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[flap]

Hello,

while following that game development and some of its developper's tweet, I wondered : what other assymetric strategy games have been made ? And how has it been done ?

Thinking of it, I also found that there were different ways to create asymmetric game :

• The players/npc have the same goal, but different ways to do it. For example both want to anhilate the other, but have different units to do it (starcaft, neuroshima Hex,...) or entirelly different mecanism.
  Other examples  : Achron, Universe at War: Earth Assault,Gret Goo
  
• The players/npc have opposit targets. But they may, or may not, have the same ways to do it. For example one has to kill the other, while the other is trying to survive. That's the case of AI War : Fleet Command
  Other examples : XCOM and variants
  
• The players/npc pursue entirelly different targets. Which might or not lead to fight between them. I have one example in mind : an old play by email game game called Nebula (it is in french...). Players are in a galaxy with planets, ships and fleet. But some earn points through exploration (explorer), some through trading (merchant), or through conquering worlds (emperor) or even converting population to its own religion (missionary). So a missionary could offer worlds and fleet to an emperor if it lets him convert his worlds to its religion. This opens a wide range of possible interactions.
  Other examples :  Distant Worlds (win conditions ?)Sovereignty, pocket space empire ?

Do you see other type of assymetric strategy games ?
Do you have interesting experience to share ? Actually, I'd love to try new games implementing that in a clever way...

EDIT: placed games listed in discussion in list

[BFEL]

I think XCOM and variants thereof technically count, though you seem to be looking for 4X games in particular...

[Mech#4]

The most asymmetrical strategy game I can think of at the moment I've played is "Universe at War: Earth Assault". It has three factions; Hierarchy, Novus and Masari that all play quite differently.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Novus are a fast, hit and run faction who's units can use a power network to quickly move about the map. They rely on large numbers of cheap units to defeat enemies but have a lot of flexibility with multiple ways to attack such as straight forward damage or the usage or viruses to shut down enemy buildings and robots, see what they see and so on.

Masari play the most standard. They build generators rather then gather resources and they units about mid range in power. They have a mechanic where they can switch from light to dark mode that changes how their units work and whether they deal burning over time light damage or slow down, slow but powerful dark damage. They also have some abilities which manipulate time and teleportation.

The Hierarchy plays the most differently. By using glyph carvers on the ground they call in giant, walking factories from orbit which produce their infantry and smaller vehicles. Each walking factory can be upgraded with different weapons and bonuses on hard-points. They focus on powerful but few and expensive units.

Other than that... I think the game also made by Petroglyph, "Grey Goo", tries to have assymetrical factions. I haven't looked into it much though so I don't know exactly how it all works. It's got three factions, Humans, Alien race and Nanobots/Grey Goo.

[Frumple]

Heroes of Annihilated Empires has the option. You can choose to go into a match either as a builder or a solo champion. Goal is still annihilation, but the mechanics of it can be somewhat distinct (builders eventually get a hero as well, but later in the game and substantially weaker than the solo champ). The individual factions are fairly different, as well, though the nature of the game itself (everything dies in droves, constantly) makes that somewhat difficult to really notice.

Few of Arcen Games' other works have the same sort of asymmetry to their player/npc interactions, as well. Last Federation, Bionic Dues, even the Valley stuff... it's pretty common to their designs.

Pretty sure Distant Worlds can be set up similar to that third option, as well -- there can be nation specific victory conditions, iirc. Pretty sure there's a good handful of other 4x games that work like that... it's not exactly common, but it's not particularly unknown, either.

Several of the Civ games offer similar options, though anyone can pursue any particular one, rather than a particular faction being locked in to certain victory conditions. Still, you had disparate victory conditions available.

Giants: Citizen Kabuto probably counts, too. Fairly radically different factions, albeit with fairly similar goals.

[Majestic7]

Sovereignty, a game currently in EA, has a campaign mode with nation-specific victory conditions for each country. So a militaristic kingdom might have the victory condition of conquering X nations, while a mage-nation would be content researching their magiks in their distant corner.

[Graknorke]

The clunky as fuck RTS 'Achron' does the first one rather a lot with its different races. In particular, one race can send its units through time but the unit can be at any location on the map. As a result they have a whole host of unique strategies, such as being able to reinforce themselves on the field where the other races can only either do that with a special stationary structure, or not at all.

[Sonlirain]

The guild perhaps?
Most classes boil to playing more or less the same. Buy goods and have your craftsmen turn them into finished products for you to sell.
However there is quite a bit of variation and the rise to power from being a local priest, craftsman (several "classes" here like metalsmith or perfume maker) innkeeper or chief of the thieves guild all differ in some way.

Sometimes drasticly even like the thieves who obviously don't make any trade goods and set up heists and pickpocketing operations during the day or night.

[flap]

Achron ! That's a long time since I have heard of it. I am downloading the demo...

Hmm, I'll try to place the example in the first post

[Elfeater]

The Wargame series does a decent job of having the different two factions have different playstyles, and then the deck breakdowns therein give you more versatility in what kinda army you want to bring out.

[EnigmaticHat]

If you're willing to commit a lot of time into learning it, Dominions 4 is a turn based strategy game with factions that have access to vastly different strategies.  The premise is you're a "pretender god" in a rather original fantasy world, you're leading a nation fighting other pretenders to replace the ruling god who recently vanished.  In one of my multiplayer games for example I'm fighting a nation of greek style dudes with offensive magic and super-tough golems, while I'm fighting with necromancers who summon hordes of expendable, tireless undead.

[~Neri]

If you're willing to commit a lot of time into learning it, Dominions 4 is a turn based strategy game with factions that have access to vastly different strategies.  The premise is you're a "pretender god" in a rather original fantasy world, you're leading a nation fighting other pretenders to replace the ruling god who recently vanished.  In one of my multiplayer games for example I'm fighting a nation of greek style dudes with offensive magic and super-tough golems, while I'm fighting with necromancers who summon hordes of expendable, tireless undead.

Ermor is best civ.

[EnigmaticHat]

Except I'm Sauromatia

If I were Ermor... well, I guess I'd have been teamed up on and killed.  Other than that minor detail I'd be much better at the skelespam.

[~Neri]

The key with Ermor is to not drop Burden of Time until lategame when you have a lot of land. Enemies can't blitz through your territory if your dominion makes the spell worse.

[Cthulhu]

Everybody in late era does death magic.  But yeah, if you want to be the supervillain you gotta expect everybody to treat you like the supervillain.  Same with R'lyeh and C'tis.

It's not out yet (fingers crossed) but That Which Sleeps promises to be a very asymmetric strategy game.  Imagine Majesty's quests and autonomous heroes joined up with a simplified Crusader Kings nobility and character simulation, but you're playing Sauron.  Manipulate the personalities and relationships of otherwise autonomous characters with their own lives distinct from their relationship to you playing the game, ensure the world is too weak to resist your return.  If that doesn't work, do the actual strategy game thing and invade with legions of orcs and undead and other horrors.  The only strategy game I know of that lets you infiltrate the enemy army and control both sides.

[~Neri]

R'lyeh is sorta actually a really shitty civ. Their mages suck on land. They're only good if the majority of the world is underwater.