By Andrew SheivachmanThe Daily Northwestern

Sometimes, its more fun to take turns.

When first programmers began to make games for the personal computer, they turned to turn-based strategy games to circumvent the limitations of their hardware. Game designers, with much less processing power at their disposal than the average cell phone has now, sought the best way to represent a fairly authentic and fun experience. The trend from the 80’s, which featured some seminal strategy titles like Defender of the Crown and Harpoon, continued into the 90’s with a full head of steam. Armchair generals began to move away from the board game and towards the glow of their monitor.

The appeal of the turn-based strategy game stemmed from similarities to board games; games like Risk, Stratego and even Dungeons and Dragons are turn-based and designers wanted to evoke that kind of intellectual experience. Graphics were usually hideous but functional, with characters or units represented by dots or hexagons. Instead of forcing a player to act in the moment, turn-based games asked him to play an almost chess-like match of strategy and cunning. The opponent, of course, was most often computerized. This led to games where the world was specifically crafted to pit your wiles against that of a smart computerized artificial-intelligence. Pretending you were Matthew Broderick became a lot easier than skipping school or tap-dancing.

But as computers became more powerful, and the Internet became more universal, turn-based games became increasingly obsolete as real-time strategy games emerged. Starting with Dune II in 1992, RTS games began to win gamers’ hearts with their need for quick thinking and ability to play online against other gamers in real-time. While turn-based games continued to thrive, real-time strategy games became immensely popular and more prevalent than their slower, uglier cousins. Close Combat, Jagged Alliance and The Operational Art of War are a trio of the finest turn-based strategy series, but their popularity is far outstripped by 90’s real-time strategy series Warcraft, Command & Conquer and Starcraft. Starcraft is even a worldwide professional sport.

Now, turn-based games are almost completely pass