Strategy is a game genre in which you have to turn on both hemispheres of the brain. Strategies give you the opportunity to be a king, a warlord, a lord, a rebel, or even a god himself. Over the years of the existence of this genre, thousands of games have been released, and it is very difficult to choose the right ones now. So below you will see best pc strategy games of all time, the top 3 includes the most popular and original games of this genre.

1. Total war game series

It is impossible to choose one specific game from the Total War series, because each of them has its own advantages. In Total War games, you have to be the ruler of one of the states at a certain time in the existence of mankind. For example, in Rome Total War you can take control of the Roman Empire or dozens of other states from the ancient world. In Empire Total War, you can rule the indestructible Russian Empire, ambitious France, mighty Great Britain and many other countries from the 17th and 18th centuries. During the existence of this series, more than 10 games were released, the plot of which takes place in different eras. The main feature of these strategies is that the history of the whole world depends on you. You can take over the whole world or destroy your country. Politics, economics, warfare, sieges, naval combat, this game has it all, making it one of the best PC strategy games of all time.

2 Civilization V

Civilization is a strategy where you have to manage humanity from primitive times to the space age. During the game, you will need to capture the lands of rivals, discover new technologies, extract resources, and build cities. Subsequently, you will create a great power or fall in the attempt to do so. In the game, you can choose more than 20 states that have their own style of introducing politics, economics, and scientific progress. Also, for the Civilization series of games, gamers have come up with a special term "one more move and I'm going to sleep" - you know, the game is so exciting and interesting that you won't be able to stop.

3. Starcraft 2

Starcraft 2 is a strategy game where invincible humans, aliens and elves face each other in a deadly battle on various planets in an endless universe. The task of the game is to extract resources, create an army, and destroy the enemy. To win you need to make quick and smart decisions, otherwise you will be destroyed.

The game has multiplayer and a single player campaign. In multiplayer, you will face the same users as you, so to win you have to be one step ahead of your opponent. The single player campaign is also interesting, you will play as a mercenary named Jim Raynor. During the course of the campaign, you will encounter armies of elves and aliens, and some battles will take place on a map that eventually fills with lava. Between battles, you can explore new technologies, communicate with people and make decisions where to strike again. Great functionality and fascination of the plot puts the game in third place The best PC strategies of all time.

Conclusion

Strategy is not only entertainment and senseless pastime, during the game you will learn a lot of new things and significantly improve your skills. For example, in the Total War series of games you will learn a lot of historical facts, in Civilization V you will understand what economics and science are, thanks to Starcraft 2 you will learn how to make quick and informed decisions. Play and develop!

From the early 90s to the mid 00s, strategies ruled over the minds of the players, receiving well-deserved honor and respect. Alas, their golden age is over: RTS (real-time strategy) cannot compete in entertainment with the next Battlefield, with the dynamics of Overwatch or the plot of Witcher 3. Therefore, gamers have to be content with another replay of the good old classics or wait for the release of a new "Civilization".

However, not everything is so pessimistic. Our rating of the best strategies will allow you to identify the most worthy representatives of the genre, as well as learn about the latest releases that gave some classic strategies a second life. We hope this TOP 10 will be informative. If not: comment and vote at the bottom of the article to help.

Rating of the best strategies

Stronghold was released during the golden age of RTS in 2001. At the time, most strategies were trying to emulate either C&C or Warcraft, but Stronghold had other plans.

The game had a well-developed economic component. Although the number of available resources has not gone far from the standard "wood / iron / gold / stone / food", an unusual parameter has appeared - "Popularity". It provided an influx of new residents to the city and depended on many factors: taxation, the variety of food available, and entertainment.

To hire soldiers, it was not enough to build a barracks. It was necessary to erect buildings that produce weapons. Provide gunsmiths with the right building material. Wait until the limping grandfather with an imposing gait delivers a planed bow to the arsenal ... Now you can hire one archer. And so with all types of troops! You can’t just set up a barracks and “click” any units - this was preceded by the organization of a full cycle of production of weapons and ammunition. Not surprisingly, the game had a number of economic missions that were not inferior in complexity to the military ones.

A typical serene morning in Stronghold Crusader

However, it was not the first part that gained particular popularity, but its continuation: Stronghold Crusaders, which appeared in the next year, 2002. As the name implies, the game was dedicated to the confrontation between the Arabs and the Crusaders. Unfortunately, the attack/defense mode of the castle disappeared (the only thing worth paying attention to in the first part), but more units appeared, some of which could be hired for gold without producing weapons. For money, only desert warriors were hired, while European soldiers would continue to be equipped with weapons of their own production.

