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[de5me7]

you read the title here are the details
im looking for a game to fill moments of bordom. I dont have enough time at the moment to get into an unintuative game (like a df style game) but i like games with depth.

The game should provide at least 10 hours of fresh entertainment with replay value, So a linear game that finishes in under ten hours wont cut it.

The game must run on my laptop (my laptop was budget in 2005, it will run 3d games up to Deus X 2000 era).

The game can be new, old or indie. (although i find it difficult to get into games pre 1994 sort of era)

Im happy to pay upto £10 ($20) for it.

It must have strong single player, but multiplayer is a bonus.

If its shareware and been mentioned on this forum ive probably already looked at it.
I value emersion and gameplay over graphics, i like first person perspective, strategy and management. Im pretty flexible on theme but quite like hard Sci Fi, and anything with grit in it.

It must be relativly indepth i.e. im happy to spend an hour learning how to play as long as it doesnt involve reading too much on forums.

p.s. someone should design a game database where you could input your pc spec, tastes etc and it would come up with recommendations.

If its downloadable content it should be relativliy small (500mb max) smaller is better. Ideally it should not require lots of tech updates like latest java, NET framework etc.

If you can post links to reviews or demos that would be awsome

[Apple Master]

age of empires II go.

[diamok]

Probably not really what you were looking for, but it's a great little game for those times when boredom sets in and you have no where else to turn.

http://www.pawleyscape.com/fastcrawl/

[Ametsala]

The first thing that I can think of that is first person perspective, strategy, management and sci fi is battlezone (98 version). But I haven't played that for years.


An other game you might want to consider is Starships Unlimited. It's been mentioned here before though but that was over a year ago. 
I haven't played that one for years either. But I did spend quite a lot of time with it. Probably not as much as with battlezone though.
Gamespot
Publisher
Developer
The publisher sells it for $20 and the developer sells it for $25... But it's also got a demo to toy with.

[Asmodeous]

Plants vs Zombies.

[Tilla]

I'll throw Torchlight out there, it fits the bill. Replayable, moddable, and should run on an older laptop for the price.

[de5me7]

dont really like point and click rpgs- didnt get into diablo or fallout 2.

Ive played AoEII quite abit in the past, its ok but doesnt have much depth, unless you like competative multiplayer, and there are more competative games e.g. star craft.

[Goron]

A Paradox game?
Europa Universalis,
Hearts of Iron,
Crusader Kings
?

Or perhaps a Civilization game?

A single game of one of those can be longer than 10 hours easily, with near endless re-playability.
They are not first person, but they have strategy galore, immersion, depth, and the ability to play without endless research... but, if you find time you can really dig deep into the mechanics and strategies.
I am pretty sure most of the earlier ones are inexpensive at this point (EU2, HOI2, CK, CIV3)

Any of those fit the bill?

[kulik]

Teardown's Alien Assault

[de5me7]

bought machinarium  - well worth it

[zestorum]

X-COM Ufo defense or Dwarf Fortress.

[MrWiggles]

Second Dwarf Fortress.

[Phantom]

Command and Conquer. (?)
Flash games from Armor Games.
Fallout 1 & 2

[FluffyToast J]

Crusader Kings

This. I bought this and I havent played anything else since. That was about a week or so ago. There isnt any demo, but damn, for $25US, this is an amazing game.

[Draco18s]

Starship Titanic.
You'll be hard pressed to run it, I will admit, and it is a "point and click adventure" game, but man if you can follow it its worth it (hint: there's a puzzle that has the solution in the box art, though likely you'll get stuck on getting the chicken, several hours prior to that puzzle).

In the same genre:

The Dig (sadly, another P&C Adv that has a very early stick-spot as well as one late game "if you don't do this one conversation action, you put the game into an unwinnable state"--so if you end up using a walkthrough, no matter how non-nonsensical that choice of action seems, do it).

Both games are each at least as long as the entire Myst series (not counting Uru).

Beneath a Steel Sky.  About $5 on GOG.com [Good Old Games].  Runs on modern computers if purchased that way.  P&C Adv, great story.  I managed to finish it with only minor help from a walkthrough.

Torin's Passage.  Unknown if this can be found or run on modern operating systems.  P&C Adv.  Beat it once due to a "find the spot" puzzle utilizing audio hints (click in this vaguely large area, click in this smaller dime sized area, click in this....I only ever found it once and was unable to replicate the feat later).  Game comes with its own hint/walkthrough system (it never directly tells you the solution, but gives you enough information that you should be able to figure out what to do).

AI War.  Its on [Steam/Stardock] for about $20.  Tutorial mission--though the instructive portion was short--took me 12 "Real Time" hours to complete (I was running in 10x speed for the most part, near the end).  Great multiplayer (up to 8 players vs. the two AIs).  Insanely difficult AI (no, its not cheating, it plays by an entirely different set of rules).