An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made, now brought up to date with the riches of the last two years. From intricate wargames to soothing peacegames, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and we’ve gathered the best of the best. The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever.
They’re all brilliant. Before diving into this delicious stack of games, we should define exactly what we mean when we say “Strategy Games”.
The answer, quite simply, is that we don’t mean “Strategy Games”. Don’t worry, they’re here, – from grand historical strategy and RTS clickity-clicking to turn-based operational level wargaming – but our church of strategy is broad. Games that concentrate purely on tactical decisions and combat have been considered for inclusion, as have management games that might not fit into Colonel Trousers’ rigid definitions as outlined in the seminal brain-pacifier That Is Not Strategy Vol I-XXX. There are several reasons to recommend our broader definition.
Perhaps most importantly, it means that we haven’t ended up with a list of 50 games about World War II or alien spacewars. The treasures below are varied in theme, style and setting, and there’s surprisingly little overlap between them. Some of the management games included would struggle to find a home on any genre-based list if they didn’t have a home here.
Inclusiveness is key. Of course, you might find that your personal favourites haven’t made the list.
When your moment of grieving has passed, remember that all attempts to rank games are arbitrary and ultimately futile, and whether X should be placed above Y might isn’t really all that important. That’s not to say this isn’t the most accurate list you’ll ever read, of course, because it is. The links below will skip you forward in intervals of ten, if you like. You can also change pages using the arrows beneath or below the image at the top of each page, or using your arrow keys: Onward!
Muppetizer says: Definitely, Total Annihilation is still my favourite RTS to this day. One thing that’s always frustrated me is how all of the spiritual successors have focused on the scale, but I think that’s forgetting so many of the details that made the game so interesting. Things like elevation having such a distinct effect on bullet trajectories and troop movement, the variety and effectiveness of base building, the way different maps allowed for completely different economies, the fact that radars and map information were such an important part of the game — and radar jammers alongside that. There’s so many things that TA did that modern games have barely scratched. Abomb76 says: Agree, I didn’t find it all that interesting or fun.
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Did one playthrough and never felt compelled to go back to it. A game I’m not surprised is missing but absolutely deserves to be on this list is Renowned Explorers: International Society – don’t let the cutesy simple graphics fool you, this is a deep, engrossing and endlessly replayable turn-based strategy game based on Explorers and Expeditions in the late 19th century. It has a very active and friendly community which extends the life of the game by posting weekly high score challenges. If you call yourself a strategy fan you really owe it to yourself to play this – the DLC is pretty much essential as well, adding a lot of new features to the game. 321 says: “Although it’s not often regarded as part of the pantheon of strategy games, Rise of Nations is the closest thing to a real-time take on Civilization that we’ve seen. ” Damn right. Rise of Nations is so profoundly good, so incredibly, unspeakably good – its not just one of the best strategy games ever made, its one of the best games of any genre, on any platform.
It boggles the mind how good and rich and deep it is. Perhaps thats the reason we dont see the game more revered and mentioned in strategy discussions – its too much for the average gamer. Arkayjiya says: I don’t know, I’m very much an “average gamer”, although a dedicated PC one, I touch many genres but rarely go too much in depth (I like UT and OW as FPS but I’m not going to play Arma for example). Like a lot of people I’ve grown up on the most popular entries of the genre which are generally RTS(Warcraft 2&3, AoE 2 and my personal favourite of this whole list: Starcraft 2, shitty story but best gameplay of any video game I’ve ever played) although I’ve touched some Civilization (but the fifth which is fairly mainstream) and rise of nations is one of my all time favs. It has that balance between complexity and accessibility and it makes growing cities and territories so god-damn satisfying.
I also like legends but nations is definitely better even if not quite as cool looking. SuddenSight says: I loved Rise of Nations. It definitely hit the real-time-Civ note. That said, battles felt rubbish in the game. I think it found an awkward middle ground between the micro-heavy precision of Starcraft/Warcraft and the unit-massing of Total Annihilation, with mini-squads making everything more complicated. I remember many instances where the best option was just to spam light infantry.
The governments in the expansion where also neat, but not that revolutionary really. Just a couple minor bonuses wrapped in a new “tech.” For me the game really shone in the economic and expansion side, which was more involved and more interesting. Too bad none of the victory conditions made peace a fun endgame. Bktor says: I agree with those criticizing the lack of mention of the Combat Mission series in this “50 best strategy games” piece. Combat Mission is a realistic WWII/modern war strategy series, unlike WWII strategy alternatives Men of War and Company of Heroes. Arduous attention to modeling what war is actually like yields to Michael Bay ideals of explosions and graphical extravagance in the minds of the authors of this piece.
