Nov 14, 2019  Real-time strategy (RTS) games have been around for some time now and have attracted by game lovers. The RTS games allow its players to accomplish the mission in various ways. In short, there is no single way of completing the game and this is what makes them different and special from the other games.

The best strategy games always has a good balance between a survival element and either a great story to go with it or multiplayer to play against your friends.

Whether it is high fantasy, sci-fi or based on historical events, the best strategy games are the ones that gives you hours of gameplay.

There are two basic categories when it comes to strategy games,

  • Turn-based strategy games
  • Real-time strategy games

Turn-based strategy games are usually a lot longer and aim to gives the player a feeling of real power when you accomplish your goals. They also tend to focus more on grand strategy than having a deep story connected to them.

Real-time strategy games on the other hand has rich stories and gameplay is a lot faster with everything happening right now!

You will have to do a lot of smaller missions that leads you through the story while you try to accomplish specific goals and survive, survive, survive! Luckily there are many awesome strategy games out there you can choose from to give you a great gaming experience.

If you like the list of strategy games, please share with your friends and share your favorite game in the comments.

The Best Strategy Games in 2019

1. Total War: Warhammer 2 and Total War: Thrones of Britannia

The Total War Series is most likely the best and most well known strategy games of all time, with a balance between turn-based and real-time gameplay.

Playing a Total War game can take you, depending on how much you play, days, weeks or even months to finish a grand campaign, but still gives the player the pleasure to have massive real-time battles that can take anything up to an hour.

The key is to find a balance between economic management and war tactics to get the best results in your campaigns and this is what keeps the games really interesting. You will manage massive campaigns and have a lot of strategic battles through any campaign.

The Total War Series has made a wide range of strategy games depicting various times throughout history in Europe, America and Japan.

They also released Total War: Warhammer 1 & 2 that is all about fantasy, perfect for those of you who loves fantasy. The latest title in the series is Total War: Thrones of Britannia that takes you through some of the darkest times in English history on the British continent.

My opinion is that if you love historical games, you must play some of the games in the series like Rome II, Shogun II and Thrones of Britannia. If you like high fantasy games, either one of the Warhammer titles will give you hours and hours of awesome gameplay.

Or you can just play all of them if like!

Total War: Warhammer II

Total War: Thrones of Britannia

Buy Total War Games

2. Civilization 6

Civilization is another grand strategy turn-based game where your main goal is to lead a chosen civilization through the times like the stone age to the modern day.

Unlike the Total War Series, it only has a turn-based gameplay with some form of military management to enjoy. There are many different civilizations to choose from and the race is on to achieve victory in a few various categories.

In Civilization you need to keep up with research to improve your technology, culture and military endeavours.

The 3 main victory conditions is through Science (establishing a colony on Mars), Culture (become the top tourist destination through arts and music) or Military (dominate every other civilization on the map). It is awesome to work your way through the different times and using the available technology to overcome scenarios that you’ll face in your campaigns.

The great part is that the maps you choose will be different and randomly generated which gives you a different experience every time.

The latest title in the series is Civilization VI that came out in 2016 and the first official expansion released in 2018 which introduced new civilizations and leaders to play with.

Torrent

If you like grand strategy management games Civilization is the perfect game for you.

Buy Civilization 6

3. Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2

Do you like Real-time Strategy games, enjoying epic battles and fighting to survive the onslaught of countless enemies?

Look no further, Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 are one of the latest strategy games for pc that is out in 2019.

It’s a sequel to the original game (Battlefleet Gothic Armada), but it’s bigger, better and with much more richer content.

Have epic space battles between different galaxies with massive fleets and military spaceships.

You’ll need to carefully plan your strategies and tactics to take out your enemies and grow your space empire.

Every spaceship, big and small, are unique and will ultimately impact how your campaigns or battles will pan out.

