10 Best Strategy Games You Need to Play This Summer

Summer is the perfect time to slow down, chill, and play strategy games that favor careful thinking and planning instead of fast reactions and aiming accuracy. However, that doesn't mean that these games are easy by any stretch of the imagination. They will challenge you, but that will be in a different way than adventure games or FPS games do.

Each game here was chosen carefully, as I didn't want to put before you games you would play once and forget. The list includes strategy games that require depth, planning, and tactical thinking. As you start to understand their mechanisms, you will dive so deep that hours will go by like minutes.

10 Civilization VI

Still, the Gold Standard

Very few games out there have defined the strategy genre in the way Civilization VI did. The game's turn-based loop revolves around exploring the map, gathering resources, expanding by founding cities, and fighting other factions to assert domination. However, all these feats are so detailed that you quickly end up in the belief that you're going to play for "one more turn", while in reality, you end up playing for hours.

What I think adds breadth to the game is the ability to choose your playstyle. For example, you don't have to conquer everyone else to win. You can opt for other victory conditions, such as being the first to colonize Mars, attracting more tourists than other factions, getting more Diplomatic Victory Points through the World Congress, or converting other factions to your religion. I believe this wide range of victory conditions is one of the reasons this game is loved by board game fans.

Tactical Tension at Its Finest

XCOM 2 is a masterclass in turn-based tactical combat. Unlike other strategy games that put you in control of numerous depersonalized units, this game gives you a few heavily customizable units that you easily connect to, but whose deaths are unfortunately permanent. I would say that missions often feel like playing chess, where every move, attack, and troop placement matters greatly.

When it comes to the wider strategy angle of the game, you will need to manage resources, prioritize missions, and research technologies. Missions can be completed in any order you like, but they will be interconnected, so you will need to be wary about which missions you tackle early and which ones you can leave for later. The game has an expansion and a rich modding community that keeps the game thriving for years with new, exciting content.

8 Total War: Three Kingdoms

History Meets Epic Battlefield Drama

As an old Total War fan, I would say that Total War: Three Kingdoms is the best entry point for the franchise. It is set during the chaotic fall of the Han Dynasty and blends grand campaign strategy with the real-time battles for which Total War games are famous. One of the main differences here from other games in the franchise is that generals can have separate fairytale-like duels during battles (this is reserved for Romance mode).

The campaign of the game gives you plenty of depth without overwhelming you at the same time. You can learn about the game's trading, interesting diplomacy system, and battles as you play without the game punishing you for making one bad choice. If you're an old Total War fan who hasn't touched on the games from the franchise in a while, Three Kingdoms might just be the perfect choice.

7 Into the Breach

Small Board, Enormous Depth

Despite its looks, Into the Breach is one complex strategy that will make you create serious plans if you don't want to be stuck on one mission for a long time. In this pixel art, 8x8 grid game, you'll control a team of mechs that need to defend the city from a giant insect invasion that threatens to destroy it. Your tactical and puzzle-solving skills will definitely be tested in its turn-based system, as you will know what enemies will do beforehand, making every loss kinda your fault.

However, don't get discouraged. The game's mechanisms can be picked up quickly, and the game is really summer-friendly, as each island run you do can be completed in 30 minutes or an hour. Perfect for those short playthroughs that don't require you to play every campaign for hours.

6 Age of Empires IV

Real-Time Strategy Reborn

Age of Empires IV doesn't need much introduction into the strategy genre, as AOE is one of the greats in the world of classic RTS games. A good portion of my childhood was filled with its predecessors that put medieval warfare on the stage, as AOE IV continues to do. It roughly follows the same era that AOE II had (period from 500 to 1500 AD) and puts you in the shoes of a ruler of one of the ten civilizations available in the base game (23 civilizations with all DLCs included).

The game is accessible enough that I can put it in the summer strategy genre, thanks to its great tutorials that won't let you jump into a challenge unprepared. Its matches are ideal for short gaming sessions, so even though you'll be in charge of resource management, researching civilization upgrades, age progression, and building armies, the game won't feel difficult because it runs on the same simple basis most RTS games run on.

5 Crusader Kings III

Your Dynasty, Your Drama

Crusader Kings III is a special medieval grand strategy game in that it lets you roleplay as the ruler of a kingdom rather than the kingdom itself, which sometimes reminded me more of a soap opera than a game. The game simulates your personal rule, where political entities are defined by the web of relationships between rulers and their vassals, and in the case that your character dies, you need to have an heir who can inherit your traits to continue to play. If you don't, it's game over.

The game is easy to learn, as the tutorial is thorough, and the game always keeps on giving you suggestions as to what you can do next. You don't have to follow their advice, but it's a good nudge in the right direction when you feel stuck. Every campaign will play out differently because each ruler has their own personality, skills, and ambitions.

4 Company of Heroes 3

WWII Tactics, Brilliantly Layered

Company of Heroes 3 is one of those games that managed to bring the RTS genre to the WWII setting and make it a big success. You will use different combat units in real fighting scenarios, and things like positioning, unit type deployed, and cover will be key to winning. Every engagement will require careful planning, not just rushing in, as you can lose poorly placed squads in seconds.

Also, the Dynamic Campaign Map used in the Italy campaign adds another layer of grand strategy to the game, as it allows you to choose battle order, manage supply lines, and call in off-map support such as artillery or airstrikes to soften up the enemies before you attack. It essentially ties the individual fights into one larger logical system that gives you a sense of controlling the whole battlefield, rather than just one fight.

3 Age of Mythology: Retold

Gods, Myths and Strategy

Age of Mythology: Retold is a complete remake of the classic RTS that was a hybrid of Age of Empires and Greek mythology. To fight your enemies in this one, you recruit both human soldiers and mythical creatures like the Minotaur, Centaur, Colossus, Kraken, etc. On top of that, each faction has a divine power system, which allows you to smite your enemies with the special powers of your protector—god.

I'm especially happy that this remake of the old game doesn't just give us a graphics overhaul but a refined balance of gameplay between the four distinct pantheons: Greeks, Egyptians, Norse, and Atlanteans. Each faction has its own unique major gods that you can choose for specific bonuses, and this time around, DLCs are introducing new cultures such as Chinese, Japanese, and Aztecs.

2 Hearts of Iron IV

Grand Strategy on Unmatched Scale

Hearts of Iron IV is the ultimate WWII grand strategy game, as it doesn't put you in charge of squads or armies but of the whole nation from 1936 onward. You will manage everything there is, and when I say everything, I mean everything literally. Production lines, army divisions, naval fleets, air force, research, diplomacy, and political ideology are just some of the things you'll be dealing with.

As you can assume, it takes a while to learn the ropes of this game, but once you get the hang of the basics, it becomes insanely fun to play. Managing your nation doesn't need to follow real historical events, so you can have an alternative USA, Germany, or USSR with different goals and ideologies.

1 StarCraft II

The Wings of Liberty

I felt obligated to include StarCraft II on the list, as it is one of the most famous and influential RTS games. Multiple generations of players grew up with its perfectly balanced three-race asymmetry of Zerg, Terran, and Protoss. The single-player campaign is excellent and challenging, blending a variety of missions with a cinematic, story-driven narrative that follows Jim Raynor’s rebellion against the Terran Dominion. No wonder it is among the top games Blizzard has ever made.

And don't get me started on the multiplayer in this game. StarCraft II's multiplayer was among the most popular, with a decades-long esports tradition and a devoted community. Even though it doesn't have the player base it once had, it still has fans dedicated to playing this RTS classic.