I can’t respect that. Hopefully Tim Stone’s influence over this wretched quivering mass of high output, low quality gaming journalists/advertisers will show in the long term. If this piece was instead entitled “50 most popular strategy games on pc”, I would be less insulted by the lack of mention of a superior strategy product.
Jerkzilla says: I’m saying this based on maybe 10 or 30 minutes of experience before dropping it for good, but Supreme Commander always struck me as kind of flavorless. I mean, it’s almost definitely not my type of game, managing large numbers of units is not something I do well, but I can recognize that the gameplay has value irrespective of how bad I am at it, it’s just that all the media I’ve seen of it looks kind of bland and generic. I did enjoy what little I got to play of Planetary Annihilation and have made a note to go back to it.
Also, while Massive’s RTTs are all excellent, I thought WiC is the more definitive version. It must have been a hard call though. SuddenSight says: I should have known that I would disagree with any list of strategy games, considering the breadth of the genre and how many games in it I enjoy.
Still, Civ IV was my LEAST favorite CIV game. The new stuff (promotions and great leaders, mostly) just felt like cruft to me while the game took away many things I was familiar with in Civ III. I have since accepted it (and I will always defend Civ V for switching to hexagons), but I definitely do NOT agree with the (apparently?) common assessment that Civ IV was the “pinacle” of square-Civ.
The one part I will agree is that Civ IV brought with it the Civ Revolution remake, and Civ Revolution is swell. Unsheep says: 40% I agree with: Ground Control, Dragon Pass, AI War 60% I disagree with: Starcraft? Darkest Dungeon? Says: Oh, polemics! Well, I begin to read (every day, many times) RPS after seeing Freespace 2 make top 1 of some list (I believe it was best games), and also X-COM being there somewhere. Well, this list might be the one to make me stop reading it.
No C&C games? In fifty fucking games you can’t find a spot for one of the most celebrated strategy games ever made? Of which there are what, dozen different titles? And may be considered one of the precursor of the genre? Geez, hivemind, you’ve disappointed me. (of course I know this doesn’t matter and I will keep reading RPS every day, but I needed to show some nerd rage on this stupid list).
Aldous Huxley says: Total War: Warhammer is a better strategy game than Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms? And apparently Company of Heroes is better than Graviteam Tactics / Achtung Panzer? And Men of War is better than Combat Mission? And no mention of Dungeon Keeper 2, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, Jane’s Fleet Command, Harpoon, CMANO, Naval War: Arctic Circle, Theatre of War, Paper’s Please, Sacrifice, Hostile Waters, Ultimate General, Sid Meier’s Gettysburg, Cossacks 3, The Emergency series and a decent Chess engine like say Fritz 15 (Rybka)?
Or have you been “guarding” Alice’s wine cellar again?
Release Date: 14 APR 2011 Advanced Tactics with limitless possibilities this is Advanced Tactics: Gold! Based on the award winning game engine by the same name, Advanced Tactics: Gold offers a unique and infinitely replayable wargaming experience for any strategy fan.
Building off of the enormous success of Advanced Tactics: World War II, the Gold edition gives players a more powerful game editor, much improved random game engine, many new features and abilities, and more. Genre: Operational Timeline: World War I, World War II, Modern, Fantasy. Microsoft business contact manager.
Release Date: 27 MAR 2013 Can you do better than General Patton and Montgomery? Open the attack on the soft underbelly of Europe in 'Operation Husky', with nine missions detailing the invasion of Sicily. With more than 30 new units, and missions ranging from the chaos of the initial night drops to the grim battles across the baking hills of the interior, Battle Academy: Operation Husky lets you test your tactical skill against the tenacious Axis defenders. Genre: Tactical Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 2 APR 2015 In the summer of 1943 both Soviet and German High Commands gathered their strength for what they both believed would be a decisive battle. The Germans assembled their most powerful divisions, freshly equipped with the latest equipment, to attack the north and south flanks of the salient around the city of Kursk. The Soviets, having deduced the German plan, cram their forces into the bulge, creating layer after layer of defensive positions to stop the German panzers in their tracks.
