8. Warno
Steam Rating: 82%
Genre/Subgenre/Playstyle: Real-time strategy / Tactical warfare / Hardcore military simulation
Why It’s Worth Playing:
As the spiritual successor to Eugen’s Wargame, Warno drops you into an alternate 1989 where NATO and the Warsaw Pact have decided diplomacy is for cowards. The game offers a blend of real-time tactical engagements and turn-based strategic campaigns, featuring a vast array of military units and detailed battlefields. With both single-player and multiplayer modes, including large-scale 10v10 battles, Warno provides a comprehensive and immersive military strategy experience. With an absurd amount of units and nerve-wracking tactical depth, Warno is a glorious reenactment of the Cold War gone hot.
The Good Stuff:
- Unit Overload: Command the armed forces of six nations and choose from over 1,000 meticulously researched military units. Tanks? Check. Helicopters? Absolutely. Jets? Oh, yes. You can mix and match to create your ultimate battlegroup.
- Realistic Battles: “Spam troops and win” is not a winning strategy in Warno. You’re managing line of sight, morale, fuel, ammo, and terrain advantages.
- Strategic Campaigns: Command entire divisions in turn-based Army General campaigns that focus on Cold War hotspots that never were, like the Fulda Gap. Zoom in and play through each battle tactically.
- Game Modes for Everyone: Solo campaigns, cooperative missions, and multiplayer skirmishes are all here. And for the masochists among us, there are 10v10 battles with 19 other players to enjoy.
- Incredible Graphics: The battlefields are supremely detailed, with hyper-realistic terrain, units, explosions and tracer rounds.
Why Play in 2025:
Regular updates by Eugen keep adding new units, making balancing tweaks, and gameplay improvements. It’s a game that rewards tactical awareness and punishes complacency, making it a top pick for hardcore RTS enthusiasts with a thing for alternate history.
7. Foxhole
Steam Rating: 82%
Genre/Subgenre/Playstyle: MMO / Persistent war sandbox / Hardcore cooperative gameplay
Why It’s Worth Playing:
Imagine Foxhole as a never-ending war where every grenade, bullet, and trench you dig actually matters. This is a persistent multiplayer sandbox where you’ll join thousands of players on a single server to collectively shape the outcome of a persistent war that could last for weeks. Set in a fictional universe inspired by early 20th-century warfare, it emphasizes cooperative gameplay where every soldier is a player contributing to the war effort. Players engage in various roles, including logistics, base building, reconnaissance, and combat, with each action influencing the ongoing conflict. The game features a top-down perspective and a player-driven economy, requiring collaboration to gather resources, manufacture supplies, and construct fortifications. Foxhole was developed by Siege Camp and was fully released on September 28, 2022.
The Good Stuff:
- The War Never Ends: Wars in Foxhole don’t stop just because you log off. When you wake up, that factory you ignored might already be enemy territory. The massive map is alive and kicking for weeks at a time, and is filled with player-made defenses, supply lines, and forts.
- Role Variety for Every Taste: Infantry is only the tip of the iceberg. You can be the unsung logistics hero, cranking out bullets in a factory, or the daring engineer who builds fortifications. Fancy piloting tanks or captaining a battleship? Go ahead.
- Logistics Isn’t Boring—It’s Essential: In Foxhole, supply lines are the lifeblood of your faction. Without the players crafting and delivering gear, front-line heroism is completely pointless. Sabotaging enemy supply chains or building your own is as important as holding a machine gun.
- Combat and Fortification Madness: Whether you’re digging trenches or building artillery nests, every move impacts the battlefield. And don’t expect arcade-style combat—this game’s realism means everything from weather to terrain affects how (and if) you survive.
Why It’s Still Kicking in 2025:
Despite the chaos (or maybe because of it), Foxhole thrives on its fiercely collaborative community. Updates keep rolling in, bringing fresh vehicles, mechanics, and weather effects to keep you miserable in new and exciting ways.