The game remains popular to this day thanks to the multiplayer and the release of the Crusaders Extreme expansion. This is also facilitated by a simple, but quite diverse system of building fortifications: Stronghold allows you to surround the castle with battlements and high towers, equip them with defensive weapons and archers, set additional traps and dig a moat with water.

The first part of Command & Conquer was released in 1995, becoming at that time a real breakthrough in the genre and seriously competing with Warcraft and Dune. Many of the now familiar gameplay features looked revolutionary at that time:

• Selection and direction of a group of units with just one click;
• The presence of neutral units, buildings, and other objects that can be interacted with (read "destroy");
• The system for separating units by class. The principle of "rock, scissors, paper" appeared - the first type of unit is effective against the second, but vulnerable to the third, etc.;
• The game began to use videos and animated splash screens. Paired with a great soundtrack, they allowed players to "get into" the history of the C&C universe, rather than seeing it as just another unnamed chessboard to hone their tactical abilities;
• The presence of only one resource, tiberium, is what all the wars in the universe of this game are fought for.

C&C turned out to be popular with all the consequences: many gameplay elements have spread to other games, becoming familiar elements of most strategies. In addition to the classic C&C series, which still pleases its fans with new releases, over time, two "alternative" versions of the game universe have appeared. These are Command & Conquer: Generals (2003) and the Red Allert line of games that has become very popular.

• Red Allert

The Soviets, as it were, convey a fiery hello to old man Einstein

Red Allert deserves a separate article. This game has absorbed an incredible amount of madness and "cranberries" on the theme of the Cold War and the confrontation between NATO and the USSR. Here is a brief description of the prehistory of the game universe: after seeing enough of the horrors of World War II, in 1946, the old man Einstein decides to make a time machine and return to the past to destroy Hitler. As a result, the scales swung the other way: Comrade Stalin decides to build his own, communist Reich, and Europe, together with the allies, still has to fight.

Judge for yourself how successful the game was: 35 million copies were sold worldwide. An entry has appeared in the Guinness Book of Records, assuring that Red Allert is the best-selling RTS in the world. In 2000 and 2001, Red Allert 2 and Red Allert 2 were released: Yuri's Revenge, which is still a classic choice for oldfags. However, for fans of more modern graphics, there is a third part of RA.

Warhammer is a vast fictional universe on which many books, comics, films, computer and board games are built. At the same time, there are two versions of this universe: Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. In the first case, as the name implies, Warhammer is faithful to the canons of fantasy and pleases fans of Tolkien and other "elves". And Warhammer 40,000 creates a mix of fantasy and , pushing the confrontation closer to the stars.

There are about 20 games related to Warhammer 40,000. But only one of them is always associated with the word "Warhammer" for any strategy fan: this is the one and only Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, released in 2004.

Strategy, in the usual sense of the word, has not been given so much space: the focus is on tactics. Buildings are built quickly, and there are only 2 resources: energy, for which you need to build generators, and special points that can be obtained by holding checkpoints under the onslaught of the enemy.

The creators of the game, as it were, directly declare from the first minutes: leave all this fuss with building a base and economic development for nerds. The WH40K universe was created solely to force armored paratroopers to fight various monsters (from orcs to more exotic creatures). So no long-term economic development is foreseen in it: only battles from the first to the last minute.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 is made for Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson: with a yell of "Power!!!", the player sweeps all the enemies in his path. Tactics? No, have not heard.

2009 saw the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2, which was highly acclaimed by players, was thoroughly praised by many gaming publications, but ... suddenly turned out to be not a strategy game. Faithful fans of the first part were horrified to find that the long-awaited Dawn of War 2 has become more like an RPG like Diablo than itself 5 years ago. True, this did not prevent the game from finding its fans, who assure that the multiplayer has retained all the necessary elements of RTS and is quite satisfactory.

7. Total War

It's funny that Total War and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War are next door in the ranking of the best strategies, because just in May of this year, Total War: Warhammer, the first TW dedicated to the Warhammer universe, was released. True, not Warhammer 40,000, but Warhammer Fantasy - so, first of all, fans of fantasy worlds will like it. However, let's talk about everything in order - after all, the release of this game was preceded by 9 other parts, which brought TW worldwide fame.

The main distinguishing feature of Total War is the successful combination of turn-based mode and RTS: the level of each of them is selected separately. The main action takes place on a global map of the world, in which everything happens step by step. But the battles are downloaded separately and are rapidly developing in real time. Players will have to wisely use terrain features and different types of units, which allows them to gain an advantage even over superior enemy forces.