You can choose to play either a skirmish mode and choose between all 12 available factions, play the 3 single player campaigns with 5 different factions or get together your friends to play some multiplayer games, even co-op play modes.

Each faction is unique with their own story and characteristics to give you a unique gameplay, every time!

So, the basics is to pick your faction, build your fleets and engage your enemies in some epic space battles. Are you ready to command your own space fleet?

Buy Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2

4. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

StarCraft is a military science-fiction real-time strategy game that are focussed on the hardcore elements of strategy games as we know it.

The world is about to get over populated and the world decides to send colonization parties to establish a new capitol somewhere in the Milky Way.

But, the computers are malfunctioning and they lose all contact with the Earth. Now it’s time to survive! Your job is to grow and protect the new capitol from invasions by weird species genetically created a 1000 years ago, all while conflict starts to brew between the human factions.

The story is absolutely great, brutal and breathtaking with many missions to do and plots to uncover. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a direct sequel to StarCraft I, so to fully enjoy and understand the whole story I suggest you play or at least watch a video of StarCraft I as it came out in 1998.

The game is perfect for fan that love’s a old school real-time strategy game with a rich story to immerse yourself for for hours of gameplay. StarCraft is also a very popular Esports title with awesome multiplayer capabilities, so you don’t have to play alone after you finished all the campaigns.

Buy StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

5. Stellaris

Are you ready to lead a civilization in space?

Stellaris is a real-time grand strategy game that will give you the opportunity to build, manage and grow a civilization in space.

The game starts in 2200, so your’e already in space. You can choose between various pre-made empires or create your own custom species with unique traits.

In Stellaris, there are many factors and processes you’ll need to manage to keep your space colonies save.

These include the management of space ships, science development, construction and military tasks.

Like in every strategy game, you’ll need to fight enemies to survive. Combat can take place in space or on the ground, depending on what planets you are.

The game also include diplomatic and trade mechanics which let’s you team up with other factions or trade resources.

If you love space exploration and want to build colonies on various planets, make sure to check out Stellaris.

Buy Stellaris

Games

6. Spellforce III

Spellforce III finds the perfect balance between real-time strategy (RTS) and role playing (RPG) with an epic fantasy world to explore.

You can create your own hero just like in RPG’s, choose skills & attributes from a complex system that makes every character unique.

Fantasy is a big part of Spellforce and you’ll be able to make use of magic and spell casting during combat. It has many different options and combinations to choose from.

You don’t have to fight alone, by raising large armies and leading them into battle will give a true RTS feeling.

Besides the fighting, the game has an economy system as well where you need to build settlements and keep your people alive.

The story will give you more than 30 hours of gameplay with a full dialog, so it’s more than enough time to fully enjoy every aspect of the game.

When you like the real-time strategy and role playing game blend with the ability of large scale domination, Spellforce III hits the sweet spot.

Create a unique character, build settlements, raise armies, forge alliances and cast some epic spells!

Buy Spellforce III

7. Company of Heroes

Company of Heroes is a real-time strategy video game that let you experience the Second World War from another viewpoint.

It is a fast paced video game with a lot missions you can play and enjoy with your friends in multiplayer mode. The main goal in every mission or round is to capture strategic points that generate resources you’ll need to build a base, recruit soldiers, vehicles and crush your opponents.

It has a great balance between managing your infantry and using your transportation units like jeeps, tanks and other personnel vehicles to have a real-time war experience.

Sometimes you really need to fight a lot of smaller battles for resource points to ultimately defeating your enemy, but that is what makes the Company of Heroes titles so fun to play.

Company of Heroes I was released in 2006 and the second in 2013, but both is still awesome and fun to play.

If you are crazy about the World War II setting and like a challenge, you will find that Company of Heroes I & II can be a lot of fun.