If you’re tired of games where everyone’s the hero, Foxhole flips the script. Be a cog in the war machine, embrace the grind, and relish the chaos.
6. Diplomacy is Not an Option
Steam Rating: 84%
Genre/Subgenre/Playstyle: Real-time strategy / Castle defense / Single-player chaos
Why It’s Worth Playing:
In Diplomacy is Not an Option, you’re a lord trying to hold onto your castle while being crushed under the weight of relentless enemy waves and some terrible life choices. This real-time strategy game combines city-building and tower defense elements within a medieval fantasy setting. Players assume the role of a beleaguered lord tasked with constructing and managing a settlement while defending against massive enemy hordes, with battles featuring over 25,000 adversaries. The game emphasizes resource management, strategic planning, and survival. Developed by Door 407, it exited Early Access and achieved full release on October 4, 2024.
The Good Stuff:
- Hordes of Enemies:
The enemy waves, tens of thousands strong, are relentless, forcing you to build kill zones, constantly rethink your tactics, and cry over your poor resource management skills. - Resource Management:
Wood, stone, food, gold—manage them well, or you’ll be knee-deep in disease, famine, and complete collapse of your realm. Starving peasants can’t defend your walls after all. - Medieval Mayhem with Fantasy Elements:
Archers? Check. Swordsmen? Sure. Undead armies and magical fireballs? Oh, absolutely. As the game ramps up, your arsenal expands, letting you counter the increasingly absurd enemy onslaughts with equally ridiculous firepower. - Physics-Driven Combat for Maximum Chaos:
Every arrow and catapult shot is physics-based, so that trebuchet you thought was strategically placed? Yeah, it’s accidentally hitting your own troops. - Satirical Humor That’s Just Self-Aware Enough:
As if surviving waves of enemies wasn’t hard enough, the game heaps on dark humor and sarcastic advisors to remind you how truly bad you are at being a lord. Eccentric characters and silly scenarios keep the tone light even when you’re totally screwed.
Why You’ll Still Be Playing in 2025:
Post-launch updates have piled on even more chaos, with new units, refined combat mechanics, and fresh maps. For fans of tower defense strategy games—or anyone who enjoys watching a meticulously crafted project go down in flames—this one’s a no-brainer.
5. Age of History 3
Steam Rating: 86%
Genre/Subgenre/Playstyle: Grand strategy / Historical simulation / Pause-unpause
Why It’s Worth Playing:
Age of History 3 is a grand strategy alternate history wargame that hands you the keys to the time machine and lets you rewrite the timeline. Released on October 23, 2024, the game includes over 1,000 military units and 90 infrastructure types. Players can engage in complex diplomacy, manage resources, and explore a comprehensive technology tree to shape their nation’s destiny. The game features a dynamic combat system, dividing units into front-line and support roles, and includes a robust modding community for custom content.
The Good Stuff:
- Battle Simulation:
A revamped combat system splits units into front-line brawlers and second-line specialists, meaning you can’t just spam troops and hope for the best. Careful army composition design and strategy are key. - Developed Economy:
Fight for 48 resources and build over 90 types of infrastructure, from factories to roads. - Deep Tech Tree:
Unlock futuristic wonders or medieval death machines as you progress through an expansive tech tree. Each breakthrough is another step toward global dominance. - Manpower Management:
You’ll need to carefully manage manpower, which represents your population eligible for military service. Overcommit, and your empire becomes a defenseless retirement home. - Diplomacy, For What It’s Worth:
Diplomacy is a mixed bag here—somewhat limited for now, but updates and mods promise better options for manipulating allies, enemies, and frenemies alike. Think of it as “barebones with potential.” - Modding Enabled:
The game’s robust mod support lets players create custom maps, scenarios, and even gameplay rules.
