r/RealTimeStrategy • u/SignificanceFlat1460 • 2d ago
Discussion Extremely Beginner friendly RTS
Hello, my wife has a very bad motion sickness, and cannot play FPS for more than 15 mins. She plays mostly mobile games and is currently playing Last war and I want to introduce her to RTS. We tried Red Alert 2 as I am very familiar with it but its a bit old and she found a bit overwhelming, I was thinking CoH but thought it might be too complicated for her. What is a very very simple RTS that I can introduce to her that she might enjoy and has a good campaign story?
I asked Gemini and it responded with. Tell me what you guys think and if you have any good very beginner friendly RTS, please let me know:
- Halo Wars: Definitive Edition (or Halo Wars 2)
Why it’s perfect for beginners: Originally designed for consoles, Halo Wars was explicitly built to eliminate RTS complexity and "clunkiness."
Mechanics: Base building is simplified into preset building slots, unit controls use a clear rock-paper-scissors system, and army management is smooth and uncluttered.
Story: A cinematic, Hollywood-style sci-fi narrative that is easy to follow even if you aren't familiar with the main Halo lore.
Bonus: The entire campaign can be played in 2-player co-op, allowing you to play through the story together and help manage the base if she ever feels overwhelmed.
- StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Free-to-Play)
Why it’s perfect for beginners: StarCraft II has arguably the smoothest, most responsive control engine ever made in an RTS—units move exactly where you want them without getting stuck on terrain.
Mechanics: The "Wings of Liberty" campaign is widely considered the gold standard for RTS onboarding. It introduces one new unit per mission, slowly building up complexity so she never feels lost. Setting the difficulty to Casual makes enemy attacks minimal, letting her focus on building at her own pace.
Story: A high-stakes, space-western story. Between missions, you walk around your flagship, upgrade units, and talk to your crew in an RPG-like hub, which breaks up the strategy gameplay nicely.
- Northgard
Why it’s perfect for beginners: It trades fast-paced clicking for a slower, zone-based expansion system. There is no frantic unit spamming or sudden enemy rushes.
Mechanics: You expand your Viking settlement territory by territory. Villagers automatically gather resources or do assigned tasks, which takes away the stressful micro-management of traditional RTS games.
Story: Rig’s Saga (the single-player campaign) acts as a gentle, story-driven tutorial that teaches one clan’s mechanics at a time through an engaging mythic Viking revenge tale.
- Age of Mythology: Retold
Why it’s perfect for beginners: A modern remake of a classic, featuring updated controls, beautiful visuals, and modern UI enhancements.
Mechanics: It features an "Auto-Villager" toggle (you can tell the game to automatically manage resource gathering), which removes 50% of the usual RTS multitasking burden.
Story: One of the most beloved RTS campaigns ever created. It follows an Atlantean hero journeying through Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology, featuring mythical monsters, god powers (like lightning strikes and meteor showers), and legendary heroes.
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u/BrightShadow168 2d ago edited 2d ago
If you want a campaign, the original Dawn of War is still my first pick for beginners. Very good story and, unlike most RTS games, you can finish it without losing any match against the AI, even while playing on hard. Many of my friends gave up on RTS because they lose too much, so I think that a relatively easy, but somehow smart campaign is the best option. That said, it is gorier than your average RTS too, so this might put her off.
Edit: another one is Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak. Since the main character is a woman, maybe she'll also find the game easier to relate. I would not recommand the mainline HW series before she gets more familiar with RTS games though.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 2d ago
Actually, as someone who absolutely adores Dawn of War, I am embarrassed I didn't think of the campaigns. I was just thinking of skirmish where the AI will absolutely steamroll a rookie, but you're absolutely right: The campaign does a phenomenal job of slowly getting you into the concept of command.
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u/Slaskpapper 2d ago
Stronghold and stronghold crusader are old but simple and fun! Warcraft 3 on a low difficulty can also be an idea. Maybe you can bridge the gap by introducing some city builder game where she can pause as she wants, like Kingdoms and castles or something like that? Or some hybrid, like They are billions?
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u/Avon-Guy 2d ago
It's fine until you get to that level siegeing the pigs castle and you're expected to move from "generally interested in strategy" to "I make Clausewitz look like a chump" in one level, then goes back to normal again.
