Ever played one of those strategy games where you spend half your time staring at the map, muttering "Okay, but what if I betray Liu Bei next turn?" That’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV in a nutshell. You pick a warlord—Cao Cao’s a solid starter, but good luck keeping your advisors happy—and suddenly it’s 3 AM and you’re debating whether to bribe an enemy general or just let the river flood their crops.

The SNES version’s got this weirdly addictive mix of diplomacy and chaos. One minute you’re negotiating a fragile alliance, the next your best general defects because you forgot to throw him a banquet last winter. The pixelated battle animations are hilariously stiff, but watching your cavalry plow through a line of spearmen never gets old. Just don’t expect to win your first campaign—this game loves to humble you.

It’s the kind of game where losing a city hurts more emotionally than strategically. You’ll remember that betrayal for weeks.