The first TW came out in 2000. But the worldwide fame of the series was brought by its third part, Rome: Total War, which used a three-dimensional engine. As the name suggests, the action took place during the Roman Empire. In addition to the "classic" European nations, Arab empires (Egypt) and even barbarians were available in the game. Depending on the chosen side, not only the units differed, but also the architecture of the cities. The popularity of this part of the subsequent TW could not surpass.

In 2013, Rome: Total War II was released - initially buggy, but later brought to mind with the help of numerous patches. Probably inspired by Civilization, the developers of Rome 2 added the ability to win not only through conquest, but also through culture and trade. However, this is not the only part worthy of attention: Napoleon, Attila, Shogun 2 and the previously mentioned Warhammer are also interesting in their own way.

If I could create a product as successful as Warcraft, I would be resting on my laurels for 20 years, spending all my money in some completely pointless way. But the guys from Blizzard are not like that: after getting a well-deserved standing ovation after the release of Warcraft 2, Blizzard set to work on a space RTS. True, as a result, they still got Warcraft: the beta version was mercilessly criticized and perceived as "orcs in space." Fortunately, the developers listened to the criticism and completely redid the graphics engine and setting. So in 1998 the legendary StarCraft was born.

The game features 3 races: Zerg, Protoss and Terran, which are borrowed from the Warhammer 40,000 universe (tyranids, eldar, imperial guard). However, the similarity is extremely superficial: having been born, StarCraft went its own way of development - the universe of this game has acquired its own characteristics and now has little in common with Warhammer.

In most strategies, in order to maintain a delicate balance, all nations have the same set of units and buildings + a few unique buildings / soldiers that bring some variety, but do not fundamentally affect the tactics of the game. StarCraft did not give a damn about these canons. All 3 races are completely different:

• Zerg far from technology and science, they achieve superiority solely by quantity.
• highly spiritual protoss are the exact opposite of the zerg: each protoss imagines himself an important person with a rich inner world, so it costs a lot of resources, but also hits, respectively, painfully and hard.
• Terrans(from the word "terra") represent people in the game. They are the "golden mean" between the zerg and the protoss.

The beautiful lights of Star Craft 2 lure gullible schoolchildren and evoke a skeptical grin from oldfags

Such striking differences between the races gave the game a solid advantage over the rest of the RTS, gaining her a reputation as a "smart" strategy, in which you need not just to "spawn" as large an army as possible, but to think over your actions in advance, showing strategic and tactical skills. Microcontrol also plays an important role: if the protoss are not particularly demanding on control accuracy, then the success of offensive operations of other races, especially the zerg, directly depends on the speed and accuracy of the player's reaction.

StarCraft II was released in 2010. Modern graphics and excellent multiplayer allowed the game to return to its former glory and take its rightful place in eSports. Although the oldfags claim that the unique balance of the first SC is somewhat lost, StarCraft 2 received high ratings from various gaming publications (on average 9 out of 10) and gave it a second life.

5. Age of Empires

In 1997, the first part of Age of Empires was released: all the same Warcraft, only in profile. Instead of fantasy races, the game featured 12 human nations that could evolve from the Stone Age to Antiquity. This game did not make a splash in the gaming world, but on the whole it was received favorably, which inspired its creators to start working on the second part.

After 2 years, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings came out, which became truly legendary. She eclipsed not only the first part, but also many of the then “whales” of this genre, having won a decent army of fans. In 2000, the add-on Age of Empires II: The Conquerors appeared, which added 5 new nations with unique units to the game, as well as additional missions and technologies. It was this part of the game that became the most popular in the Age of Empires series. What is the reason for her success?

• Diversity of nations. There were 18 nations in The Conquerors, many of which were quite exotic: Huns, Teutons, Saracens, Celts, Persians, Aztecs, Mayans, etc. In fact, it was this game that laid the foundation for strategies with many different civilizations.
• Development opportunity. The second "feature" that was implemented for the first time among the strategies was AoE 2 - the transition from one historical era to another. All this was accompanied by a rather extensive technology tree, for the study of which it was necessary to build various buildings and spend resources.
• Balance. Of course, the nations differed not only in the color and different design of buildings. Each of them had their own bonuses and unique units. Some had an economic advantage, others had stronger cavalry, some had great siege weapons, some had a long-range fleet, and so on. All this variety was quite balanced with no clear favorites. As a result, Age of Empires 2 appealed to many fans of online battles.

As it turned out, a beautiful picture cannot replace an interesting gameplay.

Age of Empires III was released in 2005. It was not bad, but it was not close to the success of its predecessor. As a result, after several addons, Microsoft gave up and, to the delight of the fans, returned to Age of Empires 2. In 2013, they released Age of Empires 2: HD edition, and then 2 more addons: The Forgotten (5 new nations, including Slavs) and The African Kingdoms (4 more nations and "African" campaigns). So today AoE 2 continues to develop and delight fans with new additions.