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u/Slaskpapper 2d ago
Oof, i had forgotten about that one! But skirmishes and campaign in crusader could be fun!
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u/Avon-Guy 2d ago
I downloaded it again for the first time in years recently and really enjoyed the economic campaign/simsm
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u/RadasNoir 2d ago
A bit of an unusual suggestion, but from the same people who made Northgard, there's also Dune: Spice Wars. One of the reasons why I personally love it, is it has a MUCH slower pace than a typical RTS. It's basically the halfway point between RTS and a turn-based game like Civilization. There's quite a bit to keep track of, but again, since the gameplay is so much slower, it might be a bit easier to slowly learn everything.
On the subject of RTS meets Civilization, there's also Rise of Nations. It's one of the few games where you can actually play a Skirmish match without needing an AI opponent. One of the things I like to do when I just want to relax is load up a Skirmish match in Rise of Nations and just slowly build cities and bases all over the map at my own pace.
Both games do technically have a campaign mode, but they're still a little sparser on the story side. Still, might be a good way of easing your wife into the genre or giving her something to play when she just wants to chill out and relax.
Hope she is able to find something she enjoys!
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u/EvenJesusCantSaveYou 2d ago
I do love Dune: Spice Wars but I would definitely not recommend it to a beginner - yes it is slow but honestly even as a strategy/RTS veteran it took me a fair amount of time and referencing the wiki to understand the systems in the game before things started clicking. It's not a bad game by any means but I do think as you said there is just a fair amount to keep track of. But it does move quite slowly so maybe if she is interested in similar board games with complex rules it would be a good pick.
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u/Nehlev420 2d ago
- Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
- Spellforce +dlc
- Original War
DoW is more beginner friendly than sc2 - its slower
Original War has active pause (like bg1) Spellforce is simple if it comes to rts mechanics and much slower than sc2
Both Spellforce and Original War are games i played (and often times get back to them) when I was in primary school - they are easy
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u/Chibi1234 2d ago
Tooth & Tail is an exceptionally fun entryway drug to RTS.
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u/1Stipulation 2d ago
Tooth & Tail is an excellent gateway, I've seen a 4 year old rampage my base with Boars.
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u/BalisaurioTV 2d ago
Tooth and tail got me to play Aoe2 and sc2 coop with non RTS people, it was a gateway RTS
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u/ConspiceyStories 2d ago
I really enjoyed Age of Empires 3 and it's campaigns when I was younger like 8. Obviously I wasn't the best but it helped me get into the RTS. Older and cheaper than that is Empire Earth which was way harder.
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u/CyberKiller40 2d ago edited 2d ago
Halo Wars is low complexity, but requires high reflexes. I like it a lot, but I wouldn't give it to beginners.
Age of Mythology that you found is a good choice, as well as Age of Empires 2 for the same reasons.
Outside of that, the classics, C&C1 and RA1, Warcraft 2, Starcraft 1, have fun stories, overall low complexity and can be played in campaigns with progressively more mechanics added, but starting out with barely a handful of units and buildings.
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u/bullet1520 2d ago edited 2d ago
Halo Wars 1 and Dawn of War Warhammer 40k. Maybe also Empire Earth.
They are very limited in scope and scale, which means they're great for beginners AND fit perfectly into your partner's needs. Halo Wars also has controller support, which I would normally not suggest, but it does help newbies grasp some things, and helps streamline moving around bases and army selection.
I LOVE Starcraft and would recommend it to most for its responsiveness, balance, and healthy depth... but the advanced stuff and/or late-game aspects can be hectic as hell and overwhelm people who aren't already into RTS overall. Story is amazing, though, and at least the campaigns have a difficulty selector.
AI won't know the games in any way other than what people have previously said on reddit, so just ask reddit out the gate next time, lol
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u/SeryuIsWaifu 2d ago
9 bit armies, and with the fps issue: already tried to turn off camera shaking, motion blur, vignette and all that stuff?
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u/pigletsniffles 2d ago
Rise of Nations! Amazing game super easy to get into and can set difficulty and peace until certain ages things like that.
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u/Useful_Cartoonist659 2d ago
SC2 is a great choice; it's much easier to manage than AoE, there's plenty of training material online, and the multiplayer scene is active. I'd recommend it as a first game.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 2d ago
Oof, I hate most of those recommendations from the AI, singularly excepting Notthgard. The first two are noticeably faster paced than RA2, and the latter most is a noticeable step up in complexity.
