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What are the best games on Steam that play in real time, but can be paused?

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Jul 28, 2016

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5 Games Considered

Best games on Steam that play in real time, but can be paused	Price	Steam Rating	Genre
-- Knights of the Old Republic	$9.99	Very Positive	RPG
-- Pillars of Eternity	$44.99	Very Positive	RPG
-- FTL: Faster Than Light	$9.99	–	Roguelite
-- Crusader Kings 2	-	Very Positive	Grand Strategy
-- Hearts of Iron 3	$9.99	Mixed	Mixed

Knights of the Old Republic

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Top Pro

Lengthy

The main story of the game can take a good bit of time to finish. See More

Top Con

Movement does not work that great on touchscreens

The on screen controls for movement in the game do not work as good as they could giving a sense of non-preciseness. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Controller Support:HID (Android), No (PC)

Top Pro

Engaging story

Being a role playing game, KotOR has a pretty good story that feel very engaging. See More

Top Pro

MOGA controller support

KotOR features MOGA controller support. See More

Top Pro

HID controller support

KotOR features full HID controller support. See More

Top Pro

Gameplay holds up well

For what is now an eleven year old game the Bioware RPG game mechanics hold up well. See More

Pillars of Eternity

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Top Pro

Rich storytelling

One of the main highlights of Pillars of Eternity is the rich and deeply involved story telling. The minutia to be found in game is almost exasperating. Every aspect of the world and the characters within have a very involved background with many different reactions to the players chosen character (race, class, etc.). On top of this there is often very well done voice acting to accompany these scenarios, giving even more life to the game. See More

Top Con

Single player only

There are no online or co-op modes. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Large selection of companions

A player can have up to five different companions accompany them along their quest. Many of these companions have their own storylines, making for a feeling of connection. There is also the option of hiring your own user created companions at an inn, but of course this may not be as exciting as using the game created ones. See More

Top Con

A lot of reading

The amount of text in game may turn some people off as much of the time spent in game will be spent reading. See More

Top Pro

Movie quality music

The quality of the soundtrack is comparable to some of the best CRPGs out there as well as films like Lord of the Rings. At times there are looping soundtracks but luckily the sound design was done in such a way that there is also moments of ambient music and sounds to break up the monotony. See More

Top Pro

Long gameplay

With a play time of up to 70 hours, Pillars of Eternity will last any player for a good amount of time. See More

Top Pro

Combat requires forethought

The combat in Pillars of Eternity usually requires a good bit of planning. Depending on the monsters one is facing the scenario shifts on how one needs to react. Fighting a couple of bandits will call for a complete different reaction than fighting a large dragon. Players have to adapt constantly, which creates an exciting atmosphere and a good bit of tension. The use of the space bar (or having a setting that auto pauses) to pause the game is key in planning how to react to each scenario which thankfully gives the player plenty of time to plan their future actions. See More

Top Pro

Deep character creation

The character creation menu in Pillars of Eternity are highly detailed. The player can choose from six different races that have eleven playable classes. There is also an assortment of sub races for each of the six races. Making for a pretty wide selection of choices that allows the player to create very individualized avatars. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic throwback to the isometric RPGs of old

For fans of games like Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale, Pillars of Eternity truly succeeds in bringing the CRPG genre into the modern era without compromising any of the old mechanics. The isometric view of the game gives a familiar feel but the new engine and addition of many modern effects gives the game a look all its own that fits in with any modern offerings on PC. See More

Top Pro

Three editions available that offer extra out of game content

There are three different digital retail editions available for Pillars of Eternity, Hero Edition ($44.99), Champion Edition ($59.99) and Royal Edition ($89.99). The Hero edition is the base game with no extras. The Champion Edition offers the purchaser extra digital content such as a soundtrack and HD map. The Royal Edition offers everything the Champion Edition does with even more extra digital content such as Ringtones, eBooks and a strategy guide. There is zero in game content missing from any of these editions as Obsidian made it a point to make sure all the extras are just that, extras. Some may say what is on offer for the extra editions is not comparable to the price, really it is just a way for fans to give more money to a studio that bothered to create a genre of game that is often overlooked, a way to show appreciation. See More