4. Cossacks

The success of Age of Empires caught the attention of many game makers: they stopped trying to create their own "Warcraft", switching to the "Age of Empires" (which was undoubtedly inspired by Warcraft). So the guys from the Ukrainian company GSC Game World created RTS, which conceptually has a lot in common with AoE.

The Cossacks game, released in 2001, turned out to be so successful that in the eyes of many domestic strategists it overshadowed the Epoch for a long time. According to Igromania, at one time Cossacks became the best-selling domestic game (more than 1 million copies).

"Cossacks" continued the idea of ​​numerous playable nations. In the second addon of the first part, which was called "War Again", 20 different countries were available. And if in the "Epoch" there was not a single Slavic nation, then in the "Cossacks" not only Russia, but also Ukraine was available (which is logical, following from the name and geographical location of the developers). There were also more refined nations, like Piedmont and Saxony.

Unlike other strategies, in "Cossacks" resources were spent not only on the acquisition of units, but also on their maintenance. Without food, famine began, and mercenaries purchased for gold raised an uprising as soon as the treasury was empty. To use firearms, iron and coal were needed - without them, arrows and artillery were defenseless.

Also in the game it was possible to capture some enemy buildings, artillery and peasants (except Ukrainian ones, with them as usual: will or death). Compared to the Age of Empires, the Cossacks seemed more dynamic, allowing you to create an incredible number of some kind of crazy and fearless units - in a multiplayer game, the battles of such hordes looked epic and exciting.

• Cossacks 2

In 2005, "Cossacks 2" came out: despite the high ratings of many gaming publications, the game did not cause the same enthusiasm that the first part. Absolutely everything has been redesigned in it: it has become more realistic and thoughtful. No "disputed" nations, raids of hordes of fearless madmen and upgrades of ancient guns to such a degree of efficiency that even Kalashnikov becomes envious.

The battles in "Cossacks II" forced to take into account the terrain, reload guns for a long time and monitor the morale of soldiers who can get cold feet and rush into the loose. It sounds, like, not bad, but in the network game there is no trace of the former fun.

• Cossacks 3

And on September 21, 2016, the long-awaited "Cossacks 3" was released, which no one had ever dreamed of. And everything would be fine if it were not for the number 3 in the title - everyone expected the continuation of the series, but received a remastering of the first part. The old game was transferred to a new graphics engine, the gameplay is completely taken from the original Cossacks. Add to that a decent amount of bugs that GSC Game World has been actively fixing since release with various patches, and you can see why many gamers felt cheated. Still, GSC should have announced that the game is a remaster of the first part. before release, not after him.

3. Heroes of Might and Magic

The first part of the turn-based strategy Heroes of Might and Magic was released back in 1995. Its predecessor was King's Bounty, which appeared back in 1991. But universal love and recognition for HoMM came gradually, covering Heroes of Might and Magic III with a head somewhere closer to 1999.

The action of all "Heroes" takes place in a fantasy universe. There are races, but the player is not tied to them: the hero can conquer the castles of any faction and hire any available units. So, under the same banners, the most motley and wild brethren can gather: elves and skeletons, centaurs and dragons, people and elementals.

Battles take place on a field divided into tiles (hexagons). Units of the same type occupy one cell, regardless of their number. The moves are carried out in turn, while the hero looks at this action from the side, from time to time trying to help his army by casting various spells. Gradually, the hero gains experience, learns new skills and collects various artifacts that make him better and higher.

HoMM IV was released in 2004 and was perceived, to put it mildly, ambiguously: there were too many innovations. The main and key innovation concerned the heroes: from passive observers they turned into active participants in battles who could move, deal damage and be attacked like other units. Heroes could travel without troops at all: one at a time or in a gang of 7 characters. Having pumped properly, a lone hero could independently endure a large army.

There was also the other side of the coin: if you managed to kill the enemy hero at the beginning of the battle, you could get a solid advantage. For example, it made sense to organize a sabotage attack on the enemy, lay down the leader of the troops and retreat - a decapitated army lost the opportunity to capture mines and castles, which forced it to retreat and drag the commander's lifeless carcass home.

All these innovations gave rise to countless spaces for controversy and hollivars: since 6 years have passed since the release of the third part, a new generation of gamers has appeared who have never seen Heroes before - they liked HoMM4. But those who grew up on the previous parts, butthurt experienced mixed feelings.