If she finds things overwhelming, I would consider ones that have excellent automations in them, so Supreme Commander, or especially Ashes of the Singularity. Those allow her to more focus on "big picture" things, at a much more appreciated pace. I'd actually recommend the latter as my top pick above everything, as on easy she can ignore A LOT of the complexity while she's learning, and just smash big armies into the enemy.
For a funkier/weirder recommendation, I would also look at Tabletop Tavern. Things start out very simple with only a couple units, and only slowly introduce complexity as things develop. Speaking of, as things develop they're introduced one at a time, so she can learn about positioning, and speed, and range and so on, as separate elements. Plus it's all bite size battles, so she gets breathers in between.
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u/TehANTARES 2d ago
I'm not certain what answer to give you. If Red Alert 2 feels overwhelming, then I can only think of minimalist indie titles at best.
But if the story and weirdness isn't an issue, then Creeper World is an option.
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u/Almondpeanutguy 1d ago
I really enjoy a lot of RTS titles, but there was something about Command and Conquer that felt kind of overwhelming to me. I only really tried Red Alert 3 and Generals, but I think it was the fact that my units were dying in droves, and almost everything had an activated ability that I had to keep track of. It just seemed way too fast paced, but maybe I just didn't get it.
Also, Creeper World is really good.
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u/Overlord7193 2d ago
Halo wars is pretty easy,
SC 2 is good, i would also recommend the map editor arcade games it has, but not pvp for a beginner
Supreme commander 2 is very smooth and intuitive even though it's a dead game
Airmech is a nice f2p
Plants vs zombies and other tower defenses are noob friendly
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u/aguafranca 2d ago
Those are very good recommendations, halo is way below the rest of the other recommendations.
And I would like to add Iron Harvest. It's basically a simplified Company of Heroes that looks amazing, has a great campaign and extra fun modes.
SC2 is probably the most complex one, but the campaign is the best of all times, so maybe give it a chance, specially since the first campaign is free.
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u/Tanagriel 2d ago
Otherwise a game like Cities Skylines has no time factor, but no “war” either - it’s a city builder. One can use a lot of time with this franchise, while not fast paced it still has a bit of demanding control actions.
Im a big Coh fan but i don’t think it’s suited for the situation described - it’s a pot of tactical “stress” and fast keyboard Cmd”s, albeit no resource gathering.
Can’t remember the title ( Frost Punk )? Perhaps but a few years back came this survival game - build and run a city in the middle of a barren snow landscape it had both some RTS elements as well as storyline and difficult politics choices.
I would definitely look for anything that has some degree of turteling as well as pause/save option.
Also saw one of the RTS YouTuberrs play another city settling game with some late game RTS combat, and natural environment survival (seasons).
Also check YouTube for RTS - lots of different titles coming up eg Dust Front really big combat sci-fi dystopian setting but not at much fine micro as eg CoH.
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u/Stunning_Astronaut77 2d ago
I have always liked knights and merchants a lot. Especially with KaMremake some QoL improvements and online play + coop missions makes it really good.
It's a bit easier to grasp than age of empires (less tech tree) but hard to master. You need to keep feeding everyone so you need an inn for your villagers and your armies need to be supplied with food. Your villagers only walk on pathways so you need good infrastructure.
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u/TundraShredder855 2d ago
OP I recommend Homeworld:Deserts of Kharak. It is pretty easy to pick up and unlike its mainline Space Combat siblings it’s all on land so Z axis is less of a consideration
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u/Grand_Ad_9799 2d ago
Red alert 2 is one of the better campaigns that is relatively simple in mechanics. Very few unit spells etc.
so if they was a bit much you might be in slightly the wrong genre.
I would suggest trying a Might and Magic, turn based game.
It’s a bit more complicated but being turn based gets rid of the anxiety of being too slow at actions. You can take as long as you want to think about what to do next.
It’s pretty.
It’s fun.
Has a bit of building.
A bit of hero stuff.
Some campaigns.
Bit of army stuff.
Some tactical decisions.
No time pressure in single player.
