10 games · updated July 2026

Best strategy games

Games decided by the decision you made twenty minutes ago.

Strategy is the broadest category on the site, and the one where the online element changes the game most. A campaign against an AI can be solved. A match against a person cannot, they adapt, they bluff, and they punish the habit you did not know you had.

You will find two very different tempos here: the five-minute decision cycle of a MOBA teamfight, and the multi-month arc of a browser wargame where an alliance you negotiated with in March decides your April.

What to expect

A real learning curve. Most of these are worse before they are better.
Competitive ladders and ranked play in the majority of entries.
Communities that document the meta better than the developers do.

Start here

Where to begin with strategy games

The entries we would hand someone new to the genre.

Action

Counter-Strike 2

Twenty-five years of the same idea, refined until nothing is left to cut.

9.2/10

The ranking

All 10 strategy games

Ordered by our editors' score across the whole library, so positions here match the main ranking.

Counter-Strike 2
9.2/10
Tactical shooterPCFree to play2023
Five against five, one life per round, no respawns. The purest competitive shooter there is, and free.
ActionMultiplayerStrategy
EVE Online
8.9/10
Space sandbox MMOPCFree to play2003
A single-shard space sandbox where players build the industry, run the markets and fight the wars. Famous for the wrong reasons and right about most of them.
MMORPGSimulationStrategy
Dota 2
8.8/10
MOBAPCFree to play2013
The most mechanically complete MOBA, with the entire roster unlocked from the first match and nothing sold that affects play.
StrategyMultiplayerAction
Valorant
8.6/10
Tactical shooterPCConsoleFree to play2020
Counter-Strike's economy, with abilities that change the map.
League of Legends
8.4/10
MOBAPCFree to play2009
The most-played strategy game in the world, for better and worse.
Marvel Snap
8.2/10
Digital card gamePCMobileFree to play2022
A card game that respects your time to an almost aggressive degree.
Hearthstone
7.7/10
Digital card gamePCMobileFree to play2014
The game that proved a card game could be born digital.
Legends of Runeterra
7.7/10
Digital card gamePCMobileFree to play2020
The most generous economy in card games, attached to the sharpest turn structure.
Forge of Empires
7.4/10
Browser city builderBrowserMobileFree to play2012
A city builder that runs on a schedule measured in months.
Gods Unchained
6.9/10
Tactical card gameBrowserPCFree to play2021
A competent card game where the cards are actually yours to sell.