• Heroes of Might and Magic V

Disputes between supporters and opponents of the fourth part was stopped by the release of Heroes of Might and Magic V, which took place in 2006: yesterday's opponents joined forces in a common impulse to express claims about cartoonish graphics for anime lovers. If you close your eyes to the picture, according to the gameplay, "Heroes 5" was a modernized copy of the third part - obviously, the developers did not experiment in order to earn extra money on the nostalgia of the fans of the series.

This is where the classic "Heroes" ends and something completely incomprehensible begins. HoMM 6 and 7 have turned into some kind of alternative product, so far from the original that even Heroes 4 looks like a standard of kosher against their background. Therefore, most fans of "Heroes" prefer to play earlier versions, from 3 to 5. But the Third HoMMs remain the most popular. Especially since the HD version of this game was released in 2015.

2 Civilization

The first "Civilization" appeared in shaggy 1991 and, as they say, was a digital version of the board game of the same name from the early 80s. Since at that time ordinary mortals did not have computers, few suspected a new strategic toy: mainly employees of research institutes and other interesting enterprises.

Nevertheless, the game turned out to be quite successful: what engineer could resist the temptation after a busy shift to try on the role of Stalin or Gandhi? The presence of Civilopedia, a detailed game encyclopedia, favorably distinguished Civilization from other strategies of those times.

• Civilization II

In 1996, Sid Meier and company released the second part of Ziva, which, thanks to the greater prevalence of computers, became a completely successful commercial product. Despite the mediocre graphics, the game had cool moments: for example, when building a wonder of the world, a video clip of a real newsreel was played. You could see the launch of the Apollo or a nuclear rocket, the shooting of the Sistine Chapel or Notre Dame de Paris. In subsequent parts, the cinema was replaced with conventional animation.

• Civilization III

2001 was marked by the release of Civilization III: the first Civa with nice graphics. Even now it looks quite attractive, and in 2001 this picture caused a real delight. The gameplay has also undergone some changes. In Civ 2, players tried not to collect many units on one cell, because. in the event of an enemy attack and the death of one of them, everyone who stood on the cell died. In Civ 3, nothing like this happened: in order to clear the cell of enemies, it was necessary to destroy them all.

Therefore, the obvious and only tactic of waging war in the third Civ: the creation of the so-called stack - a crowd of motley units on the same cell. From time to time, a leader appeared who could unite 3 units under his banners. Such a formation was called an army and was a kind of fat unit with 20HP. With the help of the army, it was possible to cut out almost anything.

The city window is the best that was in Civilization III

The signature feature of the second and third Civa was the situation in which a technologically backward unit, having more combat experience, could easily destroy some miracle weapon of the future. For example, in the order of things there was a situation when a spearman tore an enemy tank to shreds with an accurate blow or an archer, pulling the string properly, shot down an enemy bomber. Particularly amused was the fact that the plane was shot down equally successfully not only by an archer, but also by a swordsman. In subsequent parts, this problem was partly solved, but in the first Civs such events gave rise to many bouts of hysteria.

Civilization III had a number of innovations that migrated to all subsequent games in the series: various resources on the map, the Golden Age, cultural influence on neighboring cities, with which it was possible to assimilate a neighboring settlement, a technology tree (in previous parts, you had to memorize or write down the sequence discoveries of various sciences).

• Civilization IV

Civilization IV, released in 2005, has acquired a three-dimensional image. Players, accustomed to the third Civa, were wary of the unusual graphics, so unlike the previous part. Religion and espionage appeared in the game (Beyond the Sword addon), and aviation actions became more realistic: planes made raids from the city and could not be shot down by some harsh spearman. The problem of clusters of a large number of units on one cell was partly solved just by aviation or artillery: all units in the stack received damage from their attack.

The year 2010 came and Civilization V came out. Square cells were replaced by more convenient and practical hexes: with them, state borders got rid of the strange linear angularity and became more believable. The system of accumulating a huge number of units on one cell was demolished: now only one military unit could be placed on one hexagon. At the same time, they were made more efficient and stronger.

It was necessary to spend strategic resources for the maintenance of certain units: horses, iron, oil, coal or uranium. Without them at hand, the state risked being left without cavalry, battleships, nuclear weapons and aircraft, which not only added realism, but also forced the players to carefully manage resources instead of riveting everything they want in incredible quantities.

The tactic of building as many cities as possible also outlived its usefulness: large empires received fines in culture and science, and the population began to show discontent. So there are several different tactics: develop through 4-5 cities with more population, or build more settlements, but with fewer inhabitants in the cities. It became possible to win with one single city (greetings from Venice).

Another innovation: the emergence of city-states that do not claim world domination. Friendship with them brought various bonuses: resources, science, culture or religion points, units and additional votes in Congress.

