I have been gaming since Ultima Online was the new kid on the block. I have two masters degrees and thirty years experience in business. I am not Stupid. However…

This is the second time I have attempted to play a strategy game and been lost in the avalanche of information thrown at me at the “beginner” levels. In fact this isn’t even the first time I have played a strategy game. I have played the Civilization games and reached the “just one more turn” point like many other Sid Meier fans. Then came the day I tried to play Total War: Warhammer. I have always been a Warhammer Fan. In the past we devoted a great deal of time to Warhammer Online on our podcast.

After attempting to figure out the game and failing it quickly ended up in the abandoned section of my gaming library. There are even a few games you wouldn’t expect to be there like Half Life. To this day my character is stuck in a flooded basement unable to get through and play the rest of the game.

So recently on the Steam Summer sale I saw a strategy game called Endless Space 2 developed by Amplitude Studios. The game looks beautiful. It got great reviews. But when I tried to play through the tutorial at “beginners” level I felt like I was back in Advance Statistics Class in grad school learning to do linear regression without the aid of a spreadsheet.

I would love to play some strategy games – especially outer space games. They look like they could be such fun. However this being the second time attempting to learn I think I am ready to have my “brain dashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped around a gold brick” (to quote Douglas Adams’ description of a drink called a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

I wasn’t depressed before but I sure am now….