A hex-based fantasy campaign
The Battle for Wesnoth is an open source, turn-based strategy game set across the four corners of Irdya. You move units over a hex grid, manage terrain and positioning, and fight tactical battles that carry over between scenarios. Seventeen solo campaigns take you through a wide span of stories: a young prince fleeing the Lich Lords to a new home across the sea, a quest into the earth to craft a jewel of fire, a journey to reclaim a throne from a usurping queen, a young mage seeking vengeance and immortality after orcish invasion, a defense of your capital against a necromancer's undead hordes, and a group of survivors crossing blazing sands toward an unseen evil. Locations range from the plains of Weldyn and the forests of Wesmere to the mines of Knalga and the peaks of the Heart Mountains.
Playing together online
When your group wants to compete instead of follow a campaign, the game offers over 50 multiplayer maps built for parties of all sizes. Seven fully-balanced factions give each player a distinct roster to build a strategy around, so matches stay varied even on the same map. Remote Play Together is available if someone in your group wants to join through a shared session rather than running their own copy.
Before you start
Wesnoth is turn-based, so matches move at the pace of the slowest player and reward planning over quick reflexes. The hex grid and terrain matter: where you place a unit decides how well it holds or attacks. If your group wants to branch out beyond the built-in content, the game includes a map editor and a moddable engine with a simple scripting language, and there is a large supply of community-made campaigns, maps, and factions for both single and multiplayer play.