Buy Company of Heroes

8. Steel Division: Normandy 44

Buy Steel Division: Normandy 44

9. BattleTech

Buy BattleTech

10. Europa Universalis IV

Buy Europa Universalis IV

11. Endless Space 2

Buy Endless Space 2

12. Hearts of Iron IV

Buy Hearts of Iron IV

13. Northgard

Buy Northgard

14. XCOM 2

Buy XCOM 2

15. Age of Empires Definitive Edition

As one of the pioneers when it comes to strategy games, Age of Empires have revolutionized this gaming genre and set the standard back in 1998 when the first title was released.

Soon after that in 1999 Age of Empires II was released which was the star performer in the series. So why would you play a game that was released in 1999? Well, they released another addition in 2018, Age of Empires Definitive Edition which brings back all the original gameplay, but with better graphics to make it relevant once again.

You can choose between 16 civilizations, start in a particular age with the earliest the stone age and achieve victory. The victory conditions for a normal round is straightforward, defeat all the players on the map by gathering resources, building a base, recruiting soldiers and research technology.

The game takes you through several age periods where each have unique features and challenges.

If you played the older versions, you will know how much fun Age of Empires is to play, so now you can finally enjoy this awesome strategy video game in beautiful graphics with the Definitive Edition.

Buy Age of Empires Definitive Edition

16. Sudden Strike 4

Buy Sudden Strike 4

17. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

Buy Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

18. Empires Apart

Buy Empires Apart

19. Cosacks 3

Buy Cosacks 3

20. Stronghold Crusader II

If you go crazy for medieval castles and is a fan of real-time strategy games, then Stronghold is a must.

It is a simple game, but is very fun to play the campaigns and multiplayer with your friends. Stronghold Crusader II is the latest title, where you play in the deserts of the middle east with you choosing between a Crusader or Arabic campaign.

The campaigns in Stronghold Crusader II primarily focus on a range of skirmish missions you have to complete to win the game, unlike it’s earlier titles which had rich and interesting storylines.

You can also choose to play the economic campaigns to experience a more relaxed gameplay.

So, if you like to build medieval style castles and play an interesting old school real-time strategy game, you should make sure to check out the previous Stronghold games in the series.

21. Crusader Kings II

Political intrigue, invasions on all fronts and a grand strategy experience, this is Crusader Kings II.

The country is in chaos with enemy invasions on almost all fronts, betrayal in your own midst, you need to figure out how to lead your dynasty to success.

Strategy games mac 2019

The player can do this by many different ways like strategic war tactics, marriages and even assassinations. Crusader Kings II is set in the Medieval times taking place from 1066 to 1453 (or 867 and 769 with DLC’s) with many historical figures that you’ll discover throughout the game.

The win conditions are simple, don’t die and if you do, make sure to have an heir take over to rule.

The only in-game goal is to get as many prestige points as you can. There are also a few DLC’s to enhance your gaming experience even further where with new historical figures, starting points and challenges to overcome.

Crusader Kings II is perfect for someone who likes a balance between grand strategy, government, religion and political management.

22. Supreme Commander 2

Supreme Commander 2 is a fast paced, interesting and addictive game that are extremely fun if you like a good strategy game.

The developers, from the start, wanted to put more emphasis on the characters and by telling a really awesome story.

There are three factions you can choose from, each with unique stories interwoven together to make the campaigns so much more interesting. You basically play from the commander’s point of view for each faction where the characters are all caught up in an enormous intergalactic battle.

The game starts where the newly elected president of the Coalition has been assassinated which leads to chaos, uncertainty, lost of trust and ultimately a great war between the factions. Can you solve the problems and keep the peace or will there be another infinite war on the horizon.

If you’re curious about how the story plays out, you should definitely play Supreme Commander 2.

23. Ashes of the singularity

Conclusion

What is your favorite strategy game?

Did I miss one?

Share it in the comments!

Now that you have a long list of great strategy games to choose from, you can be sure to have hours of strategy fun! I listed the best strategy games, real-time and turn-based, you can play in 2019.

