10 Strategy Games Where You’re Actually the Villain

Strategy games are all about being two steps ahead of your opponent, whether that's through planning your next move, decision-making, or managing resources. Despite new entries launching onto the market all the time, it's not often that strategy games allow you to be the villain, but when they do, they tend to be memorable experiences of pure domination. There are some video game villains that are more recognizable than the protagonist, after all.

We've ranked the ten best strategy games where you play as the villain. Whether you're looking to take over the world, erase humanity in more ways than one, or take ownership of a dungeon, there's something to fulfill all your anti-hero desires.

10 Plague Inc: Evolved

It All Starts With 'Patient Zero'

Rather than playing as a traditional villainous character, Plague Inc: Evolved puts you in control of a deadly virus that you must spread across the world. There are ten kinds of diseases that each require a different strategy to achieve your goal of eradicating humanity.

Since the game focuses on realism across its campaign scenarios, multiplayer, and co-op modes, I would argue that Plague Inc: Evolved should fall into the horror game subcategory. Humans will try to defend themselves against the virus and find a cure, so expect to adapt your approach throughout your mission to wipe out human history.

9 Creature Lab

The Lab is Your Oyster

Moving on to experimenting on humans, Creature Lab allows you to become a mad scientist in your very own hideout. Perform outlandish experiments, combine mutagens to form new recipes, and even grow body parts to attach to your victims.

Apart from the amount of freedom on offer through experimentation, my favorite aspect of Creature Lab is being able to send the monsters you create out into the city to find resources and fend off anyone trying to infiltrate your secret lab. Resource management and planning raids play a role in informing part of your strategy on your quest to find the most powerful mutation.

8 Swarm the City: Zombie Evolved

Command a Zombie Apocalypse

Become the King of the Dead by unleashing a zombie apocalypse on humanity in Swarm the City: Zombie Evolved. Your objective is to convert humans and animals to zombies through real-time strategy elements, while the art style adds some charm to your undead journey.

Grow your zombie army not only in size, but power, too. One of the most interesting mechanics in the game is that your zombies will steal memories of how to use weapons while munching on human brains. This allows you to put up a fight against even the most powerful foes and evolve your army to reach your goal of world domination.

7 Chambers of Devious Design

Tactical Tiles

Have you ever wanted to be an interior designer who builds lairs for an evil mastermind? Chambers of Devious Design places its strategy and puzzle elements in just that, connecting rooms that have their own unique effects.

What makes Chambers of Devious Design deserving of a place on our list of the best strategy games where you play as the villain is the different play styles on offer. Your designs are used to fight opponents, whether that's through room placement, passive perks, abilities, or the varying bonuses wielded by different playable characters. I think watching your lair evolve and grow makes survival that bit more satisfying.

6 Ghost Master: Resurrection

The Haunting of Gravenville

Back on the theme of tormenting humans, Ghost Master: Resurrection is a remake of the 2003 cult classic that allows you to take control of ghostly apparitions to scare the living daylights out of the townsfolk. Put simply, the core gameplay loop is like if you could haunt characters in The Sims.

Unlike traditional strategy games, Ghost Master: Resurrection welcomes chaos as you unlock mysteries and solve puzzles across the 11 explorable locations. Ghost Master: Resurrection is the best way to command your ghastly army due to its improved visuals, better AI, and new content that is exclusive to this modernized version.

5 Age of Wonders 4

A Fantasy Playground

Age of Wonders has come a long way since its debut back in 1999. Whether you want to create a clan of cannibals, or go for complete domination, the reactive world of varying realms opens up endless replayability for evil deeds. Moreover, Age of Wonders 4 has robust mod support on PC, offering greater choice over the way you play.

Although sharing some similarities with Sid Meier's Civilization series, Age of Wonders 4 is the better option for taking the place of a glory-seeking villain because there are more ways to play the role through RPG elements, faction creation, and more diverse combat.

4 Command and Conquer Remastered Collection

Still Holding the Line

One of the most influential real-time strategy games is Command and Conquer. Even three decades after the original title made its debut, the game is able to stand the test of time.

It's possible to play as the villain in Command and Conquer through the game's factions, the antagonists of which are: The Brotherhood of Nod, Global Liberation Army, The Scrin, The Soviet Union, Yuri's Faction, and Empire of the Rising Sun. My top pick is the Global Liberation Army because of their powerful economy derived from resource gathering and their use of clever guerrilla tactics.

The remastered edition includes all three game expansions, 4K graphics, multiplayer rebuilt from the ground-up, and even mod support on Steam.

3 Iratus: Lord of the Dead

A Rising Evil

Adopting the role of a necromancer in a dark fantasy world with turn-based tactical Roguelike elements is the premise of Iratus: Lord of the Dead. The fact that you are trying to break free from a dungeon, rather than being the hero that ventures into them, caught my attention.

After being freed from prison, you must fight your way out of the underworld to the surface world and establish your kingdom. There are 19 types of servants to add to your army, while crafting minions from the body parts of your dead opponents adds a new layer of strategy to your army due to their unique abilities.

There are a range of difficulty levels to choose from in Iratus: Lord of the Dead, which makes it a strategy game that's accessible for everyone.

2 Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager

You're Hired by the Dungeons Company

In a similar vein to Iratus: Lord of the Dead, you play the villain by defending dungeons from hopeful explorers, but as the name suggests, Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager has a focus on workplace management.

Plan your defense against heroes and place traps throughout your dungeon to stop them from advancing in Roguelike encounters. However, you will also run all parts of the dungeon, from hiring monsters and even dealing with employee strikes. Climbing the career ladder of a dungeon master works surprisingly well with this formula by raising the stakes in your role as the villain.

1 Evil Genius 2: World Domination

The Ultimate Comedy Villain

Inspired by the spy genre, you play the other side of the coin, as you are the criminal mastermind seeking domination with a Doomsday Device in this base-building strategy game.

Create your own lair fit for a villain and train a loyal army to implement your evil plans. Evil Genius 2: World Domination stands out because of its satirical tone that brings a new meaning to playing in the shoes of the villain. Whether you're selling the British Royal Family or causing mischief elsewhere, be on the lookout for The Forces of Justice, who will attempt to stop you in your tracks.