Best RTS Games Like Starcraft

The success of the real-time strategy genre has been a cornerstone of PC gaming for decades. Its versatility is part of the secret to its success; the genre has seen WW2 shooters, mythical battles, and historical events. Another popular type of RTS game is futuristic science-fiction, a category that has been dominated by Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft series.

The original game, StarCraft, won a multitude of awards upon its launch, including Strategy Game Of The Year by GameSpot and Real-Time Strategy Game Of The Year by PC Gamer. The excitement surrounding StarCraft 2 was one of the more memorable events in gaming history, and the sequel is one of the highest-rated games on Metacritic. For those who love Blizzard’s signature RTS game but want a change of scene, there are plenty of choices for games like StarCraft.

Updated on September 28, 2024, by Stephen LaGioia: RTS games have expanded and become popular to the point where many are even playing them on their mobile devices. Part of the resurgence of the RTS genre is due to how great they look on big screens with equally impressive sound and graphics, which better accommodate the busy, dynamic nature of the genre. But while this highly appealing, in-depth genre has a rich and long history, many find themselves returning to the (relatively) simple-yet-detailed StarCraft, and games of its ilk. With that said, here are some more similarly fun, uniquely charming RTS romps that find that nice balance.

27 Ashes Of The Singularity 2016

Thousands Of Units And Giant Maps

Ashes of the Singularity was released by Stardock Entertainment, the team behind the Sins of a Solar Empire and Galactic Civilizations franchises. The RTS game differentiates itself from others in the genre by having thousands of units fighting at one time on enormous maps that make the game feel ahead of its time.

The game didn’t blow critics away when it was first released, but the Escalation expansion redeemed the game when it was released six months later. The expansion was initially released as a standalone product but has since been merged with the main game.

26 War Party

Everybody Walk The Dinosaur

• Platforms: PC, Switch
• Released: March 28th, 2019
• Developer: Rogueside
• Publisher: Rogueside

Think WarCraft with dinosaurs, cavemen, and a dash of StarCraft‘s simplistic sensibilities, and this multiplayer indie might be the result. Studio Rogueside hearkens back to the era of colorful, early Blizzard RTS romps, and applies a fun and cheeky dinosaur overlay in War Party.

The game dabbles with fantasy elements by way of mages, undead, and battle-altering spells — though grounds things more in prehistoric motifs. War Party allows players to pick between one of three distinct factions, not unlike StarCraft‘s human and alien armies, which intertwine and often clash. Players must tackle different missions — typically defeating outposts and bands of foes — while taking care of smaller, secondary tasks.

While more of a mixed bag in terms of refinement and depth, the game stands out for being a rare example of a decent home console port. It offers fairly organized, intuitive controls for Switch, which allow swift multitasking without being overwhelmed by a dozen commands and countless micromanaging.

25 Halo Wars 2

Gunplay, Sci-Fi, and… Card Battles

343 Industries and Creative Assembly manage to polish the formula for their sci-fi RTS based on the iconic Halo series, while adding various bells and whistles that include new modes and card battles. Though simplistic at first, the card fights work surprisingly well, and add an interesting, quasi-Magic the Gathering feel to the experience, in addition to the on-the-nose StarCraft vibe.

The game features an impressively detailed, cinematic campaign that follows the events of Halo 5. This story mode is strengthened by appealing RTS combat that works surprisingly well even on home console, and features a slew of unique missions and challenges.

Multiplayer is another strong suit of the game, featuring both online co-op and competitive matches with impressive customization. While it has a few quirks, and can be tough to find one’s footing at first compared to its simpler predecessor, Halo Wars 2 is a rewarding (and frankly overlooked) RTS on Xbox.

24 Age Of Empires 4

A Dominant Force Of The Genre

Often considered the pinnacle of RTS gaming along with StarCraft, this 2021 classic reinforces this Medieval warfare epic as one of the kings of the genre. While the franchise has been known for being a more in-depth, ‘hardcore’ alternative to Blizzard’s hit, this more polished sequel offers a learning curve that’s at least a tad less steep.

At the same time, this strategy game ups the ante in several ways, with a greater feeling of historical authenticity aided by sleeker visuals, and loads of diverse content. Players can delve into six different solo campaigns, traverse four Ages, and pick between 16 distinct civilizations that range from the Holy Roman Empire to the Ottomans to the Japanese.

As in past entries, gamers must manage their colonies that contain military, economic, religious, and tech-based buildings, all while powering up their empire and toppling rival forces. It’s a highly alluring, rewarding experience that’s done superbly in Age of Empires 4.

