25 Best Strategy Games To Play Over And Over Again In 2025

Some of the best strategy games in the storied genre helped shape the video game industry. There's a long and cherished history of strategy games in the industry dating back to the late 1900s with the creation of games such as Risk, Herzog Zwei, and others. Now, in 2025, the strategy genre is jam-packed with dozens of franchises and new titles that look to change up the formula in one way or another. While there are various subgenres of strategy games, all of them require you to think critically and solve problems that arise.

Below, we run through our picks for the best strategy games you can play in the modern era. Our list is primarily composed of games that are easily playable in 2025, whether it be on a console or PC (or, in some cases, mobile devices). Of course, you'll still see some of the most celebrated games in the genre that are impossible to leave off the list. The list is in no particular order. You can also check out our lists on the best PC games and the best co-op games for 2025.

Total War: Warhammer III

• Developer: Creative Assembly
• Release Date: February 17, 2022
• Platforms: PC
• Style: Turn-Based/Real-Time

First up we have Total War: Warhammer III, which is the third installment in the Warhammer series. As a whole, the Total War franchise features several strategy games dating back over two decades. We chose Warhammer III for the spot on the list thanks to the sheer volume and quality of content you have access to.

Warhammer III features both turn-based and real-time strategy, allowing you to command an army of hundreds in epic battles on incredibly designed maps. As you win more battles, your empire grows. The battles are quite different from one another, though, so you'll have to implement new strategies every time your army goes to war. There's also quite the story developing in the background that alters some of the content you experience throughout the game. If the single-player campaign doesn't suit your fancy, you can partake in custom multiplayer battles as well. If you're looking for a strategy game with the whole package, it's tough to beat Warhammer III.

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Manor Lords

• Developer: Slavic Magic
• Release Date: April 26, 2024
• Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Style: Real-Time/City-Builder

One of the most anticipated games from 2024 was Manor Lords, a real-time city-builder that was mostly developed by a single person. While the core gameplay of Manor Lords is similar to that of other city-builders, there are intricate details that make it stand out from the crowd.

First off, the graphics and attention to detail are superb in Manor Lords. You're placed in medieval times and all of the structures you can build reflect that time period. This also goes for the citizens of your city, which require around-the-clock care. Manor Lords is brutal in this regard, as the different seasons introduce new problems that you need to solve in real time, otherwise your citizens will start dying off. One of the distinct aspects of Manor Lords is the ability to physically enter your city from a first-person perspective. This is a rare feature in city-builders and it's done wonderfully in Manor Lords, allowing you to truly experience what you've built.

Manor Lords remains in early access but continues to get updates with new features.

Sid Meier's Civilization VII

• Developer: Firaxis Games
• Release Date: February 11, 2025
• Platforms: PC
• Style: Turn-Based

Civilization VII is the latest installment of the historic and storied Sid Meier's franchise. While Civ 7 hasn't been met with the best reviews since its launch in early 2025, it's arguably one of the best games in the entire series for beginners. Civ 7 is much like its predecessors in many ways. You start out as the leader of a single civilization on a massive continent, and your job is to expand that civilization through exploration, combat, and political means. The game takes place in turns, and every turn, you get to take a variety of actions to accomplish certain goals, produce items, explore the world, and fight opponents.

Compared to previous installments, Civ 7 allows for more automation from turn to turn, especially in combat, and doesn't make the gameplay loop as overwhelming right from the get-go. You can also use the new Age system, which determines what you can produce and what world leaders you can interact with at a certain time, to begin in an already-established civilization or start from scratch every playthrough. Overall, whether you're a beginner or veteran, Civ 7 offers hours of enjoyable gameplay that can completely engross you as you progress through all three Ages, dominate your world, and figure out what kind of leader you want to be.

Read our full Civilization VII review.

Frostpunk 2

• Developer: 11 Bit Studios
• Release Date: September 20, 2024
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Style: City-Builder

Frostpunk 2 is the most recent release on the list and it improves on nearly every aspect from the original. You begin as a small metropolis placed in the heart of a never-ending winter. To overcome the obstacles that come with the non-stop cold, you must expand and find ways to give your citizens warmth, food, and sufficient shelter. From the start of Frostpunk 2, you have different zones across your city that perform different jobs. However, as you progress, you'll be able to build special buildings that help you expand further into the vast tundra.

