The high cost of virtual reality environments has all but barred the development of enjoyable and innovative games utilizing such environments. STRAFE is an attempt to create a game using the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE), a virtual reality technology whereby a stereo image is projected to four, five, or six screens arranged as a cube. The success of such a game will generate commercial interest in virtual reality games.

STRAFE stands for Strategic Turn-based Realistic Action in a First Person Environment, as it is a mixture of the turn-based strategy and first person genre of games. In STRAFE, players will not be given a top-down view of the battlefield, but instead will see the world from an individual unit's point of view. This feature will make effective use of virtual reality in games that previously was not possible.

The attack system consists of five unit types. The commander is a unit without any bonuses or maluses. The scout has a malus against all units, but is able to move long distances. The ranged trumps the infantry, the infantry trumps the cavalry, and the cavalry trumps the ranged.