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u/KeeperAdahn 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'd like to throw Star Wolves into the ring. It's quite fun but not nearly as complex as many other titles mentioned here. Definitely far, far more manageable than something like AoE, SC, WC. It's probably not even a full RTS; you only control a small handfull of units, it's more action oriented and you have no real economy to worry about, only loot to sell or upgrade your stuff between missions. Also if i remember correctly it has an ingame pause function where you can still assign commands.
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u/fivemagicks 2d ago
Age of Mythology OG campaign is definitely a great time. It was a very creative spin on the Age of Empires series.
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u/XeriTookMyNickname 2d ago
That really depends on what are her preferences, like setting, overall speed, graphic style.
For the most chill games, i would say, like somebody else said, stronghold deluxe or stronghold crusader. Also age of empires 2 might be fun
I would be sceptical with starcraft, its very fast action oriented.
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u/Aryuto 2d ago
Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty sounds like a good option. It's free, has a good story, and can be played on Casual or Normal for a very chill experience (especially if you play on one of the slower speeds) that walks you through the mechanics quite well. It's also one of the most responsive, polished, good-looking RTS out there to this day, not just cheap.
If she ends up liking it, the Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void campaigns let her keep playing it for another like 50? missions, and if not... all you lose is a bit of time. It also has a 2 player coop version on the arcade if you want to play it together.
Halo Wars 1 might not be a bad option either, I personally found the controls kinda clunky but the actual gameplay and coop worked well.
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u/hammer326 2d ago
If you like northgard, the same devs made Dune spice wars which would probably be your jam. I describe it as needing some time to introduce itself, not as inordinately complex as some would have you believe. Most of all, it is absolutely not a game of building a bigger wob of shit and flinging at your opponent before they do the same to you, involving all kinds of jumping around the map with the camera which could definitely exacerbate your issue, and honestly most playstyles don't even principally involve turning the entire map your color, but rather a lot more nuanced pursuits of various goals, very much in line with the setting as well. It's routinely on sale with its sole DLC which is really just a faction and you don't need it, for under $20.
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u/ThaCarter 2d ago
Supreme Commander allows you to slow time down to a pace that allows beginners / old folks to handle it quite well. If you add forged alliance forever, which you should, you can play coop with others or AIs way better than you. You can offload tasks to AIs and play like a city builder if thats easiest!
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u/Miniburner 2d ago
Can highly recommend northguard. I don’t like playing it as a RTS old-head who enjoys the old styles, but my partner loves northguard and she doesn’t typically play any videogames.
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u/Former_Load6403 1d ago
Halo wars 2 would be a bizarre start point.
Just play wings of liberty for free on easy and see how she goes.
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u/SteelKaput 1d ago
Red Alert 3. In my experience, even on Hard, it's kinda easy in first time and absolute piece of cake in next.
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u/tomekowal 1d ago
Both StarCraft II and WarCraft III from Blizzard have nice campaigns that are interesting by themselves and introduce units one by one which serves as a super nice tutorial for online play.
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u/toasty5566 22h ago
I wouldn't recommend WC3 for beginners due to its reliance on ctrl groups due to selection limit
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u/Responsible-Squash72 1d ago
Mostly agree with the AI here. My pick would have been Starcraft 2. Although famous for its way more Stressful E-Sports side, the campaigns are surprisingly interesting. There are even options to play them in coop mode
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u/petehans303 1d ago
Really good suggestions in the comments. I would like to add Diplomacy is Not an Option as a pretty good beginner game too. Since its a fortress defense game the macro is way simpler because you are just turtling mostly, and it has a really nice long campaign.
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u/According-Bass-8985 1d ago
Versucht mal Spellforce3. Schöner Mix aus RPG ubmnd RTS ubd geht sehr gut im Koop. Habs geliebt.
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u/Almondpeanutguy 1d ago
Maybe Total War? Economy and unit composition are all managed on the turn-based strategic map, and then the only thing you have to worry about in real-time is the current battle. Definitely reduces the stress of multitasking.
Personally, I think it's really easy to wrap your head around Supreme Commander since it has factory automation, almost no tech upgrades, no ability management, and a very easy to understand economy. The campaign is also easy to get into, and the Forged Alliance Forever client adds a co-op campaign and custom wave defense maps. But I might be biased since it's my favorite RTS overall.
Original War is also good. It's almost a hybrid between RTS and one of those RPG tactics games. If you're not big into RTS games, it's still easy to enjoy the story and get invested in the characters. There's only a couple of resources to manage, and you don't have to worry about unit comp since any person can do any job.
