by theygamesWhat are the best RTS games? Few things are as satisfying as building up an immense army and simply washing over your foes like a river over stones, erasing their existence as effortlessly as a click.
Starcraft and Age of Empires largely define the genre and are some of the best PC games out there, but indie games like Northgard and Driftland have shown plenty of other voices can be heard. The rise of MOBAs has challenged the RTS scene significantly over the past decade, but this hasn’t stopped some worthy games from rising to the top ranks to earn their place in the Hall of Fame. Here’s our take on the best RTS games on PC.
The best RTS games on PC are:
Age of Empires IV
It’s perhaps slightly unorthodox to have two games from the same series grace a list like this, especially considering Age of Empires IV is, in many ways, a reimagining of Age of Empires II. However, the newest entry in the legendary RTS series has exploded onto Steam and deserves a shout-out in its own right.
Age of Empires II remains a quality RTS game because it’s managed to stand the test of time and is still getting support today, but its newest sibling is by no means a slouch. Sporting an upgraded engine, new graphics, and a different approach to civilization design, Age of Empires IV is a modern AOE game for the modern strategy gamer. It’s even turned up its treatment of history to 11, with hours of real-life documentary footage explaining the historical context of the campaigns, as well as specific aspects of medieval life.
The campaigns are also pretty fun, although it’s unclear what the RTS community makes of the multiplayer and faction balance. Make sure you check out our Age of Empires IV review, and we’ve also got plenty of Age of Empires IV civilization guides to check out.
Command & Conquer: Remastered
As an exercise in reviving one of the best old games and giving it plenty of modern updates, our Command & Conquer: Remastered review says it’s an outstanding remastered version. It includes the original campaigns for both Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert, the expansion missions, and even the super secret hidden levels. This offering alone has hours of fun, but you can also take your armies online to fight in skirmishes against friends or AI across many maps.
The fundamental army structure is as you would remember it but with improved controls and a fully customizable jukebox that uses all of the music in both games. Special attention has to go to the cutscenes, their original recordings once lost to time, but through pain-staking detective work, they were mostly all found and remastered to modern standards. Clearly, the developers are fans of the games that popularised the RTS genre, and this is a loving tribute.
Northgard
This innovative Viking game arrived on our strategy shores in mid-2018 after a stint in early access. It occupies its quiet corner of the genre in a very stoic and extremely competent manner. Set in a fictional world, each match of Northgard has you take command of newcomers to an island that you need to explore and expand into to build a new life for your people.
You don’t build buildings and recruit units – instead, you must assign your limited population to various ‘jobs’ enabled via buildings. The game can be quite hands-off in many respects, even combat following a guidance model vs. direct control. You won’t be alone on the island either, as others will also seek new homes for themselves. Each ‘clan’ of Vikings has unique mechanics and distinct playstyles; some prefer to form alliances, while others like to conquer. Others want to make money, maybe summon a Kraken.
There are multiple routes to victory, and every procedurally generated island has mysterious NPC monsters. There’s also a survival element: you must have enough food and supplies to see yourself through the winter phases. The game has some paid add-ins in the form of new clans, but most of the major updates – including several new game modes – have been free.
Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
While it is undeniable that Ashes of the Singularity launched in a pretty weird place, with a somewhat characterless campaign and what felt like a dearth of unit options, it’s matured in a big way via a long cycle of continued development and optimization. It now stands as one of the more unique takes on large-scale RTS in modern times.
Ashes of the Singularity takes nods from Total Annihilation-style games, Company of Heroes with its squad-based light vehicles, and interconnected resource nodes that function similarly in many respects to territories from Relic’s seminal World War 2 RTS.
It uses structure-based support powers similar to those found in Command & Conquer 3 while restricting player upgrades. Unit counts through the scarce Quanta resource (which you can also use to activate support powers). The campaign DLC has vastly improved in quality, and while the game’s specifications make it difficult to run on all but higher-end machines, Ashes is a serious contender in the large-scale RTS space.
Driftland: The Magic Revival
It’s nice to see a new face finally make it onto this list – Driftland was in early access for a couple of years before it was released in April 2019. This innovative RTS follows in the mold of the classic Majesty franchise, where indirect control is the order of the day. You are a mage whose realm is on one of many shattered pieces of the world floating around, and you must develop your holdings and expand onto other ones by connecting them together.
