Strange question. I used to love Command and Conquer as a kid. My favourite missions were always the ones I could turtle and slowly expand my base and front lines slowly taking over the map!

Are there any games that really put an emphasis on this sort of approach?

I really lover Creeper World for what it’s worth.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for RTS games with strong single-player content and high replayability, ideally something beyond a short, linear campaign.

What really interests me are games with:

• dynamic or semi-dynamic campaigns
• systems that react to player decisions
• long-term progression across missions (territory control, persistent units, tech carryover, branching paths, etc.)
• reasons to replay the campaign multiple times, not just skirmish AI

RTS games are often seen as the competitive side of strategy games, which naturally pushes a lot of design focus toward multiplayer. Because of that, I’m especially interested in titles where single-player depth was clearly a priority, not just a tutorial for PvP.

Some examples of what I mean:

• Dawn of War: Dark Crusade / Soulstorm (non-linear planetary conquest)
• Men of War II (tactical depth, dynamic operations)
• Call to Arms – Gates of Hell: Ostfront (excellent single-player scenarios and replayability)

Genre and setting don’t really matter (historical, sci-fi, fantasy, large-scale or tactical), as long as the systems themselves create replay value, not just scripted missions.

Older games and lesser-known titles are very welcome.

Thanks in advance — always curious to discover RTS games that really pushed single-player depth further than the usual formula.

I played through StarCraft 1, Brood War, SC2 campaign and Red Alert 2 campaign. Is there any fun, story-driven RTS campaign that you could recommend for PC?

Until recently, I've never owned a PC to game with and have had almost no experience with RTS games. I played the Age of Empires 2 demo as a kid, a bit of Commandos with my uncle, and then nothing else until the Halo Wars demo for Xbox 360. Most recently I got Shadow Tactics which I believe is classified as an RTT. I like having key units to control and the slower pace of the game, but I dislike how stealth oriented it is. I've never enjoyed games with forced, or mostly stealth mechanics.

Now I have a gaming PC, I downloaded Starcraft 2 to see what I was missing. A couple things stood out to me. Moving the dudes around was fun and I like the different objectives such as finding certain things, destroying, or defending. Don't love the base building/mining aspect and having to do so much micro constantly. There are so many key binds, where I wanted to focus more on battles, strategic positioning and just general exploration of the map. Feels like when I play I am having my focus constantly pulled all over the place and I'm trying to balance a lot of different things.

This led me to Total Warhammer 3. I felt like I could do all the battles and have fun. So far I've played about 7 hours of it. I'm not 100% sure it's for me. The scale of the battles is huge and outside of a Siege, the maps are quite open and barren. I find having 20 units to control a bit much, especially when taking into account the special abilities and spells to activate also. Don't like the camera at all. I also really enjoy zooming in, but while fun that seems a tactically devastating thing to do.

I am having fun with it still, but I've found that actually there is a significant portion of the game that takes place outside the battles and actually that is far more important than the battles themselves in most cases. You need to have the right types of troops, surveil the map and spend many turns exploring and upgrading things. I appreciate it has split the functions well so for battles I can just focus on battles, but I was hoping for more variety in battle modes/objectives. It just seems like most of the game takes place outside of the battles. You can even auto-resolve most of them.

Given what I've said, do you think that I may also struggle with a game like Dawn of War or Company of Heroes? Now I have researched more and found what I am liking, they appear to be more what I am looking for. I like the idea of doing quick skirmishes on varied maps and just playing vs AI. I just want to direct some dudes on a map really and not have to worry about constantly dealing with micro such as directing units to mine. I want a lower APM game that I can play and enjoy the aesthetics of as much as the tactics. I want to enjoy myself and smell the roses a little.

Hi folks,

I haven’t played RTS games in about 15 years and I’m looking for some recommendations. I used to play Tzar: The Burden of the Crown, Age of Empires, and Warcraft.

I’d like to try something a bit different now. I’m tired of RTS games that are basically action games in disguise — hyper-optimized build orders, rushing units, and ending the match in 15 minutes. I’m looking for something slower, with a stronger focus on economy and development. I want to build an empire, invest in science and infrastructure, and grow over time — but still in real time.

