Age of Empires: Age of Kings
I have a problem, and it's called Age of Empires: Age of Kings for the Nintendo DS. More than Super Mario Bros or Brain Age, Age of Empires has sunk its turn-based-strategy-game hooks into me.
Like most DS games, AoE can be played casually. You can save at any point. If you need to pause, you just snap the DS shut and open it up whenever you are ready to resume.
So I could theoretically spread an epic battle over a week or two by playing just a couple of turns a day. But I don't really do that--I get sucked in for two or three hours at a time.
The game's addictive power lies in its variety of armies, unit types (militia, archers, heroes, etc.) and maps--which combine into a pretty wide array of battle scenarios. (There are also five campaigns with multiple missions loosely based on historical events.)
Because most battles require efficient use of resources, units, terrain and position there's a fair amount of actual strategy involved. Like, for example, holding a key bridge while your army loops behind your opponent, or positioning archers on high ground to extend their range. (Also, samurai are great... always go for samurai.)
The only downside is the lengthy endgames. Even when I've amassed an unstoppable army and choked off my opponent's resouces it can still take a couple of hours to finish them off.
But overall, AoE is the most fun I've had playing any video game in a long while.
