multiplayer memories are of a bunch of us getting together and plotting each others downfall quietly in the background as someone is taking their turn in the computer room.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Battle Bugs (while googling for a link I discovered it can actually be played online now (https://classicreload.com/battle-bugs.html)) has a hotseat mode, but the game is mostly intended as a single player strategic puzzler, so I don't know how long that will last you.

[Wraith]

Best hotseat game ever is Worms.

Seconded.

I can also recommend Chaos Reborn, a turn-based strategy game in which wizards summon creatures and cast spell in a duel to the death which was based on a classic ZX Spectrum game. There's a surprising amount of depth to the premise, especially when the Ooze spell starts going haywire and eating everyone on the board.....

Blood Bowl 2 also has a hot-seat setting, although the difficulty curve for the game can be pretty steep. Hours of amusement and strategic variety if you can get into it, though.

[Psyren]

You can actually play some turn-based party RPGs like this; simply let your other half take one character and make all the decisions for him/her (combat, leveling, gear etc.) Divinity OS2 works really well for this for example.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I'll second the Civ suggestion, if nothing else. The games definitely can be played hotseat, but it'll feel weird seeing your partner's screen especially if you're both competing against each other. Less of an issue in team games though.
At least in 4 (the one I've hot-seated most), there's a "X, it's your turn!" screen which doesn't show any of X's information between turns. I guess there's still nothing stopping Y from peeping over X's shoulder to gather intel, but in my experience asking what they're groaning about will let you learn at least as much about what's going wrong over there.



Best hotseat game ever is Worms.
Especially, Worms2, Worms: Armageddon, Worm's World Party, and the newest one, Worms Revolution.
They aren't exactly strategy but they are just so good. It's a turn based 2d tank shooter, but it's so much more.
It's not much more if everything goes right. Luckily, nothing ever goes quite right.



Basically: A turn based game played on one computer, where one person takes their turn, then lets someone else take the computer to take their turn, etc.
Which leaves the chair warm from body heat, hence "hot seat". The more you know!


All of my favorite hotseat games have been mentioned, so I guess I can bring up some games that aren't technically hotseat but can be played by two people on the same computer. My brother and I got a lot of mileage out of flash games like that when we were kids just discovering the marvels of the Internet.
...I can't remember those very well, though, so I'll mention Nidhogg instead.

[Knaight]

Which leaves the chair warm from body heat, hence "hot seat". The more you know!

Depends on the chair and ambient temperature, but that is the etymology to my understanding.

[Kish]

Master of Orion II is a good hotseat game no one's mentioned yet.