MeinMMO presents you here the best games in the genres real-time strategy, turn-based strategy, and 4X that you can play on PC in 2025.
Update from September 12, 2025: We have updated the list and added some titles.
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This is how we selected: The list is largely based on the personal assessments of the editorial team. Many editors and authors from MeinMMO grew up with strategy games and still enjoy playing them today.
Also, a good rating was important for the selection, such as on Steam, how many players are still active, and how well the game has held up. So you will find not only new games on the list but also some classics.
We also made sure to provide a little variety in settings and sub-genres. In selecting, we were mainly focused on listing strategy games with a tactical, competitive component. If you are looking for more games in the building and simulation genre, you can find additional selections in the 150 best strategy games of all time at GameStar.
For some of the strategy games, we provide alternatives that play similarly and differ only slightly.
The list is unordered, so it is not a ranking.
Age of Empires 4
The Age of Empires series is still a cornerstone of the strategy genre today. You lead a civilization through the ages, create units, and wage war against other cultures to eventually achieve victory through conquest or world wonders.
Age of Empires is characterized by a balanced mix between base building (“Macro”) and real-time combat (“Micro”) in an ancient or medieval setting. Each civilization or faction has unique buildings and units with strengths and weaknesses.
The latest part of the series is Age of Empires 4, which gives each faction even more of its own identity than ever before and allows for battles on massive maps. The gameplay has not changed since the first part.
If you want to engage with one of the cornerstones of strategy games, you should definitely play Part 4. The game is still being supported with expansions and DLCs, as well as balance patches and smaller events. If you own the Game Pass, you can even play without additional costs. Only the DLCs cost money and provide you with new civilizations:
- Dynasties of the East includes the Golden Horde, the Macedonian dynasty, Sengoku Daimyo, and the Tughlak dynasty.
- The Sultans Ascent brings Japan and Byzantium as well as the Ayyubids, Joan of Arc, the Order of the Dragon, and Zu Xi’s Legacy as variants.
- With Knights of the Cross and Rose, you get the Knights Templar and House Lancaster as new variants.
If you prefer playing a classic, as an alternative there is the Definitive Edition of Age of Empires 2, which is still praised today, especially in eSports. A personal secret tip is Age of Empires 3, which is controversial among fans but mixes the old mechanics with new systems.
Total War: Warhammer 3
Total War is known for being one of the largest real-time battles in the genre, featuring excellent animations and strong gameplay. Warhammer 3 is currently the largest entry on the list, according to players on Steam, and boasts strong ratings.
You play as one of the fantasy races from the famous world of Warhammer, such as Dwarves, Elves, greedy Ogres, deadly Chaos, or the sneaky ratmen of the Skaven. Total War has a rather unique gameplay system:
- Base building, diplomacy, and troop movements occur turn-based in a grand-strategy format.
- Then you conduct battles either in real-time, or you let them be calculated automatically.
With Immortal Empires, Total War: Warhammer 3 has a huge skirmish campaign with over 250 factions fighting for dominance. Here a turn can easily take dozens of hours.
Those who can’t get into the fantasy world of Warhammer are well accommodated with Total War: Three Kingdoms or can check out the new Pharaoh. Although it was heavily criticized, it has improved significantly since then.
- To Total War: Warhammer 3 on Steam
- To Total War: Pharaoh on Steam
- To Total War: Three Kingdoms on Steam
Age of Wonders 4
Age of Wonders 4 is a turn-based strategy game and the 6th game in the popular series. It fully embraces fantasy with dragons, wizardry and many different races.
You create a civilization with appearance, a leader, and abilities, striving for victory against other players on a random map. On the map, you establish cities, research spells, and develop new units with which you will then fight against other players or conquer specific events or buildings. Battles are fought on their own small maps. For an overall victory, points are awarded that you can invest in your Pantheon, where you can unlock nice cosmetics.
If you love turn-based games but find titles like Civilization 6 too historical and lengthy, you should take a look at Age of Wonders 4. Compared to Civ VI, the games are relatively short, and you can configure and adjust your civilization and ruler in great detail. Especially if you enjoyed the predecessors, you get a modern fantasy RTS.
Developer Triumph Studios continues to support the game with updates and has already stated that they plan to continue providing updates and DLCs even after the Season Pass.
Gladius: Relics of War
In Gladius: Relics of War, you play the various races of Warhammer 40,000 in turn-based battles. For those who don’t know: Warhammer 40,000 is a dystopian future full of technology, aliens, and chaos demons. A unique mix of sci-fi and fantasy.
Gladius plays somewhat similarly to Civilization but completely omits the diplomacy factor. In Warhammer, there is only war, as the world advertises.
What Gladius does particularly well is the representation of the different races. Each faction plays differently and uniquely, has its own units, technologies, and strategies.
Although there is no campaign, quests guide you through the individual rounds and serve as a substitute. You achieve victories through domination, meaning the destruction of all opponents, or by completing a quest series.
The major downside: Gladius has a wealth of DLCs that significantly inflate the game’s price. You don’t need them all, but anyone wanting to play the different races will have to pay. The good news, however, is that you can often find offers for individual parts of the overall package on Steam, GOG, or Humble Bundle and expand your collection for a few euros. Otherwise, you pay well over 100 euros even during sales.
Due to the variety of units and the story the game tells, Gladius is an excellent game to dive into the world of Warhammer. Here you will find another selection of games to get to know Warhammer.
Alternative: Zephon
From the same creators and in the same style, sometimes even with the same assets, Zephon was released on Steam in 2024 and has received an extraordinarily positive reception there. Unlike Gladius, however, you rely significantly more on diplomacy in Zephon and are not trapped in an eternal war.
