Best Real-Time Strategy Games
264 Real-Time Strategy games, ranked by the Rank and Play community.
RimWorld
Released: Oct 17, 2018
Critic rating: 74.5 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Indie
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player
A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller.
SpellForce: The Order of Dawn
Released: Nov 28, 2003
Critic rating: 83.0 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Role-playing (RPG), Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows)
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
In a world beyond imagination...
Total Annihilation
Released: Sep 30, 1997
Critic rating: 79.4 / 100 • 69 votes
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
What began as a conflict over the transfer of consciousness from flesh to machines escalated into a war which has decimated a million worlds.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising
Released: Mar 11, 2010
Critic rating: 85.0 / 100
Rating: M
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
In Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising you will take command of the Blood Ravens and defend the sector against the Chaos Space Marines of the Black Legion.
Anno 1503
Released: Oct 25, 2002
Critic rating: 79.4 / 100 • 36 votes
Rating: PEGI 3
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows)
Game modes: Single player
Lay claim to the New World in an epic saga of adventure and discovery.
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
Released: Jan 17, 2001
Critic rating: 79.3 / 100 • 66 votes
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
The destiny of a galaxy hangs in the balance, and you are in command.
Battlerite
Released: Nov 8, 2017
Critic rating: 80.0 / 100
Genres: Fighting, Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy, Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, MOBA
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Battlerite is a Team Arena Brawler focused on adrenaline-fueled player vs player combat.
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring
Released: Nov 8, 2003
Critic rating: 91.0 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy, Adventure
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows)
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
The quest to destroy the One Ring continues in the first real-time strategy game based on The Lord of the Rings saga.
Age of Empires III: Complete Collection
Released: Jan 5, 2012
Critic rating: 79.0 / 100 • 21 votes
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows)
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Microsoft Studios brings you three epic Age of Empires III games in one monumental collection for the first time.
Anomaly: Warzone Earth
Released: Apr 8, 2011
Critic rating: 84.6 / 100
Rating: E10+
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy, Indie
Platforms: BlackBerry OS, PlayStation 3, Linux, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac, Xbox 360
Game modes: Single player
Anomaly Warzone Earth is an extraordinary mixture of action and strategy in a reversed tower defense formula.
Offworld Trading Company
Released: Apr 28, 2016
Critic rating: 89.3 / 100
Rating: E
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Indie
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
Offworld Trading Company is a real-time strategy game in which money, not firepower, is the player's weapon.
Age of Mythology
Released: Oct 30, 2002
Critic rating: 75.7 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Age of Mythology is a real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios.
Victoria II
Released: Aug 13, 2010
Critic rating: 76.0 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Carefully guide your nation from the era of absolute monarchies in the early 19th century, through expansion and colonization, to finally become a truly great power by the dawn of the 20th century.
Defense Grid: The Awakening
Released: Dec 8, 2008
Critic rating: 86.0 / 100
Rating: E10+
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Tactical, Indie
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Game modes: Single player
A tower defense game where you have to defend Power Cores from being stolen.
Plague Inc: Evolved
Released: Sep 18, 2015
Critic rating: 80.0 / 100
Rating: E10+
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Tactical, Indie
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
Plague Inc: Evolved is a unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic simulation.
Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
Released: Mar 24, 2008
Critic rating: 76.7 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox 360, Xbox One
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
In the name of Kane!
Stellaris
Released: May 9, 2016
Critic rating: 78.5 / 100
Rating: E10+
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Stellaris is a real-time 4X grand strategy game set in a procedurally generated galaxy.
Company of Heroes 2
Released: Jun 25, 2013
Critic rating: 77.7 / 100
Rating: M
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
Experience the ultimate WWII RTS platform with COH2 and its standalone expansions.
Manor Lords
Released: Apr 26, 2024
Critic rating: 78.3 / 100 • 35 votes
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One
Game modes: Single player
Manor Lords is a strategy game that allows you to experience the life of a medieval lord.
Evil Genius
Released: Sep 28, 2004
Critic rating: 82.5 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Puzzle, Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows)
Game modes: Single player
Evil Genius focuses on building an island lair and the management of minions that are employed by the Evil Genius, allowing the player to progress through the main storyline with achieving world domination as the end goal of the game.
Dungeon of the Endless
Released: Oct 27, 2014
Critic rating: 79.4 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Platform, Real Time Strategy (RTS), Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Adventure, Indie
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
In Dungeon of the Endless, the player takes the role of the survivors of a prison spaceship, its escape pod having crashed to the surface of a strange planet.
Age of Empires III
Released: Oct 18, 2005
Critic rating: 78.3 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
In this highly anticipated next installment in the Age of Empires franchise from Ensemble Studios, Age of Empires III places players in the time period of roughly 1500–1850, picking up where Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings left off.
Dune
Released: Mar 14, 1992
Critic rating: 78.2 / 100 • 65 votes
Rating: E
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy, Adventure
Platforms: DOS, Amiga, Sega CD
Game modes: Single player
Dune is a 1992 video game, based upon Frank Herbert's science fiction novel of the same name.
Orcs Must Die! Unchained
Released: Mar 19, 2017
Critic rating: 82.5 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy, Tactical, Indie
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows)
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
Wisecracking multiplayer action that uniquely blends the strategic depth of a MOBA with intense third-person combat as you fight in a wild battle for fortress supremacy.
Stronghold HD
Released: Nov 1, 2012
Critic rating: 78.1 / 100 • 26 votes
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows)
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
The original castle sim, Stronghold HD allows you to design, build and destroy historical castles.