Best Turn-Based Strategy Games
371 Turn-Based Strategy games, ranked by the Rank and Play community.
Total War: Shogun 2
Released: Mar 15, 2011
Critic rating: 88.0 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
In Total War: Shogun 2 you choose from one of 9 (10 with Ikko-Ikki dlc) clans, each with their own unique traits and skills and each with their own RPG-style warlord to lead them.
Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu
Released: May 14, 1996
Critic rating: 85.8 / 100 • 47 votes
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Platforms: Wii, Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, Super Famicom
Game modes: Single player
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is a Japanese Super Famicom tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo.
Divinity: Original Sin
Released: Jun 30, 2014
Critic rating: 86.6 / 100
Rating: M
Genres: Puzzle, Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure, Indie
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
Gather your party and get ready for a new, back-to-the-roots RPG adventure!
Dwarf Fortress
Release date: Unknown
Critic rating: 84.0 / 100
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Simulator, Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Indie
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player
Dwarf Fortress is a single-player fantasy game.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
Released: Jul 11, 2009
Critic rating: 86.1 / 100
Rating: E10+
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure
Platforms: Nintendo DS
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
In Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, players begin their adventure as a city guardian who is sent to retrieve a sacred trees fruits, which have the power to grant wishes.
Epic Seven
Released: Nov 8, 2018
Critic rating: 79.0 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Simulator, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Platforms: Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac
Game modes: Single player
With Epic Seven's outstanding illustrations, it's the first domestic RPG to feature full frame animation for all of its characters and cutscenes.
Final Fantasy Tactics
Released: Jun 20, 1997
Critic rating: 85.6 / 100 • 192 votes
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable
Game modes: Single player
Lead epic battles in a new FINAL FANTASY world.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
Released: Oct 23, 2018
Critic rating: 86.3 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Puzzle, Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure, Card & Board Game
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Game modes: Single player
Thronebreaker is a single player role-playing game set in the world of The Witcher that combines narrative-driven exploration with unique puzzles and card battle mechanics.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Released: Oct 9, 2012
Critic rating: 88.5 / 100
Rating: M
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Simulator, Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Linux, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac, Xbox 360
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn-based tactics game with a strategic management layer, and a reimagining of the 1994 strategy title UFO: Enemy Unknown.
Shining Force II
Released: Oct 1, 1993
Critic rating: 85.4 / 100 • 58 votes
Rating: E
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Platforms: Linux, Wii, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player
As a student of Astral the wizard, you and your friends study all the usual subjects: reading, writing, and sword fighting.
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
Released: Jul 25, 2003
Critic rating: 89.0 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows)
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is the third entry in the award winning fantasy strategy series.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright
Released: Jun 25, 2015
Critic rating: 90.0 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Fire Emblem Fates is split into three story paths.
Sid Meier's Civilization II
Released: Feb 29, 1996
Critic rating: 82.5 / 100
Rating: E
Genres: Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
A turn-based strategy video game set around several different historic civilizations.
Pokémon Y
Released: Oct 12, 2013
Critic rating: 91.3 / 100
Rating: E
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Your adventure in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y takes place in the Kalos region, home to beautiful skies and forests!
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
Released: Apr 30, 2019
Critic rating: 81.5 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical, Adventure, Indie
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Game modes: Single player
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is a story-driven, turn-based tactical RPG set in a fantasy world with a touch of steampunk.
Total War: Warhammer
Released: May 24, 2016
Critic rating: 85.1 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
A unique combination of colossal real-time battles and an addictive turn-based sandbox campaign game of statecraft, politics and empire building, Total War: WARHAMMER will deliver hundreds of hours of absorbing gameplay.
Unicorn Overlord
Released: Mar 8, 2024
Critic rating: 86.3 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Game modes: Single player
From the masterminds that brought 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Odin Sphere, ATLUS x Vanillaware presents the rebirth of tactical fantasy RPG.
Pokémon Community Game
Released: May 24, 2020
Critic rating: 84.9 / 100 • 38 votes
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Platforms: Web browser
Game modes: Multiplayer
The Pokémon Community Game is a free to play extension for Twitch.
Deltarune: Chapter 1
Released: Oct 31, 2018
Critic rating: 84.9 / 100 • 136 votes
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure, Indie
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Game modes: Single player
The story follows a human named Kris who lives in a world inhabited by monsters.
X-COM: UFO Defense
Released: Mar 1, 1994
Critic rating: 85.0 / 100
Rating: E
Genres: Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Platforms: Amiga CD32, PC (Microsoft Windows), DOS, Amiga, PlayStation
Game modes: Single player
X-COM: UFO Defense is a strategy game that combines tactical combat with base management and global defense.
Vandal Hearts
Released: Oct 25, 1996
Critic rating: 80.0 / 100
Rating: M
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Sega Saturn, PlayStation
Game modes: Single player
You assume the role of Ash Lambert, a hero torn between saving his country and restoring honor to the disgraced Lambert dynasty.
Chrono Cross
Released: Nov 18, 1999
Critic rating: 84.8 / 100 • 137 votes
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable
Game modes: Single player
CHRONO CROSS, the sequel to the SNES favorite CHRONO TRIGGER, is one of the most ambitious role-playing games ever made.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
Released: Sep 28, 2017
Critic rating: 83.5 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure
Platforms: Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Game modes: Single player
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is the eighth installment in the main Trails series, serving as a direct sequel to the events of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Released: Jun 25, 2015
Critic rating: 90.0 / 100
Rating: T
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Fire Emblem Fates is split into three story paths.
Sid Meier's Colonization
Released: May 14, 1994
Critic rating: 84.6 / 100 • 52 votes
Rating: E
Genres: Simulator, Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac, DOS, Amiga
Game modes: Single player
The New World lies before you with all its peril, promise and infinite possibility.