IBM Strategy Games

IBM Strategy Games is a collection built around the idea that computers are perfectly capable of turning simple strategic concepts into surprisingly absorbing challenges. The package brings together several games and scenarios that emphasize planning, decision-making, and careful use of limited resources. The presentation is basic, as you would expect from early 1980s software, but the lack of graphical spectacle leaves plenty of room for the actual rules to do the work. These games reward thought rather than reflexes, and they often require players to anticipate consequences several moves ahead. IBM Strategy Games is interesting not only as entertainment but also as a glimpse into the early days of personal-computer gaming, when developers were discovering what a computer could do with relatively modest hardware. It may look primitive today, but there is something admirable about extracting meaningful strategy from a machine that had nowhere near the power of a modern phone.