Please share my post with your friends if you found this post helpful or interesting.

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For more news, reviews, thoughts and articles on strategy games – visit Frags of War

What are the best strategy games on PC? Some would say StarCraft II, others Civilization VI. Join us as we list the genre’s greatest hits, featuring the biggest Steam games available. Fun fact: the strategy game genre was first invented back in 1938, when Winston Churchill looked out an aeroplane window over France and thought, “Hey, this would make a really cool videogame, whatever that is.” Probably.

Since then, there have been about a hundred million different strategy games, simulating as many different kinds of fighting as we humans have had reasons to fight one another, and then some.

From the all-encompassing broad strokes of the Civilization games to the individually rendered blades of the Total War series, and not to forget the far-flung fantasy tech of StarCraft – strategy games are as diverse as they come. But which are the absolute top strategy games on PC? Well, just drag a selection box over our bodies and right-click on the horizon, and we’ll all be on our way to finding out.

The best strategy games are:

Offworld Trading Company

Offworld Trading Company is right at the other end of the strategy games spectrum from Civilization, though its designer, Soren Johnson, also worked on Civ IV. While Civ spans the history and some of the future of humanity, chronicling the progress of mankind, Offworld Trading Company is all about making a fortune by exploiting our red neighbour, Mars.

It’s an RTS crossed with the intricacies of the best management games, one in which victory is not achieved by throwing tanks at enemies, or demolishing their bases. Instead, your weapons are resources and cash, which you use to manipulate the marketplace not just to simply get rich, but to completely screw over your competitors. That’s if you haven’t made a temporary alliance with one of your rivals, of course – though you might end up closing deals with one hand while holding a dagger in the other.

You might not expect an economic strategy game to be very aggressive, but Offworld Trading Company encourages you to be just as hostile as a warmonger. When you’re eyeing up menus, planning what to build next, what to sell, which company to launch a hostile takeover against next, it’s easily as thrilling as when you’re sending infantry across artillery-pummelled fields or launching sneak air attacks against an enemy stronghold in Company of Heroes or StarCraft II.

Total War: Warhammer II

With Total War: Warhammer, the iconic strategy series dipped an experimental toe into fantasy. The joyous fun of dragons and magic (not to mention a popular licence) made for mass appeal and record sales, but developer Creative Assembly did not forget how to make a good strategy game. The character of Warhammer’s factions was channelled into engaging campaign mechanics that varied for the first time, encouraging replayability, and unit rosters that enabled a better Lord of the Rings battle simulator than any other game out there.

Best Strategy Games Of 2019

All of that’s even more true in the sequel, as our Total War: Warhammer 2 PC review points out. This time, CA goes even bigger, making it one of the best strategy games in recent years. Again, though, this ambition is tempered with craft: the new Vortex victory condition may seem like fantastical indulgence, but it serves the game by keeping the pressure up right to the end, when you would previously be cruising to an easy win. The factions are richer and more vibrant than ever, yet mastering more vanilla classes adds common sense to all the bombast. So don’t be fooled by the dragons and dinos – this is the best Total War has been by the old, analytical metrics, as well as the flashy new fun ones.

If you’re looking for the most recent fantasy strategy content, check out our blood-soaked Total War: Warhammer – Curse of the Vampire Coast review. If that gets you excitedly gnashing your extra sharp incisors, here’s our exhaustive Total War: Warhammer Vampire Coast guide. However, if you’re looking for something more historical, check out our verdict on the latest major game in the series in our Total War: Three Kingdoms review.

Civilization VI

If Civ V was the most streamlined the series had ever been, Civilization VI is the most celebratory – a 25th anniversary iteration that sheds the sterility of previous entries in favour of a stirring soundtrack and a brave new (cartoonish) look. It finds Firaxis remembering that the power of 4X games is as much in their atmosphere as its systems.