One of the unique aspects of Frostpunk 2 is the faction system. Your citizens can divide themselves into different factions as you progress, and each faction has ideas on how the metropolis should be run. It's your job to figure out which faction to listen to, which can cause some discord amongst the other citizens. Frostpunk 2 is a complex city-builder that goes well beyond the normal gameplay loop of expanding a city.

RimWorld

• Developer: Tynan Sylvester
• Release Date: November 4, 2013
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
• Style: Construction Simulator

If you're a fan of classic science-fiction franchises such as Dune, then RimWorld is right up your alley. The game is a construction simulator at its core, requiring three colonists to be kept alive by building new structures and gathering resources. The world you build is heavily inspired by science-fiction that's authored by an intelligent AI that offers help and a gripping narrative along your journey.

RimWorld has all you want in a strategy game, as it forces you to make difficult decisions based on real-time problems. However, you also need to help your colonists survive, which requires you to make use of the many gameplay systems at play in RimWorld. Trade with ships, craft resources, attack neighboring settlements, and even train pets to perform specific jobs. Every world in RimWorld is randomly generated, so you'll have a new experience in each playthrough.

XCOM 2

• Developer: Firaxis Games
• Release Date: February 5, 2016
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, Android
• Style: Turn-Based Tactics

The XCOM series has inspired plenty of strategy games over the years, and the second entry is the turn-based series at its best. XCOM 2 gives you command over the mobile headquarters of a strike team that's tasked with overcoming an alien invasion of Earth. As the commander of the team, you choose where to strike, who to recruit to your team, and what to upgrade in the headquarters.

The combat is the real attraction in XCOM 2, as the turn-based style requires you to use everything at your disposal. One misstep could mean the end for your team. You have five different classes of soldiers to pick from, each with their own skill tree of abilities to combat different alien attacks and maneuvers. Assembling a well-rounded team and learning from previous fights is the only way forward in XCOM 2.

Stellaris

• Developer: Paradox Development Studio
• Release Date: May 9, 2016
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Style: Real-Time/Simulator

Stellaris is a gorgeous strategy game that allows you to explore and expand into the grand frontier of space. Starting out, you'll be in charge of a civilization that just learned how to travel to new star systems. You begin by sending out ships to explore these new systems, and once they find a suitable system, other ships can build stations around planets in the systems. You'll also discover anomalies within the systems, which lead to different quests, potential allies, and enemy races who are looking to settle the same system as you.

Speaking of races, you have complete control over what type of species your civilization is. There are plenty of options to choose from and each one offers different pros and cons. There are thousands of randomly generated systems and planets to explore in Stellaris, giving you hundreds of hours of content. Stellaris is a simulation game, so you can stop time if need be, but a majority of the game implements real-time-strategy elements. It's a nice mix of the turn-based and real-time strategy genres.

Crusader Kings III

• Developer: Paradox Development Studio
• Release Date: September 1, 2020
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PC
• Style: Simulation/RPG

Crusader Kings is another celebrated strategy game franchise, and the third installment is widely considered the best of the bunch. The game is set in the Middle Ages, where you start as the descendant of a noble house who's charged with keeping a dynasty afloat. Once you begin, you can expand your empire by claiming lands that are barren or engaging in war to seize the lands from other houses.

As you expand, you'll discover countless characters, some of whom are historical figures that you can trade with, romance, and even execute. The map you explore in Crusader Kings III is overwhelmingly large, and you can set a customized path for your character as they expand the empire. The strategy in the game comes from knowing where to expand, what choices to make, and how to develop your character.

Age of Wonders 4

• Developer: Triumph Studios
• Release Date: May 2, 2023
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Style: Turn-Based

Age of Wonders 4 is another strategy game where you're tasked with expanding an empire across a sprawling map, but the combat is much different from other games like it. It implements turn-based system that plays out when your army goes to fight an enemy. Your army in Age of Wonders 4 can be hand-crafted by using forms of magic you find through exploration or combining different races to make a super species.

As for the map you play on, you can pick a different realm to explore every time you begin a new playthrough. However, there's also an option to create your own realm, adding another layer of customization.

