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Best strategy games

Strategy games have a long history; ancient games of intellect like Chess have paved the way for modern masterpieces like Starcraft. Imagine the thrill of outwitting opponents, envisioning every move before it is made, and strategically maneuvering your way to victory. From old titles like Hammurabi to Sid Meier's Civilization, strategy games have transcended time and culture.

The first strategy computer games were primarily based on resource management, like Super Star Trek or Santa Paravia and Fiumaccio. Over the years, many ports of classic games were released, like Risk or The Chessmaster 2000, but many other sub-genres were created. The revolutionary Defender of the Crown was one of the first medieval strategy games, while one of the first historical trading games was Ports of Call in 1987. The god games genre started with Populous in 1989 by Peter Molyneux. The same year Julian Gollop created one of the first squad management games with Laser Squad, a sort of predecessor of the famous UFO: Enemy Unknown.

None of these titles had a success comparable to the historical turn-based strategy game Sid Meier's Civilization, released in 1991. This inspired many other games, like Master of Magic, but also Master of Orion in 1993, one of the first 4x strategy games (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate). But there are other space games that became cult, like Star Control II.

Real-time strategy games (RTS) started with Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis in 1992, but after that, we saw many other titles, like WarCraft: Orcs & Humans, Command & Conquer in 1995, not to mention the famous Age of Empires. And let's not forget city building games like Caesar and Pharaoh.

This category has so many essential titles that it's impossible to mention them all. Just browse the list or select one of the sub-genres and choose the preferred titles. Just remember: they create addition!

Empire Earth windows

Empire Earth is a real-time strategy game developed by Stainless Steel Studios and published by Sierra Entertainment in 2001 for PC. The game was designed by Rick Goodman, the lege...

Year: 2001 Genre: Strategy

history real-time rts strategy

Cultures windows

Cultures is a real-time strategy and city-building game developed by Funatics and released in 2000 for PC. The game was designed by Thomas Häuser (who previously worked on The Se...

Year: 2000 Genre: Strategy

cartoon city building isometric medieval norse rts strategy

Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty windows

Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty is a real-time tactics expansion pack developed by Pyro Studios and released in 1999 for PC. The game was designed by Gonzalo Suárez and serves ...

Year: 1999 Genre: Strategy

europe isometric real-time real-time tactics rts squad management stealth strategy war ww2

Deuteros: The Next Millennium amiga

Deuteros: The Next Millennium is a sci-fi strategy/exploration game designed by Ian Bird, the sequel to Millennium: Return to Earth. The game was published by Activision for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1991.

Year: 1991 Genre: Strategy

post-apocalyptic science fiction space exploration space management strategy

Archon: The Light and the Dark amigacommodore-64atari-8-bit

Archon: The Light and the Dark is a strategic game developed by Free Fall Associates and originally released for the Atari 8-bit computers in 1983. Created by Paul Reiche III and J...

Year: 1983 Genre: Strategy

2 players action strategy atari 8-bit original board game chess variants fantasy strategy versus war

Bandit Kings of Ancient China amigamsx

Bandit Kings of Ancient China is a wargame/strategy game created by Koei. It was released in Japan in 1988 for MSX2. In 1990, it was ported to the US/European markets for MS-DOS, Amiga, and Macintosh.

Year: 1989 Genre: Strategy

china hexagonal map historical battle history hotseat management msx original game multiplayer novel strategy turn-based strategy wargame

Populous dosamiga

Populous is regarded by many as the first 'god' game, developed by Bullfrog and published by Electronic Arts in 1989. The game was designed by Peter Molyneux, with Bullfrog creatin...

Year: 1989 Genre: Strategy

2 players amiga original game god game isometric management real-time rts strategy

UFO: Enemy Unknown dosamiga

X-COM: UFO Defense (UFO: Enemy Unknown in Europe) is a science fiction strategy game developed by Mythos Games. It was published by MicroProse Software (Geoff Crammond’s former company) and released for Amiga and DOS in 1994.

Year: 1994 Genre: Strategy

aga aliens procedurally generated science fiction squad management strategy turn-based tactics twin-stick shooter

Herzog Zwei genesis

Herzog Zwei is a real-time strategy game developed by Technosoft and released in 1989 for the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis. This groundbreaking title stands as one of the most influenti...

Year: 1989 Genre: Strategy

genesis original game helicopter mecha rts strategy

Sabre Team amiga

Sabre Team is a tactical squad-based strategy game developed originally for the Amiga by Krisalis Software and released in 1992. It was ported to Amiga CD32 and MS-DOS in 1994. The...

Year: 1994 Genre: Strategy

aga amiga original game isometric military squad management strategy tactics turn-based tactics

Laser Squad amigacommodore-64

Laser Squad is a turn-based tactics game designed by Julian Gollop and his company Target Games. We are presenting here the 1989 Amiga version. Originally the game was created for the ZX Spectrum and released in 1988.

Year: 1989 Genre: Strategy

2 players science fiction squad management strategy tactics turn-based tactics war zx spectrum

Lords of Conquest commodore-64

Lords of Conquest is a turn-based strategy game developed by Eon Software and published by Electronic Arts in 1986 for the Commodore 64. The same year, the Atari 8-bit and Apple II...

Year: 1986 Genre: Strategy

c64 original game strategy turn-based strategy wargame

Seven Cities of Gold: Commemorative Edition dos

Seven Cities of Gold: Commemorative Edition is an enhanced remake of Dan Bunten's groundbreaking 1984 exploration and colonization game. The remake was developed by SEGA and released by Electronic Arts in 1993 for MS-DOS systems.

Year: 1993 Genre: Simulation

adventure-strategy age of discovery business simulation enhanced remakes sea trading simulation strategy

Shadowfire commodore-64

Shadowfire, released in 1985 for the Commodore 64 and other 8-bit platforms, is a unique blend of tactical strategy and sci-fi adventure. It stood out sharply from the crowd in its era.

Year: 1985 Genre: Strategy

adventure-rpg commodore 64 point and click real-time science fiction squad management strategy tactics