The 30 Greatest Turn-Based Strategy Games of All Time

Squad-level firefights sit beside continent-sized campaigns here, and handheld gems go up against PC heavyweights. Patience is the only skill they all share.

1. 1
   XCOM 2

   Firaxis's 2016 sequel in which humanity fights back as a resistance after the aliens have won.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Heroes of Might and Magic III

   New World Computing's 1999 fantasy strategy classic of hero armies, castles and hotseat marathons, still played competitively today.
   928pts
3. 3
   Wargroove

   Chucklefish's 2019 pixel-art strategy game in the spirit of Advance Wars, with a full map editor.
   763pts
4. 4
   The Battle for Wesnoth

   The open-source fantasy strategy game of hex battles, unit levelling and day-night cycles.
   611pts
5. 5
   Valkyria Chronicles

   Sega's 2008 watercolour-styled war story that mixes turn-based command with third-person unit control.
   611pts
6. 6
   Jagged Alliance 2

   Sir-Tech's 1999 mercenary tactics game of hiring, gear and turn-based firefights across a rebel country.
   559pts
7. 7
   Unity of Command II

   The 2019 operational World War II strategy game built around supply lines and tight turn limits.
   559pts
8. 8
   Invisible, Inc.

   Klei's 2015 stealth tactics heist game where alarms tick up every turn.
   559pts
9. 9
   Fire Emblem Awakening

   The 2012 3DS entry that saved the series with pairing mechanics and a time-travel story.
   558pts
10. 10
    Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

    Ubisoft's 2017 Switch crossover that turned Mario into a surprisingly sharp cover-based tactics game.
    558pts
11. 11
    Heroes of Might and Magic II

    The 1996 sequel that set the series' storybook art style and its knight-versus-warlock campaign.
    500pts
12. 12
    Civilization IV

    The 2005 Civilization often called the series peak, with religions, great people and a narrated tech tree.
    500pts
13. 13
    Final Fantasy Tactics

    Square's 1997 tactics RPG of job classes, height-based battlefields and a war-of-succession story.
    500pts
14. 14
    Songs of Conquest

    Lavapotion's 2024 pixel-art strategy game that carries the Heroes of Might and Magic formula into a new world.
    500pts
15. 15
    Gears Tactics

    The 2020 Gears of War spin-off that turns the shooter into aggressive, overwatch-heavy squad tactics.
    500pts
16. 16
    Heroes of Might and Magic V

    Nival's 2006 3D revival of the series, set in the Ashan world with deep hero skill wheels.
    500pts
17. 17
    Advance Wars

    Intelligent Systems' 2001 Game Boy Advance war game of cartoon armies, commanders and tight grid battles.
    500pts
18. 18
    Fire Emblem: Three Houses

    The 2019 Switch tactics RPG that pairs grid battles with life as a teacher at a military academy.
    433pts
19. 19
    Panzer General

    SSI's 1994 World War II hex wargame that made operational strategy accessible to a wide audience.
    433pts
20. 20
    XCOM: Enemy Unknown

    Firaxis's 2012 reboot that brought permadeath squad tactics and cover-based combat back to the mainstream.
    433pts
21. 21
    X-COM: UFO Defense

    Mythos Games' 1994 alien-invasion strategy game that fused a global base layer with lethal squad tactics.
    357pts
22. 22
    Civilization V

    The 2010 Civilization that switched to hexes and one unit per tile.
    357pts
23. 23
    Into the Breach

    Subset Games' 2018 mech-versus-kaiju puzzle tactics where every enemy move is shown in advance.
    357pts
24. 24
    Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

    Nippon Ichi's 2003 tactics RPG of absurd humour, level 9999 grinding and geo panels.
    357pts
25. 25
    The Banner Saga

    Stoic's 2014 Viking caravan saga with hand-drawn art and unforgiving tactical battles.
    269pts
26. 26
    Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

    The 1999 sci-fi strategy game about factions colonising an alien planet, revered for its writing.
    167pts
27. 27
    Battle Brothers

    Overhype's 2017 mercenary company sim with brutal turn-based battles and permanent losses.
    167pts
28. 28
    Triangle Strategy

    Square Enix's 2022 HD-2D tactics RPG where party votes decide the course of a political war.
    167pts
29. 29
    Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

    Bulwark's 2018 tactics game of Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priests raiding Necron tombs.
    167pts
30. 30
    Tactics Ogre: Reborn

    Square Enix's 2022 remake of Quest's 1995 tactics RPG classic, with branching moral choices and a war-torn island setting.
    0pts

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