It’s testament to the attentiveness of Sid Meier and his studio, however, that those systems have not been neglected either. Civilization VI has exhumed several of the best additions from its predecessor’s Community Balance Patch, while pushing onwards and upwards with some new offbeat ideas – builders that expire after three turns, for instance, and cities that spread across several tiles.

Firaxis will surely continue to build on these strong foundations with balance patches and DLC like the Civilization 6: Rise and Fall expansion – and there’s even more following the Civ 6: Gathering Storm release date arrives. And, of course, players will do the same as they conceive game-changing Civ 6 mods.

Stellaris

Paradox’s 4X grand strategy hybrid makes space surprising again with event chains that are, at first, evocative of Crusader Kings II, but end up going much further. In Stellaris, expect mutant uprisings, robotic rebellions, and the discovery of alien texts that make your citizens question their place in the galaxy.

It’s not just a 4X game; it’s a galactic roleplaying game and empire sim, bestowing a vast array of options upon you, allowing you to create unique, eccentric space-faring species. You can play as a fundamentalist society built on the backs of slaves, or hyper-intelligent lizards that rely on robots whether they are fighting or farming. The robust species creator and multitude of meaningful decisions mean you can create almost any alien you can imagine. No wonder we praised it highly in our Stellaris review.

And underpinning all of that is the game’s focus on exploration. While most space games with 4X elements stick with one method of interstellar travel, Stellaris gives you three to choose from, each with their own strengths and counters. In one game, the galaxy might be a network of hyperlanes, but in the next you might find yourself building wormhole stations and blinking across the galaxy.

Stellaris’ multiplayer is not to be overlooked either, transforming decent human beings into Machiavellian alien tyrants at the drop of a hat. It’s easily one of the best strategy games of recent years. Plus, there’s always new DLC on the horizon for dedicated players, like the upcoming Stellaris Federations update.

XCOM 2

XCOM 2 is one of the all-time greats of the tactics genre, so we gave it a really good score in our XCOM 2 review. It takes the best bits from the series so far – the savage struggle, the ragtag group of heroes, the devious aliens, the tight tactical battles – and throws improvement after improvement on top.

Best Strategy Games For Mac 2019

Once again, XCOM 2 has you sending up to six soldiers into the breach, but this time as a group of struggling survivors fighting against a tyrannical alien regime. It’s all guerrilla tactics, covert missions, and dissidence. You need to learn to make sacrifices, leaving men and women behind so you can save the rest, and you need to learn to swallow loss and failure.

The battles are challenging and varied, full of horrific adversaries with tricky, surprising abilities, but the biggest changes are found at the strategic layer – why else would it be on a list of the best strategy games on PC? You will travel all over the world, setting up cells, infiltrating black sites, hunting for more resources so you can field more powerful weapons and tools – it is compelling, rather than an afterthought.

And besides the great XCOM 2 mods – there are corgi guns, for goodness sake – the War of the Chosen and Tactical Legacy Pack expansions will keep you occupied long after the credits of the main game roll. Featuring new environments, stories, and a devious new enemy called the Chosen, working out how to weather these new storms will certainly steal your remaining free hours.

Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault

Company of Heroes 2 was great but it didn’t quite match the magic of its predecessor. Then Ardennes Assault came along; in our Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault review we found that it’s one of the best RTS games you can play.

The US forces and German Oberkommando are fighting over control of the Ardennes in a campaign inspired by The Battle of the Bulge – in true war games style. That sets it apart from both Company of Heroes and the sequel alongside its non-linear single-player campaign that plays out across a strategic meta map. The Germans are dynamic, being reinforced by retreating forces, changing the challenges posed by both story missions and the dynamic skirmishes.

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While the campaign is only played from the American point of view, the US forces are split into three companies, all with unique specialities covering air, support, and mechanised roles. These companies all have special officer abilities and upgrade trees, and any can be used to tackle a mission. Even if you focus on one, the other two will still be on the map, and can provide assistance by blocking the enemy retreat out of a captured province.