Hearts of Iron IV

• Developer: Paradox Development Studio
• Release Date: June 6, 2016
• Platforms: PC
• Style: Simulation

We have another strategy game with a "four" in the title, and this time it's Hearts of Iron IV. This game places you at the heart of World War II, where you can pick any nation to lead to victory. You'll have to fight countries on the other side of the war, make political decisions that are affected by your previous choices, and meticulously craft your military's soldiers, weapons, and tools.

While Hearts of Iron IV is historically accurate for the most part, there are also different paths you can follow that change the course of history. Strategy is present at every turn in Hearts of Iron IV, as the choices you make politically and during military battles are key in deciding who wins World War II in the end.

Age of Empires IV

• Developer: Relic Entertainment
• Release Date: October 28, 2021
• Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Style: Real-Time

Age of Empires IV is yet another game where you expand an empire through combat and strategy, but this time you can take control of 10 different nations throughout history. You can choose to control the Ottoman Empire at its peak or build up a smaller civilization. You'll also find several historical figures from these various nations scattered throughout the game. When you pick a nation to rule, your job is to expand it, both in size and culture. There are several different maps to pick from in Age of Empires IV and the entire game is set in real-time, meaning you have to make decisions quickly. Like in other simulators on this list, every decision you make in Age of Empires IV has an effect and will change the future of your empire.

Marvel's Midnight Suns

• Developer: Firaxis Games
• Release Date: December 2, 2022
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Style: Turn-Based Tactics/RPG

Marvel's Midnight Suns is a fantastic mix of strategy and RPG elements, both of which play a large part in every facet of the game. Your job as the main character, The Hunter, is to create a team of superheroes to stop an impending invasion. These superheroes are used in battle by playing cards in a turn-based fashion. Cards feature strong abilities for each hero to perform, but there are also environmental factors to consider when attacking each turn.

As for the RPG side of things, the characters you meet along the way develop as the game progresses. This is mostly done in The Abbey, a secret base where the heroes go to relax in between missions. Your character is fully customizable from the start of Marvel’s Midnight Suns and gets to know all the heroes on your team in meaningful ways.

Bloons TD 6

• Developer: Ninja Kiwi
• Release Date: June 14, 2018
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, iOS, Android
• Style: Real-Time/Tower Defense

The Bloons franchise is perhaps the most famous in the tower-defense genre of strategy games. The premise of Bloons TD 6 is simple: Stop enemies (bloons) from reaching the other side of a level. The bloons begin on one side and follow a set path to reach the other side. You need to utilize different Monkey Towers, characters, and other defense tools to stop every last bloon in its tracks. The farther you progress in Bloons TD 6, the more challenging the levels will get. However, you'll also gain access to more defense items that require additional strategy to properly implement.

Bloons TD 6 also features quests that offer some story elements and a variety of different characters that can each be customized to your liking.

StarCraft II

• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
• Release Date: July 27, 2010
• Platforms: PC
• Style: Real-Time

StarCraft II is a giant in the strategy game genre. Following its widely successful predecessor, the sequel takes everything to a new level in both the single-player campaign and multiplayer modes. At the start of StarCraft II, you take control of the Terran race to take down the leader of the Dominion, Arcturus Mengsk. You and your army wage war across a large galaxy in amazingly crafted real-time combat that takes strategy at every turn. Command your army to perform different attacks, fall back to defend, and make use of various weapons and tools to take down large waves of foes.

Unlike some other strategy games, the story in StarCraft II is incredibly well done, featuring compelling characters and well-written dialogue. There are multiple campaigns to play through featuring each of the game's factions, and on top of that is the expansive and still-popular multiplayer mode to sink your teeth into.

Into the Breach

• Developer: Subset Games
• Release Date: February 27, 2018
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, Android
• Style: Turn-Based

Into the Breach is a highly tactical turn-based strategy game where you control mechs that are tasked with destroying aliens on a battlefield. Every battle in Into the Breach is randomly generated, giving you a new challenge regardless of how long you've played. The mechs you control have different weapons, pilots, and responsibilities and you can unlock new levels of customization as you progress. The turn-based combat in Into the Breach allows you to counter the enemy threat by telegraphing the alien attacks. However, how you go about countering the attack is where your strategic mind has to come into play. Customizing your team of mechs, solving problems on the battlefield, and experiencing a new fight every go-round is what Into the Breach is all about. It's one of the rare games to have earned a 10 from GameSpot.

