10 Strategy Games You Should Definitely Avoid

Strategy games come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, so there really is a strategy game for everyone. From branded franchise tie-ins to unique settings, grand strategies, and turn-based games of every stripe, the genre is packed full of absolutely amazing strategy games people spend thousands of hours playing.

Unfortunately, with a genre so popular with so many different entries from developers of all stripes, that leaves a lot of space for games that you absolutely shouldn't bother playing at all. Whether it's because they're genuinely awful experiences, outright broken, or just don't do anything especially well, these ten strategy games are definitely ones to avoid.

10 Ancient Space

Good Potential Never Met

Ancient Space feels like it should have been better received than it was. Real-time strategic starship battles, fleet-based gameplay, and an all-star voice cast featuring names from sci-fi classics such as Firefly, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica sounds like a pretty good time, to be honest.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. User reviews on Steam languish at a Mixed rating, with 41% positive reviews. Common criticisms of Ancient Space are that it has an interesting premise it never meets, coupled with frustrating mission design, poor AI, repetitive combat, and major technical issues. Post-launch patches didn't manage to fix the game enough for players to come flocking. Unfortunately for Ancient Space, there are just way better space-based strategy games to play.

9 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III

Good Warhammer, Bad Game

More dakka! Cadia stands! Blood for the blood god! Look, everyone loves Warhammer 40,000. It's spawned a truly unbelievable number of memes and even some actually quite good Warhammer 40,000 video games.

Dawn of War III isn't one of them. It's got a Mixed rating on Steam with only 47% of reviews being positive. Many players just didn't vibe with the departure from the series' traditional formula, its limited faction variety and design choices, and its weak campaign. It's not that it's so overwhelmingly bad that no one enjoyed it, because it has its fans. The problem is that many long-time series fans still think Dawn of War and Dawn of War II were better entries; it's a common sentiment that Dawn of War III is only good for making you want to play Dawn of War II again.

8 Realpolitiks II

Just Not as Good as the Competition

Realpolitiks II has a Mixed rating on Steam, with 46% positive reviews. Look, it wasn't a ridiculously bad game. It has ambitious ideas for domestic politics, diplomacy, and nation-building. It's an interesting take on the grand strategy genre, and I wish it had worked properly.

Unfortunately, AI behavior, unfinished mechanics, and abandoned features make this a deeply unsatisfying experience. It just can't compete with the absolute titans of the grand strategy genre like Victoria 3 or the Europa Universalis game series. It's tough to tackle established greats, so it's always good seeing a new take on a solid genre. This one didn't quite land.

7 StarDrive

Broken, Unfinished, Abandoned

StarDrive is a space-based 4X strategy game with a disappointing Mixed review score on Steam. At just 41% positive reviews, it would be a lie to say this game has a positive reception. And honestly, that's kind of disappointing, because you can play as space bears. Who doesn't want to play as space bears?

Unfortunately, StarDrive doesn't deliver. It was broken on launch, with frequent bugs and crashes. Aside from complaints about crashes and bugs, the number one complaint is that the game is literally unfinished. Mods and overhauls have provided a more complete and fulfilling experience, but it's hard for me to imagine telling anyone to bother playing this game.

6 Sword of the Stars II: Enhanced Edition

Definitely Not For Everyone

This enhanced edition is technically the definitive experience for Sword of the Stars II, featuring all the DLC and expansion content. It had a rough launch but improved somewhat afterward. Not a whole lot, though, with a Mixed Steam review score with 44% positive reviews.

Even the stalwart fans of the game say it isn't for everyone, citing frustrating UI design, poor AI, and complex game systems that aren't explained anywhere in the game. If you're looking for a fun, challenging, and smooth sci-fi strategy game experience, Sword of the Stars II: Enhanced Edition is not the droid you're looking for.

5 Stormgate

Incomplete, Buggy, Too Heavily Monetized

Stormgate feels like it could be pretty fun. It offers 3-player co-op, PvP modes on over 60 maps, and an intriguing science fantasy setting. It's been called "Starcraft for modern audiences," which sounded pretty promising.

It's also got a Mixed rating on Steam, with 50% positive reviews. But at the time of writing, its recent reviews sat at Mostly Negative, with only 24% positive reviews. Reviewers feel like the game is incomplete, full of bugs, and missing major polish. Its campaign is locked behind some pretty expensive DLC, and despite being "free to play," multiple Steam reviewers feel like it isn't worth the money... or worth your time.

4 A Year of Rain

Unfinished and Disappointing Abandonware

A Year of Rain was a game that felt promising, but it didn't meet its potential at all. It had a cool fantasy setting and decent art direction. It offered an "ambitious" co-op campaign and three factions alongside dedicated 2v2 modes. I was cautiously optimistic about this one, but I held off buying it.

And I'm pretty glad I did, since it's been abandoned. Balancing is poor, pathfinding is bad, and features that were supposed to be put in the game never made it. It's got a Mixed rating on Steam, with 42% positive reviews, and it's still on sale today... but I wouldn't bother picking it up, personally.

3 Etherium

A Disappointing Experience

Etherium is a space-based RTS with a lot of cool things about it. It has pretty decent gameplay with reasonably challenging AI, an admittedly streamlined approach to RTS systems, and decent unit variety. It also looks pretty cool, with interesting albeit slightly derivative designs. But it's got a Mostly Negative rating on Steam, with only 39% positive ratings.

Players report repeated crashes, alongside a broken and limited single-player option. That would be fine, since Etherium is a more multiplayer-focused game, anyway. Unfortunately, even in its heyday, Etherium didn't manage to pull big numbers, so it's pretty pointless to pick up these days, when it's been thoroughly forgotten.

2 Stronghold 3: Gold

The Stronghold We Pretend Doesn't Exist

The Stronghold franchise is a beloved part of the strategy genre, so it's painful for me to put Stronghold 3: Gold onto this list. It's a Stronghold game; it can't be that bad! But Stronghold 3 kind of is. Its Steam rating is Mostly Negative, with only 26% of reviews positive.

Stronghold fans have some pretty strong words to say about this title. When they're not criticizing its bugginess and repeated crashing, they're dunking on its lack of features and somehow awful story. Honestly, if you're looking for a Stronghold-like strategy game to play, don't bother with Stronghold 3: Gold. There's some hope, though, as Stronghold 4 is in production and will enter early access at some point, so it's possible we can all move on and pretend Stronghold 3 just never happened.

1 Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight

The Franchise Killer

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight is probably the quintessential strategy game to avoid. It's got an abysmal 14% rating on Steam, coming in at Overwhelmingly Negative, and for very good reasons.

It removed traditional base-building and resource-gathering, replaced classic mechanics with mobile-style systems, and included controversial DRM. It's technically a perfectly playable game, but long-time C&C fans rejected it so heavily that it killed off the franchise for years. It just doesn't feel like a Command & Conquer game, and even outside of that, some of its mechanics felt deeply unsatisfying. It definitely deserves its Overwhelmingly Negative rating, and I certainly have no desire to go back to it!