Typically I find myself play 2 types of games: fast-paced FPS shooters, and in-depth strategy games.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of great strategy games to test my planning and management skills.
This post breaks down the best strategy games for PC in 2019.
- Divinity Original Sins 2
- Civilization VI
- Oxygen Not Included
- Rome: Total War
- Europa Universalis IV
- Crusader Kings II
- StarCraft (And StarCraft II)
- Factory Town
- Cities: Skylines
- Dawn of Man
1. Divinity Original Sins 2
As the winner of PCGamer’s 2017 Games of Year award and one of the top 100 Steam games of all time, it’s no surprise Divinity 2 is at the top of this list.
With a massive, fully-explorable world and intricate turn-based combat, this game is a near-perfect example of strategic role play. You begin by picking a starting race and that decision will have trickle-down effects for the rest of the game.
Tackle quests head-on with a sword and wand in hand, take a more savvy route using charm and dialogue or use party members’ unique abilities to find a less obvious solution.
The turn-based combat also pushes you to think tactically. Use the environment to your advantage, capitalize on taking the high ground, and even turn enemies against one another. How you balance these different elements is entirely up to you.
Game Info
- Developer: Larian Studios
- Release Date: Sept 14, 2017
- Review: 93/100 Metacritic
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Humble Bundle
2. Civilization VI
The Sid Meier’s Civilization series has been a long-running, turn-based strategy game with the first game being released back in 1991. Since then, Civilization has become an icon of strategy games.
Each game starts in 4000 BC, progresses through the stone, bronze, and renaissance ages, all the way to modern day and beyond.
Civilization is the ultimate game of global domination. It’s not just about building armies – but building an empire. That means balancing research, culture, religion, infrastructure, diplomacy, exploration, and defense.
Will you go for command and conquer route? Take over the world with impressive culture and tourism? Become the diplomatic leader of the world? Or race to stars?
Game Info
- Developer: Firaxis Games
- Release Date: 20 Oct 2016
- Review: 93 PC Gamer
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Humble Bundle
3. Oxygen Not Included
Oxygen Not Included isn’t a casual, carefree base building game. Just about everything is trying to kill you. If starvation and suffocation don’t do it, there’s a good chance heat or germs will.
This quote from our Oxygen Not Included review sums up most people’s’ first go at this game:
“Everyone is sick and starving – they’re shitting themselves from eating nothing but dirt and water for the past week. Someone pissed in the drinking water. And they’re running out of oxygen.”
This game is one of the best recent examples of strategic base building, where you to plan and optimize a growing colony of “Duplicants”. Mine for resources, gather supplies, cook food, and research your way to new technologies. But along the way, you’ll need to manage gases (with a surprising amount of scientific accuracy), control different temperature zones, and prevent your colonists from losing their minds from the stress of living inside a space rock.
Game Info
- Developer: Klei Entertainment
- Release Date: 18 May 2017
- Review: 9/10 Steam
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Steam
4. Rome: Total War
Despite its age, Rome: Total War is considered by many to be the best game in the Total War series. Your goal in the game is simple: command a noble Roman family and take control of the Roman Empire. No big deal.
Control battalions with thousands of soldiers, take on some of history’s most prolific leaders like Julius Caesar and Attila the Hun, and become the greatest general of all time.
Your combat decision can have devastating consequences for your army. Will you charge head-on, flank around the sides, or let the enemies come to you?
For some people, option D, “none of the above”:
“1000 flaming pigs vs 500 war elephants
see elephants
tell pigs to charge
pigs all burn to death before getting within 200 meters of elephants
i’m still the best general in rome
10/10″
As one of the highest user-rated strategy games on Metacritic, Rome: Total War is definitely one worth picking up in 2019.
Game Info
- Developer: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY
- Release Date: 22 Sep 2004
- Review: 92 Metacritic
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Humble Bundle
5. Europa Universalis IV
The team at Paradox Developers Studio are masters at crafting in-depth and robust strategy games, and this game is among their best creations.
Europa Universalis IV, like other Paradox games, is part of the sub-genre Grand Strategy. And the genre gets that name for a reason. You’re leveraging your entire nation’s resources, controlling both the macro economic and political pressures as well as micro managing units and key personnel.
If you’ve never played a Paradox game before, I recommend watching some tutorial videos before starting. There are a ton of moving parts and it can be a bit overwhelming for new players, but if you like strategy games, Europa Universalis IV is well worth the learning curving.
