1991 is a strong argument for why "strategy game" should never be treated as one genre. Two of the year's most influential releases approach planning and problem-solving from almost opposite directions.
Civilization and the Turn-Based Epic
Sid Meier's Civilization let players guide a society from the ancient world toward the space age, balancing research, diplomacy, expansion and war across a game that could easily run for many hours per session. Its "one more turn" pacing became a genre-defining hook, and its scope — thousands of years compressed into a single ruleset — set a bar that turn-based strategy games are still measured against.
Lemmings and Lateral-Thinking Puzzle Design
Lemmings took a completely different approach to strategic thinking: assign a handful of roles — digger, blocker, builder, bomber — to a stream of relentlessly walking creatures, and figure out the sequence that gets enough of them to safety. It rewarded observation and planning over reflexes, proving that puzzle games could be genuinely strategic without any combat or resource system at all.
Why Both Belong in the Same Conversation
Civilization asks "what should we build over the next fifty years." Lemmings asks "what should happen in the next ten seconds." Both are strategy in the truest sense: making a plan under constraints and watching the consequences play out. That range is exactly why the classic strategy games guide treats 4X, real-time and puzzle-strategy as related branches of the same tree rather than separate categories.
1991's Lasting Shadow
Both games spawned imitators and sequels for over a decade. See the full 1991 catalogue by year for the rest of a genuinely strong twelve months for PC strategy design.