It is worth noting that many of the functions, as in previous Civs, were added in addons: religion and espionage, caravans, the ability to adopt various resolutions in Congress and the UN - all this was not in the initial version without addons. Therefore, reading the reviews about the game, it is not difficult to see how the anger of the fans of the series was gradually replaced by mercy.

On October 21, 2016, Civilization VI was released. Among the notable innovations: 2 technology trees, cultural and scientific, which open independently of each other. Cells around cities must be built up with special areas: scientific, cultural, military, religious, industrial, etc. It’s definitely impossible to build everything - there simply won’t be enough cells. Moreover, each wonder of the world also requires a separate tile.

It is difficult to describe all the innovations and features of the sixth Civa because of its freshness. But the game has already received the highest ratings from various gaming publications, and the reviews in Steam, by and large, are very positive. And this is despite the fact that usually the first version of Civilization turns out to be damp and only with time, with the help of several addons, it turns into a masterpiece. But, apparently, the sixth Civilization can become the first representative of the series, which is good from the very beginning.

The plot of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans is tied to the confrontation between humans and orcs. As in the film, the orcs fall out of the portal into the world of people and a struggle begins between them for a place under the sun. However, the first part did not attract much attention - all the glory went to its sequel, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, which was released just a year later. But just look at the changes that have taken place in the schedule in this short period! Add interesting videos and a solid plot to a nice picture, and that's it - the masterpiece is ready.

As if "before" and "after" - the year was not in vain

• Warcraft III

But the continuation of the banquet had to wait a long time - as much as seven years. And the first reaction of the gaming community was ambiguous: too many suspicious innovations appeared in the game:

• 3D engine;
• 2 races grew into 4 (night elves and undead were added);
• A lot of neutral units and monsters appeared on the maps;
• Heroes were added to the game who accumulated experience, pumped skills and cast all sorts of things (why not RPG?);
• Rollers have become even brighter and more beautiful;
• The plot is even more twisted and pathetic.

The pinnacle of the evolution of the third part was the release of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne in 2003, which gave rise to the memorable dot-com (I’m unlikely to discover America if I remind you that DotA was created in the usual Warcraft 3 map editor and was not considered as a full-fledged stand-alone game).

Was Warcraft the origin of the RTS genre? Of course not. Can it be argued that this is the best strategy in the world? I'm sure many will disagree with this: C&C and Civilization, HoMM and Total War have solid armies of fans. But, undoubtedly, Warcraft made a significant contribution to the strategy genre and, since it was in the first place in our rating, it means ... *this should be a life-affirming thesis, but I don't have any such thesis related to Warcraft. Soryan, guys. There will be options - write in the comments *

Strategies have always been very popular with many players. And so we decided to make a full-fledged TOP 10 most popular strategies on PC around the world! I hope you appreciate our work and write your version in the comments!

TOP 10 most popular strategies in the world

10th place: Home world


Perhaps one of the few strategies that would stand out so against the general background. And it stands out due to the fact that the actions of this strategy take place right in space! The game has a beautiful space landscape and very interesting gameplay, as befits a space game. But the Russian voice acting complements the picture! A worthy representative of our TOP 10 most popular strategies.

9th place: Dungeon Keeper II

In this game we have to manage a horde of the undead. The game has very funny jokes, as well as addictive gameplay that makes players immerse themselves in it. This game was so popular at one time that its players even asked the authors to release a new part! And even collected a petition for the implementation of the new part. So popular strategies are on our list today.

8th place: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II


The famous universe, which included many recognizable images so far. The whole strategy is all action, so if you love it, then this is definitely for you! The game will not force you to waste your time on construction and other nonsense, in front of you is a real combat strategy, which we simply could not but include in the list of the most popular strategies.

7th place: Stronghold


A strategy in which you have to plunge into the world of the Middle Ages. Castles and kings await you in this wonderful game. It is because of its unique atmosphere that this game has become so popular, and no one can argue with that now. And if you love all these medieval things, then this game is just made for you!

6th place: The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom


In this game, we have to create a real kingdom. The game in some place is similar to civilization, you can also pump your state in a variety of ways, from trade to war with other kingdoms. Of course, the game has found its audience, and thus gets into our TOP of popular strategies on PC.

TOP 5 popular strategies on PC

5th place: Civilization 5


One of the most classic strategies in the history of popular strategies. Every part of this game was a real masterpiece. You start the game as the most ordinary settlers, and then develop an entire country! And in the end, you are able to subjugate the whole world, by any means available, but be careful! After all, it is not so easy to do this ... A great example.