It’s not for everyone, and there are some other minor niggles that will need to get worked out over time, but Driftland’s willingness to be bold and experiment does it justice, and anyone looking for a new fantasy RTS game doesn’t need to look any further.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
A new take on the classic series’ mechanics and a prequel to the original Homeworld, Deserts of Kharak is beautiful, haunting, powerful, and intense. While we were initially skeptical of how the “six degrees of freedom” RTS would pan out on a flat plane, Blackbird Interactive has packed Deserts of Kharak with nuance and heart.
One of the best RTS solo campaigns in history, coupled with gameplay that hides surprising subtlety, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak has been sadly overlooked by the larger RTS community. These days, it’s available as part of a bundle with Homeworld Remastered, which also may be worth checking out if you liked the original classic games.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
The original Age of Empires II is undoubtedly a high point in the history of RTS games. The combination of units and tech research combine to create one of the most replayable RTS games. The Definitive Edition verges on a remake, updating not just the art but also unit AI, not to mention that it boasts new campaigns and fresh civilizations.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition has a sumptuous mix of combat, civ development, construction, and resource-gathering, which means you’re always busy clicking away on something. Combat is more developed than two sides hacking away at one another until one or two lucky warriors emerge unscathed. There are fortifications to navigate, siege tactics to employ, and all sorts of issues that can cause your assault to crumble.
If you’re looking for more AoE goodness, you can read our Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition review if you have fond memories of that game, and we even have a dedicated guide to some other games like Age of Empires as well if you want something similar.
Supreme Commander
Set during The Infinite War, Supreme Commander has you attempting to wrangle peace out of the chaos that the galaxy has known for so long. You’ll have to use every last brain cell to come out on top against the AI and the devastating weapons it wields.
Thankfully, they aren’t the only ones capable of bringing out the big guns. There are huge tech trees for you to plow through throughout the campaign. Still, the highlight is the experimental branch of units, which includes everything from giant crab-like walkers and mobile-first bases to nuclear payloads capable of instantly destroying major enemy bases. Supreme Commander also features one of the coolest map systems around, with the ability to zoom out and in seamlessly so you can always plan your next step. Few RTS games make sci-fi warfare look and feel as impressive as Supreme Commander, and over a decade later, it’s still the benchmark in that respect.
Starcraft 2
Starcraft 2 is a titan of the RTS genre. One so monolithic that many new players fear even picking up the game because they’ll probably get torn apart online before figuring out the camera controls. Constant research and development choices will daunt the most indecisive among you, but there’s untold freedom of choice whether you’re playing as Zerg or Protoss. As a new player, you’ll constantly be weighing up whether to invest in permanent upgrades, short-term buffs to your most powerful units, or new units like giant robot dogs – who doesn’t want those?
But it’s multiplayer where Blizzard’s balancing prowess shines, a feat reflected in the game’s impressive esports legacy. Winning is a constant, tireless struggle to try and outwit your opponent, scouting out their facilities and attempting to counter it. Simply put: Starcraft 2 does everything an RTS game should do but with a level of polish that is still hard to match nearly a decade later.
Dune: Spice Wars
While the Westwood Studios Dune games are fondly remembered, we think that Dune: Spice Wars is a more accurate representation of Frank Herbert’s books. It’s a modern hybrid of RTS and 4X games, where your job is to influence and manipulate. While everyone else is fighting each other, you can harvest up all the spice uninterrupted.
Explore the desert planet of Arrakis to find villages with valuable resources and forge temporary alliances against common foes, all while avoiding the attention of the deadly sandworms. Several factions are available, from Houses Harkonnen and Atreides to the freemen and smugglers, all with unique unit types that define them. We will, of course, miss the non-canon House Ordos, but what’s here is a good foundation. Just be careful of the sandworms: the scouts say they’re a bit hungry.
Those are all of the best RTS games out there, but if you’re looking for broader best strategy games picks, then we’ve got a separate list for that, as well as lists for both grand strategy games and turn-based strategy games where you can hide behind the safety of a more relaxed pace. If it’s the military aspect you like in most of these games, then our list of the best war games will also be worth a read.
Original list by Jason Coles, with further contributions from Dave Irwin, Alex Connelly, and Joe Robinson.