Advance Wars is a little strategy game available for the Nintendo GBA and the Nintendo DS. If you played Strategic Conquest back in the day, you’ll have the general idea, though Nintendo has expanded greatly on the concept and added a lot of character to it. The basic premise is you control units with a set of characteristics – how far they can move, how far they can shoot, the kinds of shots they can make (vs air units and ground units, for example) and a how much damage they can take. You use your units to take control of cities and manufacturing centers on maps, which provide income and the means to produce more units. There’s now a free version which is basically a clone of the Nintendo games available online via Advanced Wars By Web which allows web-based online play against other players. Well worth a look if the game style appeals to you. As usual I’ll offer to beat any comers – just issue the challenge and I’m in.

Enjoy.