4th place: Heroes of Might and Magic III


The good old Heroes of Might and Magic ranks third in the list of the most popular strategies on the computer. This game can be called a masterpiece without a doubt, because all olfags remember how wonderful it was to play on quiet nights with friends over the network, which at that time was not easy to play. There was a very peculiar graphics and excellent gameplay, which many still fondly remember ...

3rd place: StarCraft 2

The game is the heir to the good old first part. One of the most popular strategies that has become not only the progenitor of its culture, but has also become part of the eSports world. The game also had a great story that still remains in the hearts of many people, the battle of entire races for survival and control has ensured for StarCraft the title of almost the most popular strategy in the world.

2nd place: Forge of Empires


Cool and most importantly free strategy that you can play with friends online! Strategy in its most direct sense with the ability to improve your troops and continue the battle on foreign lands. Perhaps only this game was worth showing in our top. And I would gladly put it in first place, but alas, there was one better strategy ... Perhaps you initially guessed what kind of game would be in this TOP in first place. This strategy has many merits, but the main one is that it has a map editor. It was thanks to this editor that players spent many hours on the most unusual plots, and it was thanks to this editor that the famous DOTA appeared. The plot in this game is just on top! The story of Prince Artes, who turned to the dark side, is fascinating. It is also worth noting that it was on the basis of the engine of this game that StarCraft 2 was made, the engine of which was only slightly improved. In the end, a film was even made on this universe ... It was Warcraft - most popular strategy game on pc.

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A true classic - the first 3D game from Blizzard and one of the best strategy games in general.

When it was released in 2002, Warcraft III had it all. Wonderful graphics that look good even now thanks to the unique style, addictive role-playing gameplay that influenced the entire RTS genre, a great story in a well-thought-out universe, and mod support.

If not for Warcraft III, there would be no DotA, no MOBA genre as such.

2XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Tactical strategy game for PC in which you need to protect the Earth from aliens.

The main thing in XCOM is the constant need to accept difficult . Whom to send on a difficult mission: a veteran who will have a better chance of winning, or a rookie who is not so sorry to lose? Which of them should be given more powerful armor or a gun? Order the fighters to attack the strongest alien or deal with small enemies first?

Every aspect of the game - managing the base, changing the equipment of the characters, and the battles themselves - is incredibly exciting.

3. Company of Heroes

On the surface, this is the most ordinary strategy pro, but in fact, Company of Heroes is one of the most humane war games. This is because the player rarely has more than a few squads (unlike several dozen units in traditional RTS). You worry about the fighters as if you were yourself and build tactics in such a way as to ensure their survival.

With an advanced graphics engine for its time and thoughtful missions, Company of Heroes shows the brutality of war. No matter how hard you try, people still die - such is the price of victory.

4 StarCraft II

StarCraft II is the premier esports strategy game in the world. Every millimeter of the map, every special ability of the character, every building available for construction - everything is mathematically verified to generate the most exciting matches. It is not for nothing that tournaments on the game are held almost every couple of weeks, and the prize pools in them reach up to $700,000.

If microcontrol and multitasking aren't your thing, StarCraft II also has a great single player campaign. It has an excellent story about the confrontation of three races and various types of missions. Plus, you don't have to click so much to complete it.

5. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

6 Supreme Commander

A spiritual successor to Total Annihilation that improves and expands on the ideas of the original. In fact, this is a game about the leisurely battles of huge ones on giant maps.

Matches in Supreme Commander rarely last less than an hour. This time is needed to build a base with a balanced economy and prepare enough combat units to destroy the enemy.

Supreme Commander is a massive strategy game in every sense. The number of fighters on one side sometimes reaches a thousand, and you need to think through actions at least 10 minutes ahead.

7. Total War: Shogun 2

Among the games in the Total War series, it is difficult to choose the best, but Lifehacker settled on Shogun 2. Of all the modern parts, it is perhaps the most solid, concentrated and understandable even for beginners.

In Total War: Shogun 2, the player takes on the role of the head of a clan in medieval Japan. The goal is to take over the entire country. To do this, you can use diplomacy, economics, and even intrigue - send assassins and spies.

But the main thing is, of course, epic battles, in which it is very important to correctly place your troops on the location.

8. Age of Empires II HD

In Age of Empires II, the player needs to lead a civilization through several eras: the Dark Ages, feudalism, the castle era, and so on. You can play as one of several factions such as Japan, Mongolia or the Celts.

The main feature of the game is the combination of resource management with military operations. During the battle in Age of Empires II, it is not enough just to raise an army, you also need to build a powerful economy by building houses, quarries and sawmills and cultivating fields.

Many gamers prefer strategy to shooters and walkers, a feature of this genre is the phased planning of the game, we present to your attention a list of the best strategy games on PC.

