The 10 Best Strategy Video Games of All Time, Ranked

Image via 11 Bit Studios Published Sep 5, 2026, 5:41 PM EDT Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts. Sign in to your Collider account Video games are so great because there are so many genres to fall in love with, from massive open-world action-adventure titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 to puzzle-based fantasy experiences including The Legend of Zelda. Some gamers play video games to turn their brains off, but others do so for the opposite reason, wanting to challenge their intellect in creative ways, and that is what the strategy genre offers. Strategy games make players think ten steps ahead in a clash between gamers or force them to manage resources and capital in a political chess match. Either way, this genre is home to some must-play video game masterpieces. That is why this list will rank the ten best strategy video games of all time based on aspects such as design, gameplay, fan opinion, critical acclaim, and overall quality. 10 'Frostpunk' (2018) Image via 11 Bit Studios Strategy video games don't just come in one shape or form, but they include vast subgenres, including city builders, which is what the fantastic game Frostpunk is. When a volcanic winter has taken over the entire world, human society collapses. However, the remaining survivors find a thermal crater with heat-powered generators, and as the elected leader, players need to build a city for the survivors. City Builders are a classic strategy game formula, but Frostpunk evolves it from that into a survival experience as well. As opposed to oncoming enemies, cold is the villain in this game, and its relentless pursuit of the player makes managing the world difficult, yet stimulating. Tough times call for drastic measures, and players will have to juggle the morality of the actions that could help survival in Frostpunk. 9 'RimWorld' (2018) Some games have players building cities, but others take things to the next level, like RimWorld, which is a colony simulator where players build up their faction. Players are one of three characters who wake up from their cryosleep to find out their spaceship is destroyed. Straying off course, it is up to the players to manage the colony and help it survive in the dead of space. RimWorld has a unique mechanic that uses AI storytelling to create fresh and innovative stories and motives as opposed to typical strategy narratives. Where most strategy games focus on the land, this game is all about managing the people, with each one having unique personalities, social dynamics, relationships, and mental states. The psychological depth is fascinating and magnificent to manage, proving why RimWorld is an incredible strategy game. 8 'Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings' (1999) Image via Microsoft Strategy takes time, with a lot of these games letting players think about what moves they want to make, but RTS titles, such as Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, make players think on the fly. Controlling not just one, but multiple historical campaigns, players manage sociopolitical troubles, military warfare, and shifting alliances as characters such as Genghis Khan and Joan of Arc. It may be one of the older video games on this list, but the sheer depth of its macro-management gameplay loop gives extensive control. Managing wood, food, gold, and stone, it streamlines what players need to do while still allowing them to have a long grasp on the strategy. Age of Empires II is an intricate video game that still manages to keep its loyal fanbase decades later. 7 'Baldur's Gate 3' (2023) Image via Larian Studios Strategy games are popular but not necessarily mainstream, but one or two might gain fame, which is what happened with Baldur's Gate 3. Set within the world of Dungeons & Dragons, the player character is infected by a mind flayer tadpole. They now need to find a cure for this or risk turning into a mind flayer, but a war between mortals and gods makes maneuvering the land even more difficult. As the newest video game on this list, Baldur's Gate 3 has already established itself as a modern classic. It is also a AAA masterpiece that remains a step above the rest in terms of popularity. Boasting a fantastic video game power system, gamers can use it in turn-based strategy, where they can do pretty much whatever they think of. Strategy only goes as far as the game allows it; luckily, Baldur's Gate 3 is intricate and a labor of love that results in millions of different possibilities that better enhance player agency. 6 'Europa Universalis IV' (2013) Image via Paradox Interactive RTS focuses on smaller-scale maps and management, but the grand strategy genre lets players manage entire galaxies or continents and their resources and militaries. Europa Universalis IV is set sometime after the previous games, specifically in the aftermath of the Battle of Varna during the dawn of the new era, with gamers selecting any nation of their choice. The historical genre often overlaps with strategy games, and Europa Universalis IV is one of the best combinations of the two. The game doesn't just last a year or so; it spans across decades, where the long run is the endgame. Success is dependent on thinking ahead, meaning hasty decisions will only harm the player, showing how in-depth the strategy is in Europa Universalis IV. Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive. 💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one. APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone. NEXT QUESTION → 02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires. AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of. AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything. ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are. AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are. AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of. AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another. AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot. REVEAL MY WORLD → Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for. The MatrixYou took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things. You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it. You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare. You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it. The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door. Mad MaxThe wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you. You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider. In the wasteland, that distinction is everything. Blade RunnerYou'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either. In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything. DuneArrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools. You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect. In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it. Star WarsThe galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way. You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion. You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken. You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of. In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 5 'Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos' (2002) Image via Blizzard Entertainment Lots of fans know of World of Warcraft, but set in the same world and timeline are other video games, including some strategy titles, such as Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. The fantasy world of Azeroth is on the brink of destruction from demonic forces. Driven by tragic and intriguing characters, this game has multiple campaigns involving all the races who need to unite to defeat this threat. Warcraft III revolutionized the strategy genre by blending RTS with RPG elements, which allows gamers to unlock abilities and collect items to further upgrade their battles. What's more, Warcraft III is a versatile video game that has an in-depth map builder which puts the power of creation in the hands of the players, who can create their own maps and campaigns for endless replayability in this fantasy video game with great worldbuilding. Image via Firaxis Games Strategy isn't just about managing resources; it can also include tactical fights where players need to set up the motion of battles in their favor. That is what XCOM: Enemy Unknown does, where humanity faces an extraterrestrial threat with advanced technology. Assuming command of the titular unit, players undergo extraction, assault, and rescue missions to slowly chip away at the aliens. Blending turn-based tactics with grid-style combat and high-stakes base building, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a tense battle from start to finish. On one hand, players embark on strategic missions where they utilize the environment in their fights with compelling gameplay. On the other hand, there is stuff to do at headquarters, including allocating scarce resources, building custom soldiers, and managing their mental state. 3 'Crusader Kings 3' (2020) Image via Paradox Development Studio Europa Universalis IV isn't the only masterful grand strategy video game; there are plenty of others, such as Crusader Kings 3, which gives gamers free rein over a historical continent. Set during different ages in the Middle Ages, players manage the same campaign as heirs in the same lineage, conquering the surrounding countries, such as Africa, Europe, and Asia. The idea of the character dying and players taking on the role of their successor allows for different strategies that build the lore and history at the whims of the player. Crusader Kings 3 doesn't just focus on large-scale decisions, but things such as assassinations, arranged marriages, and sudden crisis management are details that prove it is a remarkable historical video game. 2 'Sid Meier's Civilization VI' (2016) Image via Firaxis Games The limits of control vary for each strategy game, which is why some adopt the genre of 4X, meaning explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. Sid Meier's Civilization VI is one of the newest versions of the franchise, and the best in the franchise. It spans the arc of human progress from a lone nomadic tribe to the far future and technological advancement. This game pushed the bounds of the sub-genre by letting gamers define the borders themselves, allocate the world wonders, and map out topography. Making the map itself is a strategic puzzle that shapes the course of the game, adding layers of depth to the strategy. Civilization VI has many paths to success, but it depends on how well players can adapt their strategy. 1 'StarCraft' (1998) Image via Blizzard Real-time strategy games were very popular in the 1990s, as proven by Age of Empires II and the number one entry on this list, StarCraft. The game is set in the Koprulu Sector, a lawless region of space where exiled humans are forced to live, but this leads to an endless battle between them and a hive-minded alien race. StarCraft isn't just the oldest video game on this list; it is also the best, making it a magnificent feat that it remains the best decades later. Outside the specific strategy gameplay, this title also has some of the best sci-fi worldbuilding in video games, creating an expansive lore with intriguing history and evolving conflicts. This, plus the faction building, economic diversity, competitive yet balanced matchups, and strategic depth, further highlights StarCraft's prestige as the best strategy video game.