Genre: Tactical Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 8 APR 2014 The Battle Academy Mega Pack is a collection of all previous Battle Academy Expansions. The mega pack includes Blitzkrieg France, Operation Sealion, Operation Market Garden, Operation Husky, Rommel in Normandy and Fortress Metz.
Together these expansions bring over 100 new units, 6 new full campaigns and over 75 scenarios for either single or multiplayer use. Buying this pack together with the Battle Academy base game is the best way to get your hands on the complete Battle Academy series! Genre: Tactical Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 23 DEC 2005 Report for duty to the first-person, online action game where players choose to fight alongside and against thousands of other players on the battlefields of western europe. Grab a rifle and experience heart-stopping infantry action or choose to advance your skills in one of dozens of accurately modeled combat vehicles, naval vessels or aircraft.
Succeed and help the cause of the Allied or Axis forces. Fail and watch your side get pushed back and struggle for a foothold. Volume one in The Vir Genre: Action Timeline: World War II.
Release Date: 15 SEP 2004 Battles in Normandy brings to you the award-winning Decisive Battles of World War II system and some seriously intense gameplay. Choose to take the Allied side and you're faced with the overpowering burden of locking into mortal combat with some of the German Army's most vicious and experienced Eastern Front veterans. Or, select the Germans and face an all-consuming Allied army that has a near-endless pool of reinforcements and supply to draw from, intent on your complete destruction.
Genre: Operational Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 21 JUN 2011 Close Combat - The Longest Day is a highly enhanced rebuild of the critically acclaimed Close Combat Invasion Normandy, originally developed by Atomic Games.
Take command of either the Allied Expeditionary Force or Germanys Wehrmacht. You will either carry out the worlds largest amphibious invasion to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation or defend Hitlers Atlantic Wall! This release comes with expanded force pools, support for much larger maps, night battles with flare effects, and more! Genre: Tactical, Operational Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 23 MAR 2011 Experience the engaging and intense Combat Command game system with more units, more scenarios, new art, and more!
Combat Command The Matrix Edition is a new updated compilation of the Combat Command series which combines the features, units, scenarios, and gameplay from both Desert Rats and Danger Forward into one fantastic system. Included in this updated release are two brand new thrilling scenarios, Moscow and Stalingrad. Genre: Operational Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 26 MAY 2010 Panther Games brings us to the Winter of 1944 with Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge.
Although the Battle of the Bulge is ground that has been visited by wargamers before, it has never been done with this level of fidelity and historical accuracy. The most advanced and realistic model of command decision-making implemented in a commercial wargame, combined with thorough historical research on the battlefields and forces involved in this campaign sets Command Ops apart from the competition. Genre: Operational Timeline: World War II.
Release Date: 26 JAN 2012 As the first official expansion pack for the award winning Command Ops series, Command Ops: Highway to the Reich from acclaimed developer Panther Games brings us to the setting of one of the most epic and controversial battles of World War II: Operation Market-Garden. The Highway to the Reich expansion pack is a set of 13 scenarios covering all of the major actions that took place during the Market Garden Campaign in Holland during September 1944.
Genre: Operational Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 8 MAY 2012 This exciting new release is a faithful adaptation of the renowned Conflict of Heroes board game that won the Origins Historical Game of the Year, Charles Roberts Wargame of the Year and the James F. Dunnigan Design Elegance Award, as well as many others! Designed and developed in cooperation with Uwe Eickert, the original designer of Conflict of Heroes, no effort has been spared to bring the outstanding Conflict of Heroes gameplay to the computer. Genre: Tactical Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 13 JUN 2013 Conflict of Heroes: Ghost Divisions is an expansion to the critically acclaimed tactical computer wargame Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear, which is in turn the official adaptation of the award-winning board game by the same name.
Conflict of Heroes: Ghost Divisions adds two exciting new campaigns to Conflict of Heroes as well as full multiplayer support, allowing those campaigns to be played head to head using the integrated multiplayer server. Genre: Tactical Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 19 NOV 2013 Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steelis a standalone expansion to the critically acclaimed tactical computer wargame Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear, which is in turn the official adaptation of the award-winning board game by the same name. Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel adds an impressive new campaign to Conflict of Heroes as well as offering the same multiplayer support even standalone, allowing the campaign to be played head to head using the integrated multiplayer server. Genre: Tactical Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 16 JUL 2012 The team behind the award-winning Decisive Campaigns: From Warsaw To Paris is back with a new and improved game engine that focuses on the decisive year and theater of World War II!
Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue simulates the German drive to Stalingrad and into the Caucasus of the summer of 1942, as well as its May preludes (2nd Kharkov offensive, Operation Trappenjagd) and also the Soviet winter counter-offensive (Operation Uranus) that ended with the encirclement of 6th Army in Stalingrad. Genre: Operational, Strategic Timeline: World War II.
Release Date: 26 AUG 2010 The team behind the award-winning game Advanced Tactics is back with a new and improved game engine that focuses on the decisive early days of World War II! Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris is the first in an innovative series of operational World War II wargames that also include a strategic element. The Decisive Campaigns simulates Germanys military successes in Poland and France in 1939 and 1940 (including also a hypothetical Sea Lion invasion of Great Britain). Genre: Operational, Strategic Timeline: World War II.
Release Date: 25 JUN 2014 Command a grand campaign, making key decisions and controlling the final engagement. In the oppressive heat of the desert, supplies are running low. Do you wait for more, or make a desperate attack now with tired troops? Use mines, ridges, and depressions to your advantage in desert warfare against challenging AI or online opponents. Desert Fox, designed from the ground up for iPhone and iPad, is a thrilling wargame experience for both casual and veteran players. Genre: Operational Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 1 MAR 2012 The critically and fan acclaimed Eastern Front mega-game Gary Grigsbys War in the East just got bigger and better with Gary Grigsbys War in the East: Don to the Danube!
This expansion to the award-winning War in the East comes with a wide array of later war scenarios ranging from short but intense 6 turn bouts like the Battle for Kharkov (1942) to immense 37-turn engagements taking place across multiple nations like Drama on the Danube (Summer 1944 Spring 1945). Genre: Strategic Timeline: World War II.
Release Date: 16 MAY 2013 The second expansion for the Eastern Front tour de force Gary Grigsbys War in the East just arrived with Gary Grigsbys War in the East: Lost Battles! This new addition to the award-winning War in the East fills out your collection of Eastern Front scenarios with a range of new and challenging battles. Gary Grigsbys War in the East: Lost Battles is an expansion for War in the East and requires the base game to play. Genre: Operational, Strategic Timeline: World War II.
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Release Date: 7 DEC 2010 Gary Grigsby's War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is the spiritual heir to the great Eastern Front board and computer wargames of the past; a turn-based World War II strategy game down to the division and brigade level, stretching across the entire Eastern Front at a 10km scale. Gamers can engage in massive, dramatic campaigns, including intense battles involving thousands of units with realistic and historical terrain, weather, orders of battle, logistics and combat results. Genre: Operational, Strategic Timeline: World War II.
Release Date: 28 MAR 2005 In Gary Grigsby’s World At War™, you have complete control over the production, research and military strategy for your side. At your disposal are the full air, land and sea forces of each power, with each unit rated in a variety of researchable areas.
Take command in this dynamic, turn-based strategy game of World War II that puts you in the role of some of the most legendary leaders of history. Two tutorials and several campaign scenarios let you learn the system quickly and start fightin Genre: Strategic Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 25 JUL 2013 Germany At War: Operation Barbarossa 1941 is an elegant turn-based design, inspired by classics such as Panzer General, but with more of a historical focus. You command the German forces through a branching historical campaign covering the entire 1941 campaign as well as part of the 1942 campaign. Dozens of scenarios stretch from the Soviet border all the way to Archangel and towards Astrakhan, the original military goals of Operation Barbarossa.
Genre: Operational Timeline: World War II. Release Date: 5 JUN 2007 The John Tiller's Campaign Series exemplifies tactical war-gaming at its finest by bringing you the entire collection of TalonSoft's award-winning campaign series. Containing TalonSoft's West Front, East Front, and Rising Sun platoon-level combat series, as well as all of the official add-ons and expansion packs, the Matrix Edition allows players to dictate the events of World War II from the tumultuous beginning to its climatic conclusion. Genre: Tactical Timeline: World War II.
Release Date: 17 JUL 2008 Seize the Initiative and Secure Victory! Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets is the latest strategy title from the award-winning team at Strategic Studies Group. A synthesis of the very best elements of two critically acclaimed and top-rated game systems, Decisive Battles and Battlefront, and a successor to both, the new Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets brings to life a campaign of epic scale and dynamic battles on the Eastern Front of World War II. Genre: Operational Timeline: World War II.