Anno 1800

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Release Date: April 16, 2019
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Style: City-Builder/Real-Time

Anno is another long-running strategy franchise that peaked with Anno 1800. Set in the Industrial Age of the world, you begin the game with a large fortune and the choice to become whoever you want to be. You'll start a small empire and grow as you discover new technology through exploration and trade with other countries. Anno 1800 starts in Europe, but you'll eventually expand to South America, allowing you to sail to the continent to expand your empire. Depending on where you choose to explore, you'll run into different nations and you can choose to ally with them or engage in warfare over territory. The world is at your fingertips in Anno 1800, and you have every opportunity to conquer it with large cities, massive trade routes, and alliances.

Cities: Skylines

• Developer: Paradox Interactive
• Release Date: March 10, 2015
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
• Style: City-Builder/Real-Time

Many believe Cities: Skylines to be the best modern city-builder. While the sequel certainly had its problems, the original still holds up as the bar for all other city-builders on the market. Right out of the gate, you're given a plot of land of your choice to start building on. This involves zoning for businesses, houses, production buildings, and other structures; Cities: Skylines makes you think of everything when planning the city.

You have to zone every inch of your land to what it needs to be used for. Then, you have to figure out how to get water, power, sewage, and other needs to businesses and homes. All the while you're trying to increase the city's population, bring in money, manage real-time problems, and still find a way to expand the city. It's an intensive, detailed city-builder that will have you hooked for hours on end.

Homeworld Remastered Collection

• Developer: Gearbox Software
• Release Date: February 25, 2015
• Platforms: PC
• Style: Real-Time

Homeworld is a treasured strategy game franchise that has been going strong since the '90s with the release of the original game. Containing the first two Homeworld games, the Remastered Collection features updated graphics, a remastered soundtrack, and voice recordings rerecorded by the game's original voice actors.

The core Homeworld games take place in space and allow you to build a fleet of ships to take on single-player missions. You have full control over your armada, which includes managing their formations, attack styles, and strategies for each individual fight. As you complete more missions, you'll gain access to new technology that you can use to build better ships that fill a specific need for your armada. The Remastered Collection features over 100 ships to construct and 30 missions to take part in.

FTL: Faster Than Light

• Developer: Subset Games
• Release Date: September 14, 2012
• Platforms: PC
• Style: Roguelike/Tactics

FTL: Faster Than Light is one of the most highly regarded indie games from the 2010s and isn't quite like other strategy games on this list. It's a simulator that gives you responsibility over a spaceship and crew that needs to defeat a randomly generated galaxy of alien threats. While that sounds like a general roguelike game, the strategy involved in every fight is intense. You need to give orders to each member of your crew, pick what weapons to use, evaluate the individual enemy's defenses and attacks, and manage the ship's power. During each fight, you can pause to think through your next move, which is extremely important since FTL features a permadeath system. You can lose individual crew members for good, and if your ship is destroyed, you're done for good and forced to restart.

Throughout all the fighting and strategy, you'll also have to make tough choices through text-based encounters, which occur quite frequently. FTL is an RPG, roguelike, and real-time simulator all wrapped up into one.

Northgard

• Developer: Shiro Games
• Release Date:
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
• Style: Real-Time

If you're at all into Norse mythology, then Northgard might be the strategy game you've been looking for. This real-time simulator gives you control over a clan of Vikings who have just discovered a new continent. Your job is to settle the continent, root out enemies you find, and discover what secrets the land is holding. The city-building elements in Northgard are especially harsh, as you have to ensure your clan has sufficient food and warmth for the winter season. There are also enemies to deal with on a frequent basis, so your defenses have to be up to snuff.

Northgard offers both a conquest and story mode. The conquest mode allows you to battle through different situations with your clan in either single-player or co-op while the story mode pits you in the thick of a Viking plot. There's also a multiplayer mode available where you can fight against friends or strangers in a competitive, ranked lobby.

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

• Developer: The Bearded Ladies Consulting
• Release Date: December 4, 2018
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
• Style: Turn-Based Tactics/RPG

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a strategy role-playing game developed by industry veterans. Mutant Year Zero has a little of everything, including a story, an explorable world, stealth elements, and fantastic turn-based combat. The story gives you control over a team of mutants that need to team up to overcome a world where humans are no longer the dominant race. The team of mutants set out to explore the post-apocalyptic world and search for Eden, a mythical safe haven.