This is the first time the battles in Company of Heroes have had real weight to rival the very best WW2 games. Previously, winning was all that mattered. Finish the mission and you move on to the next one, starting fresh. Ardennes Assault is a persistent campaign, though, and losses in battle can bring down a company’s veterancy and manpower. There is even a risk of it being wiped out entirely, leaving the other two companies to face the Germans alone.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

There’s a lot to love about Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. From the ludicrous unit types to the corny FMV cutscenes, you will struggle to find a strategy game with as much personality and charm as this RTS. It may not be as wild as the sequel, which managed to cast J.K. Simmons, Tim Curry, and George Takei, but there’s a degree of sincerity amidst the bombast.

And if you’re just looking for something with solid strategy gaming chops, then Red Alert 2 hasn’t aged a day in the two decades since its release. You’ll find two varied campaigns to barrel through – one from the US perspective and one from the Soviet Union – and a tightly balanced multiplayer offering with a couple of endlessly addictive modes. No other strategy game lets you pit democratic dolphins against Soviet squids, and for that alone we’ll always adore Red Alert 2.

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

Blackbird Interactive has done the seemingly impossible with Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak. And that’s to transpose the elegant, minimalist space wars of the original Homeworld games to a single planet, making for one of the best RTS games in the process. Somehow it works. Really well.

It’s a journey across a vast desert directed by your mission to save a civilisation. Each battle is connected to the last as well as the ones yet to be played. Every unit that survives will live to fight another day in another mission in a persistent war for survival.

Kharak itself, despite being a giant desert, is a fantastic planet-sized battlefield that does for the ground what the originals did for space. The addition of terrain and elevation replicates the three-dimensional battles of the previous games, with the sand dunes providing cover, hiding spots, and high ground from where you can unleash devastating attacks.

Like its predecessors, the game is blessed with some of the best art design you could hope to find in an RTS, meaning you can take beautiful Homeworld screenshots. Add with its incredible sound design, and a genuinely interesting narrative, Deserts of Kharak is a classic.

Endless Legend

In our Endless Legend review, we lavished praise on a game that blends fantasy and science fiction seamlessly, throwing stranded spacemen against magical dragon people in absolutely the most striking hex-based world there is. Diverse, gorgeous, it looks almost tangible, like you could reach out and pick up one of the elaborate cities and cradle it in your hands. “Don’t worry, citizens. We won’t let the horrible man-eating insects devour you and your families,” we whisper into our cupped palms. It’s easily one of the best PC games of 2014.

Fascinating factions vie for dominance over the apocalyptic world. Each is blessed with unique and interesting mechanics that set them apart and inform how they’re played. You have got the horrible aforementioned flesh-eating insect race, the Necrophage, for instance, who are so foul they cannot make alliances with other factions, forcing them to always be the opposition. And there are the bizarre Cultists, a faction of peculiar zealots that can only construct one city, and must rely on swallowing up other factions if they want to expand.

Best Strategy Games 2019 Pc

Endless Legend is also blessed with a strong narrative that lends it a strong sense of place. Every faction has a set of story quests that will inform many of your decisions without backing you into a corner. There is also an abundance of side-quests and stories that make it feel like you’re managing a world where a genuine roleplaying adventure is taking place.

Crusader Kings II

Best Strategy Games Mac

Talk about a murderous bastard of a grand strategy game. In Crusader Kings II, you play a medieval ruler trying to gain more power, influence, and territory in a historically authentic medieval Europe. It’s a game of intrigue, war, politics, and religion played out on a gorgeous map of the known world and in countless, complex menus. Really, though, Crusader Kings II is a strategy game about people: your dynasty, your vassals, your lovers, enemies, and family members.