Here's what it looks like.

No. 1. Starcraft 2

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is one of the most popular new games in the field of strategy games.

The events take place four years after the events in the game Brood War, which is an official addon. The protagonist of the strategy is John Reinre.

He and his team of thugs go through a huge number of tests on the way to learning new stories about their world.

In "Wings of Liberty" there is a more detailed description of the events in the life of the protagonist and his crew of the "Hyperion" as a whole.

During the game, gamers will learn a terrible secret that can destroy the whole world and get closer to solving it.

The storyline includes more than 25 missions and tasks. There are also several additional levels.

The game contains improved samples of all equipment, more cards and opponents. The graphics of StarCraft II are noticeably better than previous versions of the game.

StarCraft II has a multiplayer gameplay mode.

Also in the online version of the game, users will be able to play for different groups of heroes, creating their own strategy.

You can buy the game on the official website of Blizzard Games. Cost: 1500 rubles.

No. 2. Dota 2

Dota is the famous turn-based strategy game for PC. They are popular because of the online game mode, which has over two million users from all over the world.

In 2013, Valv introduced the world to the second version of the popular game, which is rightfully included in the top of the best strategies in the world.

Dota 2 events unfold in real time. Two teams take part in the game mode at the same time, each of which has five people.

Accordingly, these two teams are rivals. One plays for the light side of the heroes, the other for the dark.

A gamer can control only one hero who has special skills, knowledge and skills.

Each player can level up their ward by earning more gold or by collecting items that grant abilities.

By killing enemies, the hero also receives gold and increases his level in the team. The goal of Dota 2 gameplay is to destroy the opposing team's main base.

To purchase, you must have your own Steam account. Dota 2 is free to play, however, there is paid content in the game that can be purchased to improve the equipment of the team.

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Number 3. Sid Meier's Civilization V

Strategy games from the developer Firaxis have always been a hit with gamers. Sid Meier's Civilization V is no exception.

It was released in 2010 and has been at the forefront of a good strategy game for six years now.

Sid Meier's Civilization V

The fifth part of the famous strategy has become an excellent refinement of previous versions, in which there are many new features and functions. Each player is the leader of one of the states of the game.

The main goal is to lead your state to victory through wars and skirmishes with other peoples and their rulers. Now players can unite their peoples to achieve a common goal.

There is the possibility of conducting a neutral policy, that is, not to participate in any wars, but only to protect their territories and improve the welfare of the country.

Each player can improve his army by learning new military technologies and combat strategies.

The periodicity of the game spans the time when guns were made from bronze and up to the development of spaceships.

The new version of the game has an improved picture, more new technologies, nations. There is also a user-friendly user interface for navigating while playing.

No. 4. Spore

The best Electronic Arts games include Spore. It can be installed both on a computer and on a smartphone. The strategy came out in 2008.

Spore is a kind of "everything around" simulator. At the beginning of the game, each player is just a microorganism that lives on the bottom of the world's oceans.

The main goal is to evolve into an intelligent creature.

In the process of improvement, the appearance of the game hero changes not only externally, but also internally. The evolved hero must build his own galaxy and take over the universe.

Each mission will have many opponents to defeat. As the hero improves, the game becomes more complex and intricate, turning into a full-blown strategy.

No. 5. Heroes of Might and Magic 3

Heroes of Might and Magic is a well-known strategy RPG that has been on the market for over 15 years and is still very popular.

The gameplay revolves around a fantasy world that features a plethora of new factions, items, and weapons.

The tactics of the game is a battle with enemy armies. All combat actions take place in a separate screen from the game process.

In comparison with the previous parts, an underground level and improved graphics appeared. Also, players can choose the level of difficulty of missions.

No. 6. Shogun 2

This game is a sequel to the popular strategy that was released more than ten years ago. The plot is that nine clans in Japan are fighting for sole power over their empire.

Each player is a representative of one clan.

His goal is to develop military strategies against enemy troops and conduct a foreign policy that will improve the welfare of the empire, so that the subjects will be on the side of your hero.

The second part of the game completely returns the player to the memories of the previous version, however, there is much improved graphics and more missions and maps on which you can develop your lands or wage wars with opponents.

No. 7. Warhammer 40,000

This tactical strategy will allow the player to lead the Order of the Blood Raven to defend their territory in space.

One day, the crows receive a strange and unknown radio signal, which you, as the leader, decide to investigate in more detail.

In the process of unraveling, all members of the order will be subjected to trials and dangers, which should lead them to solve the mystery and conquer the entire outer space of the Universe.

Important! In the new version of the game, the number of opponents and game cards has been increased. Also added two more dangerous heroes to the last mission of the battle.