Strategy games have held their own for decades, and it doesn’t seem that the genre is going to go into a decline.

Here we’ve collected some of the best modern strategy games that are worth playing if you are looking for some game of this sort.

GameReleaseVideoDeveloper
Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2016-04-21 Tindalos Interactive
Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 2019-01-24 Tindalos Interactive
Sid Meiers Civilization 4 2005-10-25 Firaxis Games
Sid Meiers Civilization 5 2010-09-23 Firaxis Games
Sid Meiers Civilization 6 2016-10-20 Firaxis Games
Endless Legend 2014-09-18 AMPLITUDE Studios
Hearts Of Iron 4 2016-06-06 Paradox Development Studio
Stellaris 2016-05-09 Paradox Development Studio
Shogun Total War Collection 2000-06-13 Creative Assembly
Total War Shogun 2 Collection 2011-03-14 Creative Assembly
Total War Warhammer 2016-05-24 The Creative Assembly
Total War Warhammer 2 2017-09-28 The Creative Assembly
Total War Warhammer 3 2022-02-17 The Creative Assembly
XCOM 2 Collection 2016-02-04 Firaxis Games
XCOM Enemy Unknown 2012-10-11 Firaxis Games

Battlefleet Gothic: Armadas (1 and 2)

Release:2019-01-24
Genre:Strategy
Developer:Tindalos Interactive

Based roughly on the tabletop game under the same name, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is all about deep space battles between massive starships of the Warhammer 40k.

There are, of course, smaller ships, but the Gothic cathedrals, with the twisted, chaotic versions of them, or the gigantic bioships are where it’s truly at.

During the campaign, you’ll manage officer promotions, ship upgrades, and otherwise, prepare the ships for battles. The skirmishes themselves take place on a flat plane, on which you can chart the flight paths, order salvos, and watch the massive ships shoot trails of smoke,

Key features
  • Key factions of the WH40k universe are represented across both games
  • You get to upgrade ships and improve their crew between battles
  • Fully featured unmistakable aesthetic of Warhammer 40.000
  • The sequel includes Tyranid monstrous bioships

Civilization VI

Release:2016-10-20
Genre:Economy
Developer:Firaxis Games

By now probably everyone has heard about Civilization VI.

The legendary series of turn-based games about taking a culture from a single city to a continent-spanning empire is nearly thirty years old and each entry makes improvements and brings new features.

As you compete against other cultures, you’ll send scouts out, decide which technologies are being developed, or which wonders to build. There are many possible win conditions, from a conquest to being the first to launch a rocket into space, and it’s up to you to decide which one you’re pursuing.

Key features
  • Formula perfect over nearly thirty years
  • A large number of cultures to choose from
  • Neatly presented using hexagonal tiles
  • As relaxing or challenging as you want it to be

Crusader Kings II

Release:2018-11-13
Genre:RPG
Developer:Paradox Development Studio

If you want to learn a little about the nitty-gritty of medieval politics on the scale of individual noble houses, then Crusader Kings II is the game you should check out.

It allows you to govern all facets of a chosen (or created) family policies and action against the canvas of Medieval Europe.

As with most games from paradox, it’s full of systems, which do a good job simulating the many moving part of the depicted reality. The flipside is that many would find it quite hard to get into because of them. But once you do, you get a deep and complex strategy with more than just a few shades of a roleplaying game.

Crusader Kings 2 is free to play game.

Key features
  • Complex and complicated
  • Deep historical simulation
  • The best game to simulate Game of Thrones
  • Build the most powerful family in Europe

Endless Legend

Release:2014-09-18
Genre:RPG
Developer:AMPLITUDE Studios

Endless Legend takes the classic 4X mechanics and solutions and plants them on the fertile ground of an original fantasy setting.

You pick one of the fantastic peoples to help it flourish in a somewhat hostile environment.

Endless Legend gathers excellent reviews from critics and audiences both, and with good reason. It looks great, work even better, and like the best 4X games, gives the player the tools to build an empire. If you fancy the fantasy genre, it’s a great option.

Key features
  • Several unique civilizations to lead
  • Many win conditions with specific prerequisites
  • Completing quests allows you to learn more about the storyline
  • Different biomes impose different effects on your units

Hearts of Iron IV

Release:2016-06-06
Genre:Simulation
Developer:Paradox Development Studio

The Hearts of Iron series takes the look on World War II on a scale no other video game series does.