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It’s this personal element that makes Crusader Kings II so compelling. You’re in charge of a family, not an abstract nation. You’ll marry and have kids, you’ll die, and then your heir will take over and the whole thing begins again. In between all this, you can use intrigue or brute force to increase your holdings, but the key is to develop a real personal connection with your characters, your avatar. You’ll mourn their death and cheer their every triumph.

Usurp thrones, create politically advantageous marriages, murder your wife, and if it all gets too much there’s always the occasional jousting tournament or day of hunting to keep you in good spirits. As long as they don’t kill you. Best of all, Crusader Kings II has just gone free-to-play, making it one of the best free PC games around.

Starcraft II

What’s not to love about a game that pits armoured cowboys against xenomorphic aliens and space elves? StarCraft II is a classic base-building RTS that tasks you with gathering resources, building armies, and killing your enemy before they kill you with quick decisions and even quicker mouse clicks.

StarCraft II is one of the best multiplayer games on PC. Your enemies are human; they’ll probably be able to click faster than you, issuing orders quicker than you. You’ll probably lose a lot, but you’ll get better the more you play, making this one of the best RTS games for anyone with a competitive streak. Or, if you would rather watch the action, there’s a small but dedicated esports playerbase.

The PvE campaign is also interesting – Blizzard has combined frantic action with the backdrop of some of the best RPGs as you follow the exploits of Terran mercenary Jim Raynor. You’ll fight through a series of missions, many of which will have unique objectives – like trying to harvest resources on a map that periodically fills up with lava, or defending against waves upon waves of Zerg for a set period of time. In between missions you’ll explore an RPG-like hub, where you can talk to people, research new tech, and decide your next destination. Story is hard to do in RTS games, and many developers resort to cutscenes or in-mission dialogue, but StarCraft II has you interact with the world outside of combat.

Supreme Commander

Back in the day, Supreme Commander was the game that broke PCs, such were the demands it placed on processors. This future war robo-RTS simplifies resource management and focuses more on creating the perfect war machine. You start off with a single irreplaceable command unit, and from there you build factories that will churn out units to wage war on your enemies.

Nothing genre-breaking, but it’s the sheer scale that puts Supreme Commander up there with the best RTS games. Years later, Supreme Commander doesn’t so much break PCs anymore as it breaks minds. A player’s army can potentially reach up to 1,000 units separated out into land, sea, and air. You have to orchestrate a careful ballet of production, movement, and attack, grinding down your opponent while keeping your command unit safe, as well as your factories powered and supplied so that they can create more machines of death. It’s brilliant and mind-boggling all at once.

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This was one of the few games at the time to officially support dual monitors, which means you can have a zoomable map up on the second screen. It’s a godsend, as it allows you to keep an eye on the big picture a lot easier. Few games are blessed with the same scale as Supreme Commander, and when you take the war online that’s where the real challenge begins.

Titles like StarCraft demand quick thinking and quicker reactions, but they only deal with a couple dozen units at most. Supreme Commander demands all of that too but deals in the thousands. Compared to many upcoming PC games, this RTS may look a little creaky around the edges, but it still offers a supreme slice of strategy.

Upcoming strategy games

Strategy Games Mac 2019

Iron Harvest

The upcoming strategy game from King Art Games is set in the World of 1920+ created by artist Jakub Różalski. In our Iron Harvest hands on preview, we marvelled at the intimate battle scenes, detailed world destruction mechanics, and each character’s story interwoven between three fighting factions. Fans of the classic RTS will find a lot of familiarity in Iron Harvest when it releases September 1, 2020, as it brings the genre into 2020, expanding on building mechanics and bringing a plethora of mech units onto the battlefield in this dieselpunk dystopia.

Best Strategy Games Mac 2019 System

So there are the best strategy games on PC. While you’re here, check out the best PC MMOs for similar life-swallowing experiences. And if you’re after the very cream of the crop, check out the best PC games of all-time. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to defend our bases/save humanity from alien annihilation/wage global war. Phew, this strategy stuff sure is stressful.