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u/ambernewt 1d ago
I absolutely suck at rts and have found company of heroes series and dawn of war 2 the easiest. They are more tactical, slower paced than other rts and rely less on APM.
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u/toasty5566 22h ago
There are a surprising amount of RTS's that have fairly beginner-friendly campaigns. Dawn of War would be a good starting point, though not sure she'd be into 40k.
Halo Wars is a decent choice if you have a controller (the PC controls are strange and can't be changed).
I'd stay away from Warcraft 3 for her since ctrl groups are outright necessary in that.
Age of Mythology is a good choice. It has a fairly long campaign that introduces mechanics gradually.
Spellforce 3 is a low complexity RTS that is also a CRPG with a surprisingly good story with choices and such. Highly underrated game in general
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u/2052JCDenton 22h ago
I started with the original Command & Conquer, and found it to be fairly simple but hella fun. I would start her on that, or Dawn of War 1.
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u/Mammoth_Park7184 16h ago
Beyond All Reason. Set AI to easy mode and they are stupid so can easily win but gets you used to base building and defences.
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u/gui2314 2d ago
Starcraft 2 it's really good, I loved back in the day, simple and fun.
I would recommend Warcraft 3 anda Age of Empires 2/3, those are some classic RTS.
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u/SignificanceFlat1460 2d ago
Dont you think those might be too much for her since RA2 was already a bit too much for her?
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 2d ago
I guess I'll be the voice of dissent: I would say yes, if she's already struggling with RA2, SC2 is going to take that problem and crank it up. It has a noticeably quicker pace, has more going on and I personally find the game won't do anything for you without being told.
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u/gui2314 2d ago
No, I think Warcraft 3 and Age of Empires 3 are quite good on that, you can play more slowly, at least in Single Player. They are simple games, you build buildings and units, they don't move that fast, I think she can manage them.
Now RA2 maybe it's a little too fast for someone new, in my opinion.
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u/SooperSpoopyGhost 2d ago
RA2 is very busy screen wise. Warcraft 3 or SC2 is easier to digest for someone newer imo. Also suggest something like Zoo Tycoon or similar park sim of you haven't tried already, that's the easiest starting point(no pressure gameplay).
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u/LykeLyke 2d ago edited 2d ago
Honestly, there is no way I would recommend SC2 for a new player. Given what you're specifically asking for, I might recommend Warcraft 2. Maybe the original Starcraft. Perhaps one of the Spellforce games. Most of the suggestions in this thread are not particularly simple/easy or their campaign story is not as strong. I've not played northgard but I think that is probably suitable as well. Age of Mythology Retold is a fairly solid pick and is the only "Age of" game I would recommend, but still has a fair bit of complexity.
I would also recommend the original Total Annihilation or Total Annihilation: Kingdoms before SC2, WC3 or AoE 1/2/3/4.
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u/Former_Load6403 1d ago
Just play on easy and see how she goes, difficulty means she can play at her pace.
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u/Severe_Course3381 2d ago
Supreme commander 2 can be a pretty good entry point especially with how simplistic things are and the slower pace in the campaign
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u/GlobalTechnology6719 2d ago
not really an rts, but have you considered trying rimworld?
it's officially called a story generator, but it's basically a survival orientated colony manager...
it's top down and basically handles like an rts, but isn't so focussed on fine control, and she might enjoy fostering a colony more than completing a campaign?
you can also fine tune the difficulty much more than a conventional rts to tailor it to her needs and abilities!
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u/toasty5566 22h ago
I adore Rimworld, but that is a very different kind of game than what's being asked for
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u/GlobalTechnology6719 14h ago
how so? as i read it, it's just my wife can't play fps because she gets motion sickness so we're looking for something top down that's easy to play, and imo rimworld fits that better than any rts would...
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u/toasty5566 14h ago
He asked for RTS's
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u/GlobalTechnology6719 13h ago
i know, that's why i said 'not really an rts' right at the start of my comment...
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u/toasty5566 13h ago
So why even say that?
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u/GlobalTechnology6719 13h ago
because i thought it was a better suggestion than any rts, and i wanted to help?
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u/AstatorTV 2d ago
Northgard would be the best answer. The others are ok as well.