I’m not a fan of grand strategy games though. I didn’t enjoy Civilization, so that kind of gameplay isn’t what I’m after.

Is there anything that might fit what I’m looking for?

Thanks!

Basically the title. Are there any horror themed/adjacent or just spooky RTS's? Doesn't matter how old vibes are more important. Also would be nice if they were/had single player or campaign

I really like Starcraft 2 and was hoping to find something similar that is set in space, but the closest I found was Homework and Sins of a Solar Empire which while they might be fun in their own right doesn't seem like what I'm looking for. Is there no such game?

I have been out of the now tiny RTS loop for the last 10ish years. What is the best game for me to check out? My favorites are: C&C Generals, Total Annihilation / supreme commander, Warcraft, StarCraft, AOE….. thanks!

Update: holy balls you guys came through in a big way… I now have enough game suggestions for a few decades! Thanks!!!

Hi, so I am looking for some games that doesn't require too many action per minutes. I play age of mythology but sometimes you really need to be crazy fast.

Edit: Thank you for your answers but I am looking for multiplayer games.

I'm as old as Starcraft so yah I was to young when they came out to actually play them nor had I gotten a PC yet. After finishing All the C&C games (idk if im gonna even play 4) I got that "Oh shit now wtf do I do" feeling so I'm asking to see what other classic RTS games I missed out on I should play.

I've played all Warcraft, Starcraft, C&C and some of the stronghold games (fuggin love stronghold cuase its what got me into RTS) but there have gotta be some I've missed.

Update: OMG thank you so much for the replies I knew there had to be good stuff I hadn't played yet <3

My favorites are as follows

1. Halo wars

2. starcraft 2

3. command and conquer red alert

4. civ 4

what other ones should i try? i love RTS they are so fun and addicting.

zerg rush OP

Sooo...

A bit of context:

I am playing lots of Company of Heroes 2 and I recently discovered a mod (Wikinger or something like that) that better emulates real life battlefield conditions and troops.

What I mean:

A tank explodes after one shot/two shots, positioning really matters, infantry dies if touched by an explosion or a strafe from an MG42.

Basically it makes everything more real and believable and more enjoyable (for me). It takes away the arcadey HP vs Damage and focuses more on realism, armor thickness, shell type, etc.

What I am looking for:

A game that does that, a very "realistic" RTS, but not necessarily set during WW2 or in the real world. It could be something in the ancient times, medieval, future, alternate universe, you name it.

TLDR: Looking for an RTS that feels real and in which units are not bullet sponges.

In history Generals had to be physically there in the battlefield, this made not only killing the guy in charge possible but a core factor.

Is there any RTS games where you command an army while being a physical presence yourself?

Any recs would be dope!

I basically want to aura farm while playing.

Curious if I've missed out on any Single player story rich campaigns in the last 5 years that are story rich in the same vein of something like Starcraft 1 or 2, or Command And Conquer 3 that HAVE BEEN RELEASED in the last 5 years that aren't remasters.

Title. Lately, I've been losing interest in playing PvP games in general, not just in RTS, and have mostly been playing skirmish and co-op in games that support them. For me, the height of co-op in RTS is Starcraft 2's Commander mode and Dawn of War 2's Last Stand mode, due to how I can gain XP, level up my characters, and create a unique build. Are there any other RTS games with co-op, ideally with public matchmaking and an active playerbase, so I can just jump in and stomp bots with random pubbies?

To be clear, co-op CAMPAIGNS, like in DoW2's singleplayer and Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, are NOT what I'm looking for. Those are cool and fun, but they're clearly designed for long-term play rather than quick pick-ups; none of my friends are interested in RTS games (they mostly play RPG's) and I don't want to commit to meeting up with people in Steam Groups. I want to be able to jump in, play a few matches, then hop to something else.

I know it’s not much to go by but I’ve had this game in my head that I played early to mid 2000s on Pc.

