There's a series of games made by Paradox Development Studio (the dev studio of Paradox Interactive) of the 'genre' "Grand Strategy". Basically, you play as [Nation X] and try to [Take over the world/cause strange ahistorical things to happen/do whatever the hell you want]. They are very moddable and have plenty of mods made for them on the official forums.
You can get all of the games on Steam or Gamersgate.

The main games are currently (in order of in-game timeline):
- Crusader Kings 2 (1066-1453)
- Europa Universalis 3 (1399-1821)
- Victoria 2 (1836-1936)
- Hearts of Iron 3 (1936-1948, basically World War 2)

CK2, currently the latest to be released, is all about medieval feudal mechanics and crusades (hence the name). You're a [Count/Duke/King/Emperor] who wants to spread his dynasty around the world. This game has the most explicit goal of the four (it has an actual "score" of sorts, based on your prestige (which in turn is based on land you and other members of your dynasty control, etc) and piety (based on how loyal you are to your religion, ie: do you participate in the crusades?)), and even then it's not something you absolutely have to care about. Direct world conquest is discouraged somewhat in this game, but it's not impossible. This game just received a Muslim-focused expansion/DLC (basically Africa and parts of south Asia are now playable with unique mechanics). Three more are planned, though they haven't revealed what the content of them will be yet. Beginner's guide on the wiki

EU3 is all about exploring the New World as a European power (hence Europa Universalis). Your goal ("canonically", if nothing else) is to become a colonial powerhouse, though really it doesn't force you to do anything and is very sandbox-y. Feudal dynasties are on the decline and religious reformation abounds the second half of the game. There are four expansions, and you'll want to get the "Chronicles" version of the game (contains all 4 of them) if you intend to play it. "Newbie guide" on the wiki
EU4 is the next grand strategy game planned and is set to be released late 2013.

Vicky2 is very focused on economics. Your "goal" is to become one of the "Great Powers" (aka one of the "top 8" nations of the world based on prestige, industrial power, and military strength) and, I suppose, have a great economy. As a great power you gain the ability to influence weaker nations, such as adding them to your "sphere of influence". Like all Paradox games, very sandbox-y. You'll probably want to get the latest expansion(s) too, since each previous expansion stops being updating upon release of another expansion (something they've changed for CK2 and future games thankfully). "Newbie guide" on the wiki

HoI3 is pretty much all about war (and considering it's basically taking place all around WW2...). It has lots of AI automation options if you're not familiar with/don't want to deal with X aspect of the game (such as economy). Of course, being a Paradox game, you don't have to engage in war at all; maybe you want to be the economic force behind the war, or don't want to be involved at all. Anything is possible. You'll probably want to get the latest expansion(s) too, since each previous expansion stops being updating upon release of another expansion (something they've changed for CK2 and future games thankfully). "Newbie guide" on the wiki


Some related links:
- Grand Strategy General on /vg/
- paradoxian.org, home of most of the wikis for these games (notable exception: CK2, you'll find that here for the moment)
- PDS section of the PI forums (forums front page)



PS: There needs to be a disable emoticons checkbox, I had to replace a : with : to fix a broken url.

So, has anyone here played any of them (or at least heard of them)? I suppose it might be quite a useless thread if I'm the only one who is even interested in them.

The only one I've played really is EU3, though I did try out a few short games of CK2. The mechanics of CK2 keep changing somewhat though, so I think it's too close to release to be playing it much yet. Actually, it's been a while since the last patch, so maybe I'll try again and see what's up.

You know there's a way to speed up/slow down time, right? You just hit the + and - keys to shift it up/down, and space [un]pauses it.