In some respects, Zephon is the improved version of Gladius, although not quite as polished. Especially if you value having many factions with very different characteristics, you are better off with Gladius.
All factions in Zephon, for example, share the same tech tree but have varying strengths and weaknesses regarding units and research. This leads to better balancing but significantly less variety. In
Crusader Kings 3
The Swedish studio Paradox is known for its absurdly large games and virtually founded the grand strategy genre. Crusader Kings 3 is one of the newer entries in this genre.
You play as one of the historical rulers from the 9th or 12th century – or you create your own ruler – and lead your realm through diplomacy, marriages, developments, and conquests across the ages. Whether through war or intrigue, in the end, you aim to dominate as much of the world as possible.
Or you pursue your own goals: maybe you want to lead the Byzantine Empire as a nudist or reform the ancient Nordic faith to replace Christianity as the world’s largest religion?
Crusader Kings 3 has been continuously developed over the years and now even has a certain RPG aspect. Your ruler has his own throne room and can undertake special journeys. How you play is up to you.
Of all the games presented here, the entry into Crusader Kings 3 is the most difficult, and you will need dozens of hours to largely understand the world. If you’re looking for alternatives in other historical settings, you should check out Victoria, Europa Universalis, or Hearts of Iron.
Alternative: Hearts of Iron IV
If you’re not so keen on the Middle Ages and battles with sword and shield, Hearts of Iron from the same developer studio might be something for you. You take on the role of the government of a country just before World War II and try to navigate through the turbulent times. The focus of Hearts of Iron IV is on the military.
Whether as a small nation or a major player, you are responsible for ensuring that your nation emerges victorious from World War II. You can choose whether you want to follow a realistic historical course or prefer more random events. How you ultimately act is up to you.
Age of Mythology: Retold
All strategy game veterans among you will have heard of Age of Mythology: Microsoft’s Age of Empires
spin-off puts you in the role of various religions instead of focusing on different cultures.
You choose a main god from one of the available pantheons and select sub-deities over the ages, which equip you with new research opportunities, mythical units, and even divine spells.
Available are the Egyptians, Greeks, Norsemen, and Atlanteans, along with the paid DLC the Chinese as a completely new mythology in the game.
With Retold, Age of Mythology was re-released in 2024 and offers among other things:
- the same voice acting as back then
- familiar gameplay in significantly prettier visuals
- an optimized multiplayer experience
- improved features, such as divine spells that you can now use multiple times as well as balancing of the religions
Anyone who loves Age of Empires but wishes for a bit more fantasy in the game will find Age of Mythology just right. Anyone who owns the Xbox/PC Game Pass has access to Age of Mythology: Retold through this without any costs except for paid DLCs.
Command and Conquer (all parts)
Alongside Age of Empires, Command and Conquer is arguably the best-known series of real-time strategy games. However, instead of the Middle Ages, you play in alternative and quite dark realities:
- In the original series, an alien material called Tiberium has appeared on Earth, sparking a war over it. While some try to contain the dangers, a fanatical cult around Tiberium forms on the other side.
- Red Alert covers an alternative timeline in which escalating wars occur between the Soviets and the Allies, and later even the Japanese Empire.
- Generals is a spin-off that focuses more on current conflicts from the 2000s.
Although these games are sometimes very old, there is now a highly popular remaster of the first parts on Steam, as well as a large collection of all Command and Conquer games for a few euros. Therefore, we do not recommend just a single game here, but all of them.
Command and Conquer has not aged well, and its multiplayer only works to a limited extent, often not at all. However, if you enjoy proving yourself against the AI and playing strong campaigns, you are in good hands with all the games.
Civ 6
Civilization 6 is arguably the most famous and one of the most popular turn-based strategy games currently available on Steam. While Civilization 7 has now been announced as a successor, it isn’t receiving particularly good reviews right after release. Until these issues are addressed, we recommend the predecessor.
You choose a civilization, establish cities, and lead your civilization through various ages. It is up to you how you master the game: either you win militarily, try to force your opponent to your knees with your culture, or be the first to shoot a rocket into space. Alternatively, you can team up with other players.
Civilization has been continually developed over the past years, receiving two major expansions, an extensive expansion pack, and numerous smaller DLCs.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive strategy game that entertains you for many evenings, you should check out Civ 6. The cooperative mode is also a genuine recommendation. Particularly with all the expansions, the game is worth a look.
In addition, Civilization VII has been officially announced for 2025. You can read more about it on MeinMMO in the future. A strong alternative to Civ 6 is Millennia, according to our author Schuhmann, even though the launch of the new game was quite rocky. Millennia is now said to be quite good.
Alternative: Old World
Old World is a turn-based strategy game that took inspiration from both Civilization and Crusader Kings. From both series, you will find ideas that developer Mohawk Games combined into its own game.
Much like in Civilization, you choose a people in Old World, such as the Romans or Egyptians, establish cities, research technologies, and conquer your opponents. However, unlike Civ, you remain in antiquity and do not transition into other ages.
Another uniqueness is that your family plays an important role. You play as your ruler, marry, have children, and manage your dynasty’s continuance. Similar to Paradox’s model, there are events that can affect your family. If your family dies out, the game ends immediately. Cities are managed by your family members and can become rebellious if you neglect family unity. This gives the game a unique dynamic that is rarely predictable.
Old World is being continuously developed and will receive new content. DLCs expand the game with new wonders, scenarios, and hundreds of new events that you must survive with your dynasty. Additionally, there is a loyal community that offers numerous mods.
If you find Crusader Kings too complex and Civilization too extensive, Old World strikes a balance and introduces many of its own ideas. Especially with its dynasty mechanics, Old World feels refreshingly different from its larger counterpart in the early games. If you love the ancient setting, it’s worth taking a look.
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