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23 Ancestors Legacy (2018)

Real Events As Part Of A Larger Campaign

Like most RTS games that players can enjoy on a historical or nationwide level, the best features of Ancestors Legacy include a historical setting, famous leaders, and accurate army units and tactics. The regions the player can visit include various points in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, either as part of a single-player campaign or against their friends in multiplayer mode.

The playable races include Vikings, Slavs, Anglo-Saxons, and a Catholic Order of militant knights called the Teutons. A DLC called Saladin’s Conquest includes the Saracens. What sets this game apart from other historic RTS games is the clever use of real events as part of a larger campaign, such as the Viking campaign which uses the raid of Lindisfarne’s Monastery as a tutorial.

22 The Great War: Western Front

Realistic World War 1 Strategy

Play as either the Allied Powers of the Americas and Western Europe or the Central Powers of Eastern Europe with The Great War: Western Front. The game includes gathering resources and fight sequences, and in keeping with the historical context, trenches and tanks are an essential part of battlefield management.

The game is designed to be as realistic as possible, so it’s ideal for those keen on historical accuracy. On the other hand, this can be frustrating because stalemates were common during this period, and WWI in particular was notorious for it. The result is a long and expensive battle that essentially goes nowhere, but that’s part of the horror of war.

21 Grey Goo

Distinct Races With Special Powers

Grey Goo has a few details in common with StarCraft, such as the alluring science fiction backstory and the choice between four different races, along with the option between a single player or a co-op campaign. A distinct addition is that each race has its power or perk, like extra speed or the use of teleportation technology, and players have to find ways to use these specialized abilities to their advantage.

The setting is 500 years into the future when humans have ventured into space and encountered the Beta, a race that is developing a wormhole of sorts to return to space after a long hiatus. Unfortunately, an aggressive alien race comes through to attack them and everything else in the galaxy. Fight them or join them and conquer the stars.

20 Rome: Total War

Another Fan Favorite Of The Genre

There aren’t many RTS titles that are as universally known and acclaimed as Starcraft 2, but Rome: Total War is certainly one of them. The game was released almost 20 years ago, yet it’s still one of the most enjoyable strategy games to play today that’s akin to StarCraft.

Rome: Total War wasn’t the first Total War game, as both Shogun: Total War and Medieval: Total War came before it. However, the 2004 game is credited with popularizing many of the features that are now synonymous with the iconic Total War franchise.

19 Empire Earth: Gold Edition

Realistic Settings And Historic Events

The original Empire Earth dates from 2001, and it created a franchise that consisted of four other games before an enhanced Gold Edition was released in 2007. It uses realistic settings and historic events to frame the battles, which is typical of some titles in the genre, but this one adds other features that are often in RP games, like a morality system.

This adds to the immersion and makes the player more emotionally involved in the game’s outcome. Heroes can take the role of Warrior or Strategist, with one choice relying more on planning and intrigue with the other focused more on fighting and brute force.

18 The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth 2

Real-Time Strategy In Middle-earth

A real-time strategy game set in Middle-Earth always sounded like a match made in heaven, so there was a ton of hype when Sierra Entertainment announced that The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring would be released in 2003. The game failed to impress most, but fans wouldn’t have to wait long before the next RTS Middle-Earth game was released, as EA’s Battle For Middle-Earth hit stores just over a year later.

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The game was a critical and commercial success, so a sequel was announced shortly after. The Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth 2 isn’t only beloved for its Middle-earth features as a game like StarCraft but also an excellent RTS in its own right.

17 Total War: Warhammer 2

In-Depth Strategy With A Vast Number of Choices

Much like Battle For Middle-Earth, Total War: Warhammer is the sort of game that fans of the franchise will fantasize about but not expect to see in reality. Total War: Warhammer was released in 2016, and a positive reception meant that work quickly began on a sequel.

Warhammer 2‘s fantasy themes are far more than just a gimmick. They offer a unique layer of depth and strategy to a game like StarCraft by giving players a vast range of unique units to contend with and control. The third entry is also a fantastic conclusion to this trilogy.

16 Rise Of Nations: Extended Edition

Turn-Based Mechanics And Long-Term Strategy

Rise of Nations was originally released in 2003 by Microsoft Game Studios, which is known today as Xbox Game Studios. The extended edition title was developed by Big Huge Games, which is also known for its work on the 2012 action RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The game seamlessly incorporates turn-based strategy mechanics like attrition warfare with the RTS genre.

