The best strategy games to replay in 2024

The strategy genre is often overlooked and underrated, although each of us surely knows at least one strategy game that has remained in his memory. Why are strategy games not attractive for the Game of the Year award? The gameplay is much slower, the emphasis is on anticipation, thinking a few moves in advance and the like. For many, this is not exciting enough. Some people do not have the patience to see the consequences of their actions only after a good hour of playing, or to realize after twenty moves that they made a mistake at the beginning that they cannot correct now.

Baldur's Gate III, which earned the award for the best game of 2023, is one of the few cases where a game with strategic elements has earned such an award. Baldur's Gate, however, is not a pure strategy game, it just borrowed some tactical elements. Its primary genre is CRPG.

We looked at the list of games that won the best game of the year award and we didn't find any strategy games on it in the last two, three decades.

To give them a chance in the spotlight, we've rounded up some great strategy games.

Civilization 6

Even if you've crossed the threshold of the strategy genre with just one finger, you've definitely heard of (Sid Meier's) Civilization franchise. Six is the latest from 2016 and is considered the most popular of the 4X strategy games, but it hasn't changed drastically from its predecessors. You choose a civilization and direct it on the path of eternal glory. The concept is very simple, but under the surface there are a lot of gameplay elements that you have to master if you want to dominate, especially on higher difficulty.

The seventh sequel is scheduled for February 11, 2025.

Starcraft 2

The game Starcraft 2 is a member of the real-time strategy genre. It's a completely separate category from 4X strategy games like Civilization 6. If you like being able to see the impact of your decisions in real time, you should try Starcraft 2. You'll be planning every little detail, and it's this micro-organization that at the same time, the charm of the game and the most common reason for parting with it.

XCOM 2

Killing aliens, building a base, an unpredictable world... XCOM 2 will test your patience. This is a game where you can do everything right and the system will still find an opportunity to outwit you.

Age of Empires

If there is a synonym for strategy games, then the Age of Empires franchise is definitely at the top of the list of contenders. The first game was released in 1997 and brightened up many childhoods, especially when you discovered that you could use the code BIGDADDY to summon a black steel horse and wreak havoc on everything in front of you. The fourth game in the franchise was released three years ago, and although we like it a lot, Age of Empires II is the most memorable of all, in which, in addition to the classic gameplay, we happily played all the different campaigns, from Joan of Arc to Attila, the greatest all-time winner.

Stellaris

Do you like tactics? Are you exploring the infinite universe? Stellaris is one of the more ambitious projects in terms of size and gameplay complexity. While exploring space, you must learn how to balance colonizing planets and expanding your empire, making contact with other civilizations, and finding a way to prevent war or use it for total domination. It was released in 2016 and after almost a decade we still don't have a decent alternative.

Total War

Another franchise with a rich history. If we counted correctly, it contains as many as 16 games without add-ons. The most attractive thing about this series is that everyone can find something for themselves. Do you like the Middle Ages? Select Medieval: Total War. Fantasy? Then choose one of the games in the Warhammer universe. If you decide to explore all of the games, there's a ton of gameplay to be had. If we could choose a favorite, we would choose Rome: Total War, where we followed the example of history and created the best breeding ground for soldiers from Sparta.

Warcraft, Command & Conquer, Hearts of Iron, Desperados, Heroes of Might & Magic, Commandos, Company of Heroes... The strategy genre has so many good games that even if you randomly choose one of the above, it will be hard to tear yourself away from it - even after a hundred hours of play. You will always say to yourself "just one more move".

What we love about strategy games is that they can be twenty years old and still play well today. For example, Dune II from 1992 can still provide countless hours of fun because the concept of strategy games has remained very similar since then.

We hope that we have given you some good ideas and maybe some motivation to try your hand at being a strategist.