Far above the level of individual soldiers, or a single battle, HoI games are concerned with the grand design: the movements of armies, the war economy, and the great theories of warfare.

It’s also a Paradox game, so unsurprisingly it’s very complex and requires a lot of dedication to be any good at managing all the details. Hearts of Iron IV is the latest mainline release, carrying with it the expertise sharpened on previous installments

Key features
  • As complex as a Paradox game can get
  • Faithful to history
  • Enables many “what if…” scenarios to be played out
  • A strategic view of the grand scheme of World War II

StarCraft II

Release:2015-11-10
Genre:Strategy
Developer:Blizzard Entertainment

StarCraft II is the end of the storyline began in the late 1990s, split into three chapters dedicated to each of the three sides of the conflict.

It also happens to be an almost archetypal real-time strategy, ripe for e-sports.

StarCraft 2, like the predecessor, is asymmetrical. The three sides: Terrans, Protoss, and Zergs each are played in very different ways, enabling certain tactics impossible or inefficient for other factions.

Key features
  • Three-sided asymmetrical multiplayer
  • Epic-scale story of galactic conflict
  • Two extensive expansions
  • E-sports tested

Stellaris

Release:2016-05-09
Genre:Strategy
Developer:Paradox Development Studio

A 4X Space Strategy from the minds of Paradox, Stellaris is a fantastic strategy game for fans of science fiction.

It’s a story of a space-faring people, playing out to the backdrop of the entire galaxy, with tons of other nations and species.

In addition to directing the course of expansion and progress if the species you choose, you also need to investigate some mysteries embedded into the procedurally generated galaxies. There are even quests providing dramatic storytelling to an otherwise story-light conquest.

Key features
  • Create your own alien nation and species from scratch
  • Procedurally generated galactic playground
  • Quests and anomalies provide new challenges
  • Probably the most aesthetically pleasing 4X from Paradox

Total War: Shogun 2

Release:2011-03-14
Genre:Strategy
Developer:Creative Assembly

Japan has a long and storied history, and Creative Assembly’s Shogun 2 allows you to play through some of it.

Although it’s not as complex as a Paradox game would be, it’s still great at modeling an inter-factional war. While the economy and politics and more abstracted, the military side gives you direct control over your troops.

Total War games play out on two levels. One is the strategic layer, where you move armies, govern your provinces, or engage in diplomatic negotiations. The other half are real-time battles between hundreds or thousands of units. In Shogun it gives an interesting glimpse into old Japanese armaments and military units.

Key features
  • Fairly period-accurate depiction of 16th century Japan
  • Engaging, demanding real-time battles
  • Complex fortress sieges
  • Great multiplayer

Total War: Warhammer (1&2)

Release:2017-09-28
Genre:Strategy
Developer:The Creative Assembly

The Warhammer Fantasy setting was created for the purposes of a tabletop wargame.

It saw several strategy games in its time, and in 2016 the time came for Creative Assembly to take the setting and make a Total War game on its basis.

The adoption of Games Workshop’s universe allowed Creative assembly to make the faction wildly different from each other, as opposed to making them roughly symmetrical like in previous games. In TW: Warhammer Skaven play differently from Dwarfs, who play differently from Elves etc. In addition to classically Total War gameplay, it also captures the aesthetic of Warhammer Fantasy, complete with many recreated units from the tabletop.

Key features
  • Many factions from the wargame are faithfully recreated
  • You can merge both games for a larger campaign
  • Each faction has a different playstyle
  • Total War like you’ve never seen it before

XCOM 2

Release:2016-02-04
Genre:Strategy
Developer:Firaxis Games

XCOM 2 is a story about a resistance group fighting to liberate humanity from its alien overlords.

It’s also a very competent tactics game, with more than a little strategic thinking required. it’s hard, and often seems unfair, but it’s oh, so satisfying.

The core of XCOM 2 are turn-based more or less covert missions against overwhelming forces of alien-led ADVENT. There are several classes with unique abilities limited by charges and cooldowns, and on the strategic layer, you can assign research and construction tasks in your mobile headquarters. There is a lot of moving parts, but never more than necessary to stop the game from moving forward.

Key features

Decisive victory

This concludes our list of ten strategy games which are definitely worth recommending. Certainly, there are many more great ones to talk about, and we will certainly update this article with more games in the future.