The world you explore isn't fully open, but you have some control over where you go and the enemies you fight. Mutant Year Zero implements XCOM-style turn-based fights where you can use a variety of weapons. However, you can also use real-time stealth elements to avoid confrontation and find plenty of loot and secrets hidden across the world.

Cataclismo

• Developer: Digital Sun
• Release Date: June 8, 2023
• Platforms: PC
• Style: Tower Defense

Cataclismo is a tower-defense strategy game that pits you against waves of enemies that are looking to take your castle down. From the start of the game, you have to construct a castle and its defenses that can withstand an onslaught of enemies. However, you don't remain stationary in a single spot. You have to lead your team of survivors to different areas and construct different defenses depending on the environment around you. As you progress through the game, you'll unlock various resources by defeating enemies, which will allow you to build new defenses and structures. Your defenses and structures aren't automatically built for you, though, as you're required to build out everything piece by piece. You also have to command different combat units and position them correctly in the new areas you're defending to help stop the waves of enemies, which never stop coming, regardless of how many of them you fight back.

Cataclismo is all about knowing what resources you have, how to use them efficiently, and implementing them correctly to stop the enemies trying to bust down your walls. You can partake in three different modes: a single-player campaign, a skirmish mode, and an endless mode, giving you hours of content to master the game's in-depth mechanics.

Against the Storm

• Developer: Eremite Games
• Release Date: October 18, 2021
• Platforms: PC
• Style: City-Builder

Against the Storm is a roguelite city-builder that employs a similar formula to other games, but does it with some extra flair. Most notably, the graphics in Against the Storm are cartoonish, set against a dark fantasy backdrop that makes every scene a pleasure to look at from every angle. In terms of gameplay, you start as the viceroy to a queen of a broken civilization, and your job is to lead the survivors of your civ and establish a new settlement while also looking for other survivors out in the vast wilderness of your surroundings. The civilization's survivors consist of humans as well as animals, such as lizards, foxes, and beavers, among others. Each class of survivor can accomplish different jobs throughout the settlement, so placing them in their area of expertise is going to vastly improve your production and growth.

One of the most difficult parts about Against the Storm is the frequent rain and other weather elements that hammer your new settlement day and night. You need to find ways around the weather and quickly rebuild whenever something goes wrong if you want to keep your citizens happy and productive. You'll also have to contend with the game's roguelite elements, which force you to adapt every time you have to start a new settlement over from scratch.

Dune: Spice Wars

• Developer: Shiro Games
• Release Date: April 26, 2022
• Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC
• Style: 4X

Set right in the middle of Frank Herbert's legendary Dune universe, which is also being adapted into an MMORPG later in 2025, comes the strategy game Dune: Spice Wars. The game centers around your distinct faction, which you can personally select, that needs to navigate the planet of Arrakis and vie for total domination of it against rival factions. As you might expect if you're familiar with Dune, navigating Arrakis comes with a massive set of hurdles and challenges. If the planet's rough environment wasn't enough, you'll constantly have to deal with rival factions and engage in warfare as well as political and economic discussions with them.

Aside from combat, exploration is a large part of Spice Wars. Naturally, you're always on the lookout for spice, which is the key resource you need to gather all over the planet. However, you can also come across villages and other points of interest that hold additional resources and information to gather. Spice Wars has support for four-player multiplayer as well, so you can take on Arrakis with some friends.

Old World

• Developer: Mohawk Games
• Release Date: July 1, 2021
• Platforms: PC, MacOS
• Style: Turn-Based

On paper, Old World looks a lot like Civilization. It was clearly inspired by the strategy franchise, as Old World is also a historical turn-based strategy game with an emphasis on expanding a civilization over generations. However, Old World is actually much deeper than Civilization in several areas. For starters, it places much more focus on combat, as the wars you can engage in are on a massive scale. When you're not in a war with a rival nation, you can expand your dynasty across a large continent and establish new cities with a clear goal for each of them. The HUD in Old World is extremely in-depth, showing you everything you need to know about what's going on in general and with specific cities.

A single playthrough of Old World can take dozens and dozens of hours, as you can lead your dynasty across hundreds of years through a seamless experience. As you continue to play, you'll appoint new leaders, discover new nations, and do battle or make peace with several kings and queens. Of course, there's also the possibility your dynasty will be wiped out prematurely, ending your playthrough.