Forge of Empires

Forge of Empires spans human history from the Bronze Age forward, and the progression through eras is genuinely long, this is a game measured in months, played in short daily sessions. The city-building layer is a spatial optimisation puzzle about fitting productive buildings into limited space, and it stays interesting because each era changes the shapes you are fitting.

The combat is better than the genre norm: turn-based tactical battles on a hex grid with unit types that counter each other properly, rather than a power-total comparison. Guild play, particularly Guild Expeditions and the territory map, is where the long-term community sits. It is free with the usual browser-strategy monetisation, and it is playable without spending, it is simply slower.