When most people think of the Middle Ages, they have specific images in mind of knights and castles and of battling it out somewhere in Western Europe or maybe on a desert plain during the Crusades. Medieval encompasses all this and more. The campaign map stretches from the steppes of Russia to Egypt and from Gibraltar to Norway, making not only European nations but also the wealthy Mediterranean territories suitable targets for alliances and conquest. As much as the game is about building wartime infrastructure and vast armies numbering in the tens of thousands, it's also about diplomacy, spying, and maintaining internal order. Like Shogun, the game distills strategy into elegant mechanics as simple as moving virtual game pieces on a parchment map.

Those with more of an affinity for quick real-time strategy games can appreciate Medieval's tactical combat. While it doesn't make for the prettiest or most visceral battles, the tactical mode does have the depth of fully 3D combat, and it still manages to have huge armies face off on the battlefield. To fit the period, the combat can include castles, siege weapons, and early firearms for added variety. There are plenty of nuances to learn and there's a lot of replay value, as the tactical mode can also be played on its own in set-piece skirmishes against the game's capable AI. There's plenty in Medieval to please anyone who likes to dig deep into strategy games, which is why we selected it as our choice for Best PC Single-Player Strategy Game of the Year.