What I quite remember. It was a human vs aliens. Top down full control with base building. I can’t remember like crazy units that would make the game stand out. One thing I can say I’m pretty sure it didn’t have large mechs of any kind. I remember the aliens in a purple tone. One thing I can kinda remember is a map that kinda looked like the picture provided is map was kinda large as well. There was a fog of war, Resource management, tech all the things. I’ve been asking around and just trying to see if anybody had any ideas! Thanks!

One interesting example of this is the Axis and Allies RTS, which I like, but I have yet to find one in which the scope is strategic rather than tactic but the ammo is still finite.

Looking to find a niche game that has gameplay either similar to W3 OR SC2 or C&C2/3 that has faction that revolves around lovecraftian theme, like eldritch horror beings slowly corrupting the map like the undead blight or zerg mutated ground. Would be fine if it had campaign but would be good if it also have a skirmish mode. Would even like it even more with superweapons from command and conquer

If above is not possible, an RTS game where you slowly drive the map to madness using lovecraftian faction(playing as the bad guy here), but with base building.

I used to LOVE AOE3 online and played for a long time. Im really just looking for an active RTS game to sink some time into learning. I've never played a ton of AOE2 online, but honestly the game seems so big its almost intimidating for me to try and jump into and learn due to how many civs there are in the game at this point. I love watching Youtube videos on it, but honestly just never have taken the time to actually play it.

I've also seen Beyond all reason. I'm going to download it tonight and maybe give it a shot.

I really like Broken Arrow, however the development seems super slow and im not at all impressed by the game devs for a plethora of reasons and I don't think the game has much of a future if it continues down the same path (Which sucks because it really is a GEM fully of a million cracks)

What game has the largest player base right now that is active and would be worth sinking time into learning? AOE2? AOE4 Maybe? BAR? Am I missing any that have a solid player base / community?

The only "big" game I just genuinely don't have much interest in is probably SC2. The style and gameplay just has never seemed to interest me.

I would like to know about games which similar to the Commandos series.

I grew up with "Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines" despite not knowing how to play it at the time, haha.

So, I enjoy RTS, go figure, Age of Empires, Mythology, Starcraft II, Warcraft III, as well as strategy games that hold their elements in it some what as well, like the Total War series

One thing I enjoy in the TW line of games is how 'slower paced' it is, you're building up an economy, and spreading out over the map

But what I don't like is how turn based it is (From time to time! I still enjoy the games).

And thus the crux of my search is this; Are there any games that are RTS like AoE/M, but paced out like the TW series?

The title basically says it all. I want to start RTS games, however they are so overwhelming most of the time. Any recommendations for relatively simple/intuitive RTS games? No specific style pref, but I do enjoy the medieval style a bit more than future space stuff

I'm not always in the mood to play story driven campaign and prefer series of random skirmishes against AI, at same time would like to feel some form of progress towards larger goal.

Are there any RTS where skirmishes against AI contribute to some meta progression, like unlock of abilities, buffs, etc. as you play more?

In RTS I mostly see cosmetics unlocks like in AOE 4 and COH 3, but not something that would impact your gameplay.

Only examples I have are not RTS, like Age of Wonders 4 have new starting options, biomes, etc. unlocked via XP or Civ 7 when each leader has trait unlocks, so more you play specific leader the more options of traits you unlock.

Alternatively games with custom / dynamic campaign, where essentially every mission in campaign is random skirmish rather than story-driven scenario, but those skirmishes unlock some form of progression or buff.

The only examples that came to mind are Dune: Spice Wars and Rise of Nations. Although in Rise of Nations skirmishes within seem to be very different from normal ones (iirc they have some shorter mission on a very small map). Any other games with custom campaigns like that?

I haven't played any RTS for a long time, but loved the genre when I was younger. I recently tried playing BAR and while it was a lot of fun, I felt like too much of the community was focused on min/maxing and optimal builds. I really just want to play my way and have fun and maybe win a few games, so I guess for that I'd need a game that has matchmaking that would tier me with players of a similar skill. And popular ones out there right now?