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Rise of Nations piqued the interest of turn-based strategy fans back in the early 2000s, as the game’s development team was led by Brian Reynolds, who had previously worked on Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and Civilization 2.

15 Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition

RTS-Style Gameplay In A Variety Of Periods

The Age of Empires series may be set in a completely different period from the StarCraft games, but it deserves a spot on this list nonetheless for being among the best RTS games ever made. Age of Empires 2 perfected the formula that Age of Empires created and revolutionized the RTS genre.

Age of Empires 2 is set in the Middle Ages and focuses on resource management, base building, and unit deployment. In late 2019, The Definitive Edition was released, providing stunning new visuals to the classic game was released. It includes all the game’s expansion packs and is the best way to play the classic strategy game.

14 Total War: Attila

Battles Set In Late Antiquity

Total War: Attila is an ideal choice for those who like realism and historical accuracy in their RTS games. The setting is late Antiquity, about the 4th century CE, a time when classical Rome was giving way to the medieval era. Battles that would decide the fate of Europe and Asia for centuries were fought during this time, and the player can experience some of that turbulent history through this game.

The title is intended to invoke an image of a certain era as opposed to focusing on a certain person. Attila himself doesn’t become a playable character until about halfway through the game, but there’s still plenty to do until he shows up.

13 Age Of Mythology

Legend, Myth, And Epic Battles

As the title implies, the Age of Mythology is an Age of Empires spin-off. The characters offer a fascinating layer of depth to the classic Age of Empires gameplay. Age of Mythology is a fantastic game in its own right and earns a higher spot on this list of games like StarCraft for its fictional setting.

The game focuses on Egyptian, Greek, and Norse mythology and features key mythological figures like Zeus and Ra. It has similar mechanics to Age of Empires, with resource management, base building, and unit deployment again being key to the gameplay.

12 Company Of Heroes

Immersive Graphics, Effects, And Visuals

Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes is rightly considered to be the best WW2 strategy game with its stellar, engrossing sound effects and visuals. THQ’s real-time strategy gem won multiple awards upon release, including IGN’s Best Strategy Game award in 2006.

The gameplay predominantly focuses on controlling victory points. These points are dotted around key central parts of the map and are captured and controlled similarly to the popular domination mode in Call of Duty. There is also an annihilation mode that removes these victory points and simply requires players to destroy all of their opponent’s buildings to win.

11 StarFront: Collision

An Ideal Choice For A Mobile RTS Game

The gaming industry often looks down on mobile games. It’s frequently criticized for its plethora of cash-grab games that are geared toward getting consumers to spend money. Although plenty of these games like StarCraft do exist, mobile gaming does have a few gems.

One of these gems is StarFront: Collision. It’s not just similar to StarCraft in name, as StarFront is also a futuristic sci-fi RTS game that lets players pick from three races to control. These three races play almost identically to StarCraft‘s Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss varieties, so it’s the ideal choice if a player is a dedicated StarCraft fan.

10 Dune: Spice Wars

Galactic Intrigue And Competing Houses

There are several video games inspired by the memorable Dune novels, and given the nature of the story, with different noble houses vying for territory and even whole planets, they would naturally be RTS games. Dune: Spice Wars is one of the most recent additions to the franchise, and it’s a classic-style 4X RTS game with modern graphics.

The setting is the desert planet of Arrakis, and the goals are to control as much territory as possible and extract the maximum amount of the precious spice, which is also known as Melange. This is done through a mix of diplomacy, intelligence gathering, and brute force. There are five different factions that a player can control; the Fremen, the Smugglers, and one of three noble houses: Harkonnen, Atreides, and Corrino.

9 Warcraft 3: Reign Of Chaos

Same Developer, Same Nostalgia

Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos is an easy game to compare to StarCraft as it has the same developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The modern remake of this game, Warcraft III: Reforged is famous for how it disappointed fans and players alike with connectivity problems and poorly rendered graphics.

The game introduced multiple new features to improve itself from its predecessors, such as powerful heroes, a day and night cycle that affects the game’s races differently, and Creeps, who guard key resources and are hostile towards all players. It looks similar to StarCraft games of the same era regarding gameplay and graphics.

8 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War 2

A Distant Future That Mixes Science Fiction And Dark Fantasy

The bankrupted THQ finds itself on this list again with an RTS title set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Warhammer 40,000’s setting is the distant future of the 42nd millennium.

Warhammer 40,000 combines science and fantasy fiction, creating a unique gameplay setting. Dawn of War 2 removed the building bases that were featured in the original game and put extra focus on the cover mechanic. The cover mechanic is well executed and differentiates it from other games like StarCraft.