From version 3, the player can select a skill level from one to fifteen to make the computer more or less challenging. When playing a one-player game (created by selecting 'Single Player Game' in the setup window), the opponent player is the computer. There are three types of games available: one-player games against the computer, two-player games on a single Mac, or two-player games over AppleTalk with one machine as the master and the other the slave. The latest version, 4.0.1, was released on February 2, 1998. Version 3.0 added 16-color graphics and optional MacinTalk prompts, while 4.0 was a major upgrade with new units (the helicopter and artillery), and a new map-building system based on fractals and allows the user to select maps with more or less land.

The game was later acquired by Delta Tao Software, who continued development. The Apple II version of 1.0 shipped the same year, and the Plus version the next year. In later documents this is generally referred to Strategic Conquest 2.0. Strategic Conquest Plus was released in 1986. The first published version appears to have been in 1984, sometimes attributed incorrectly to John L. Strategic Conquest was first developed in 19 by Peter Merrill on an Apple Lisa for the Apple Macintosh. Though the game has not been updated since 1998, it is fully compatible with Macintosh System Software from 6 to 9, and is also playable under the Classic environment included with PowerPC versions of Mac OS X up to Mac OS X v10.4. It can be played against the computer, or by two human players taking turns on one machine or two machines connected over an AppleTalk network.

It differed from Empire in a number of details, most notably its system for creating the game map. Victory is achieved when all enemy cities have been conquered or when either player surrenders. The world is divided into islands that contain cities that can be captured to produce military units. Like Empire, the player's objective in Strategic Conquest is to defeat the enemy and conquer the world. Delta Tao Software took over distribution for later Classic Mac OS releases. It was written by Peter Merrill for the Apple Macintosh and released in 1984 by PBI Software, and later ported to the Apple II in 1986. Strategic Conquest is a turn-based strategy game based on the wargame Empire.

War strategy games mac