Nations: Land of Legends is one of those hidden gem strategy games for the Game Boy Color that flew under the radar. You pick from different factions—vikings, samurai, knights—and build up your civilization while fending off attacks. The pixel art’s surprisingly detailed for a GBC title, and I remember spending way too long just staring at the little animated units marching across the map.

At first, the controls feel a bit cramped (it is a handheld strategy game from 2000), but once you get the hang of resource management and unit upgrades, it gets weirdly addictive. The samurai faction’s cavalry is stupidly overpowered if you rush them early, just saying. It’s not as deep as, say, Advance Wars, but there’s something charming about how it squeezes a full conquest game into that tiny cartridge.

Still holds up if you’re into retro strategy—just don’t expect a modern UI.