Game Info
- Developer: Paradox Developers Studio
- Release Date: August 13, 2013
- Review: 91 PC Gamer
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Humble Bundle
6. Crusader Kings II
Crusader Kings II is a uniquely character-based strategy game where you play the role of a noble lord forging a bloodline that will last throughout the middle ages. Eventually, your character will die, whether from battle, disease, assassination – or if you’re lucky, old age. You’ll take over playing as the next in line for the throne, but lose if you don’t have a living relative who can inherit your land.
There’s plenty of other ways you can lose, and in CK2 you’ll find yourself doing ridiculous things to climb the ranks and maintain control of your realm. You might be the King of Ireland and convert to Paganism to imprison your enemies on charges of heresy, then declare holy war with the English.
Like any great strategy game, you can sink hundreds of hours into this one. And if you ever get bored, there are a ton of DLCs and mods to try out, like the Game of Thrones mod if you want to conquer the Seven Kingdoms.
Game Info
- Developer: Paradox Developers
- Release Date: 14 Feb 2012
- Review: 87 GameSpot
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Humble Bundle
7. StarCraft
We’d be remiss not to mention StarCraft. First released in 1998, the Terrans, Zergs, and Protoss have been locked in a battle for galactic dominance for more than two decades. Since then Blizzard has introduced StarCraft II and a remastered version of the original game.
StarCraft is an iconic real-time strategy game and is still enjoyed by a dedicated community today. It’s been labeled “the best real-time strategy game of all time” and 7th best game of all time by IGN back in 2003 and 2007.
At its core, StarCraft is like many other RTS games. Players compete in real-time gather resources, build an army, and overtake the opponent. This requires you to be strategic not only in your military approach, but even more importantly, in your unit and resource management.
StarCraft II is also worth mentioning here. Released in 2010, it’s a much more modern take on the original and is an outstanding game in its own right.
Game Info
- Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
- Release Date: March 31, 1998
- Review: 88 Metacritic
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Blizzard
8. Factory Town
Factory Town is a new game that surged to one of the top sellers on Steam almost right away. While it’s still in early access, the game is already quite complex and well polished.
In Factory Town, you take control of a town plus a few starting villagers and your goal is to build a base and manufacture increasingly complicated supplies in a well functioning system. Use manpower, wagons, chutes, conveyor belts, rails, and more to create a perfectly optimized system of inputting resources and outputting goods.
But don’t let the simple synopsis fool you. Creating a base that run smoothly requires serious planning and strategy.
Honestly, most of my attempts at this game would make a project manager cry. But it’s a ton of fun to continuously build and grow a base as you research new building to create a better, and better system.
Game Info
- Developer: Erik Asmussen
- Release Date: 12 Mar 2019
- Review: 9/10 Steam
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Humble Bundle
9. Cities: Skylines
If you’re looking for a city building game, then Cities: Skylines is a must.
It’s a modern take on the classic city builder-style game, with just the right amount of planning and strategy required to make your city work. There’s a creative element to the game as well. Combine the natural surroundings with your development needs to create beautiful neighborhoods, a vibrant downtown core, and industrial areas that function like a well-oiled machine.
Can you reach 1,000,000 citizens?
One great aspect of about this game is the mod community. There are thousands of mods available to enhance the vanilla version like new buildings and infrastructure, roads and walkways, interesting maps, and much, much more.
Game Info
- Developer: Colossal Order Ltd.
- Release Date: 10 Mar 2015
- Review: 85 Metacritic
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Humble Bundle
10. Dawn of Man
Dawn of Man is another strategy game released in 2019 that quickly became a hit. Since then then reviews have been a bit mixed, with a 9/10 rating on Steam but scoring just 74 on Metacritic.
Dawn of Man’s unique approach to base building and colony management is what earned it a place on this list.
In this game you take control a primitive Stone Age settlement and lead your villagers to the final epoch, the Iron Age. As you might have guessed, life wasn’t easy for our ancient ancestors – predators, the weather, and raiders are unforgiving.
Send teams to bring down mammoths and feed your village days, raise sheep and use the wool to create winter clothes, and build defenses to fend off tribal raids.
One criticism I had with this game is that I wish there were a bit more content (more things to research, build, fight, etc.) For now, it’s still in early access so you can expect more content to be released soon. But even in it’s current state, the game already offers hours of fun.
Game Info
- Developer: Madruga Works
- Release Date: 1 Mar 2019
- Review: 9/10 Steam, 74 Metacritic
- Website: Official Website
- Where to Buy: Humble Bundle