Top Pro

Crafting system

Players can collects items in the world to use for crafting. Crafting allows for creation of potions and scrolls as well as equipable items or enchantments for equipable items such as weapons, shields and armor. Unlike some crafting systems, crafting in Pillars of Eternity is a mechanic and not a skill, so there is no need to level up any crafting experience in order to craft. See More

FTL: Faster Than Light

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Top Pro

Allows for highly strategic gameplay

The rougelike game design combined with the huge amount of choices that can be made in both encounters as well as ship management makes FTL a highly strategic game as you never quite know what the game is going to throw at you. There are many decisions that can be made in the game, such as what parts of an enemy ship to target (their shields, their weapons) or where to concentrate your defensive strategies, such as powering up an ion engine to run, or powering up ones shields to stay and fight. These choices can all effect the final outcome of the game, so it is up to the player to make the best decisions at their disposal. There are also many choices of ships to use and equipment layouts for each that can be tweaked. Depending on the ship used and what equipment is used or where it is place can greatly affect how the game will play out as well as how the game will need to be played. If choosing a fast ship with low shield power, it will be best to outrun a lot of encounters. Where as if choosing a slow ship with good gun capabilities and a high shield power, a good strategy would be to go in guns blazing for each encounter. See More

Top Con

Late game battles are long and boring

In the later parts of the game battles are very long which can make for a bit of a boring experience, especially for those that would rather be exploring than spending so much time on battles. See More

Specs

Genre:Roguelite

Top Pro

iOS version includes extra content over the PC version

The PC version of the game had extra DLC that one could pay for to extend the games gameplay. This content is included in the iOS version for the singular price of $9.99. So could be argued the iOS version is the better deal for the price. See More

Top Con

Lackluster interface on iPad

The weapons panel often covers up vital information on ones crew health. The problem being that this panel needs to be on screen when in a battle, which is also the exact time that crew health is very important. See More

Top Pro

Has modding support

There are multiple mods available for FTL that can greatly change up the gameplay and looks of the game. This adds a lot of replayability to the title. See More

Top Con

Can be pretty difficult

The amount of choices to be made (many not being good ones) and the randomization of the game makes for a situation that may be too difficult for some. This is not a game that you will beat in one play session nor 10, it takes a lot of time to get in a good run that results in winning, which some people may not have patience for. See More

Top Pro

Morality based decisions

The game works a lot like a text adventure in a roguelike wrapper. The decisions asked of the player during this adventure can affect much of the stories plot, making for an interactive story through choices such as telling aliens you are a god in order to potentially receive less trouble in your encounter with them, to abducting aliens in order to sell them for a profit. One choice may appeal to the player more than another, it also provides a way to role play as a morally bankrupt space captain. All in all though this is all up to the player, which can be really fun to see what may happen. See More

Top Pro

Stress free timely decision making

The game can be paused at any time, which allows for one to contemplate their next move in the game. This makes for a less stressful experience since one can leisurely make their decisions without it impacting the gameplay. See More

Top Pro

Great touch controls

Even though the game was designed to be played with a keyboard and mouse originally the touch controls work exceptional well. Some could argue better that keyboard and mouse. The gameplay and design lends itself very well to the touch screen, which makes playing the game a joy on iOS. See More

Crusader Kings 2

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Top Pro

Freedom to play how you like

The game allows for one to make their own choices with there being many "win" conditions in that you can choose to progress how you like. Want to take over all of Europe, that is possible, want to create a successful lineage of family that keeps to themselves, this is also possible. See More

Top Con

Extremely complicated

Crusader King II is a very complicated game that seems overly complex at first and may take a while to really learn as there are quite a lot of things to not only balance in the game but also figure out how to do either through in game tutorials or reading online. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Grand Strategy

Top Pro

Massive online multiplayer

Crusader Kings II has a whopping 32 player online multiplayer mode. Something not often found in games of this sort which can make for a very intense and strategic gameplay session. See More

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