Why You’ll Still Be Playing in 2025:
Despite some early quirks, Age of History 3 has grown into a polished and addictive experience. Regular updates keep improving the game, while the modding community ensures there’s always something new to try. Whether you’re a history buff or just someone who enjoys a good world-conquering simulator, this game offers replayability and strategic depth.
4. Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age
Steam Rating: 87%
Genre/Subgenre/Playstyle: Naval combat / Real-time simulation / Cold War
Why It’s Worth Playing:
Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age is a naval warfare simulation game developed by Triassic Games. Set during the Cold War era, it allows players to command NATO and Warsaw Pact forces in realistic naval conflict scenarios. The game features over 150 naval units, more than 60 aircraft, and 130 weapon systems. Players can engage in various missions, including convoy protection and amphibious landings, with the option to create custom scenarios using the mission editor. The game emphasizes realistic physics, sensor modeling, and dynamic weather systems. Whether you’re hunting enemy subs, dodging missile barrages, or sending recon planes to spy on rivals, Sea Power delivers a meticulous, pulse-pounding simulation that makes other naval games look like kiddie pool adventures.
The Good Stuff:
- Relive the Cold War:
With theaters like the North Atlantic and Persian Gulf, the missions here feel like they were ripped straight from the classified archives. - So Many Units:
With over 150 naval units and 60 aircraft, you’ve got a lot of hardware to choose from. Nuclear submarines, guided missile destroyers, and planes: quite a toolbox of destruction. - Real-Time, Real Sweat:
Battles play out in real-time, but you can pause to catch your breath and make sense of the chaos. Whether you’re dodging radar or outmaneuvering a missile, success requires tactical finesse. - Mission Variety:
From convoy protection to amphibious landings, Sea Power keeps the scenarios coming. And if you’re feeling creative, the robust editor lets you design custom engagements. - Dynamic Campaigns on the Horizon:
2025 promises a campaign mode where your every decision creates ripples (or tidal waves) in the broader conflict. - Detailed Visuals:
The intricate ship models and dynamic weather effects make Sea Power a treat for the eyes.
Why You’ll Still Be Playing in 2025:
Campaigns will be rolling out as well as new content expansions. This is also quite a hardcore sim, so whether you’re plotting intricate fleet maneuvers or engaging in tense submarine duels, it’s the kind of immersive experience that keeps you hooked. In short, if you’ve ever wanted to command a navy without thinking too much about geopolitics or diplomacy, this is your game.
3. Starship Troopers: Terran Command
Steam Rating: 88%
Genre/Subgenre/Playstyle: Real-time strategy / Sci-fi warfare / Tactical
Why It’s Worth Playing:
Starship Troopers: Terran Command takes the cult-classic universe of giant bugs, propaganda, and over-the-top militarism and turns into a real-time strategy game. Players lead the Mobile Infantry against the Arachnid threat, utilizing a variety of specialized units and strategic tactics. The game rewards exploiting terrain advantages and unit positioning, incorporating mechanics like True Line of Sight and True Line of Fire to enhance tactical depth.
The Good Stuff:
- Faithful to the Film:
The game perfectly captures the spirit of the 1997 film, complete with cheesy propaganda sequences and gritty, bug-splattered visuals. If you ever wanted to be a cog in the military-industrial complex of the future, this is your chance. - Tactics Matter:
Positioning is everything. Use high ground, choke points, and well-placed turrets to keep the bugs at bay. You need to carefully consider line of sight and line of fire. - Level Up Your Units:
Your units start as squishy, bug-fodder humans but gain abilities as they survive encounters. Rifle troopers become shotgun-wielding badasses, and late-game units like M11 Marauders show up to wipe out bug hordes with satisfying firepower. - Branching Campaign:
The campaign narrative can go in many directions, ensuring you’ll be replaying missions to see how different strategies pan out. Will you sacrifice land for troop safety or go full scorched earth? - Epic Bug Slaughter:
The large-scale battles are pure chaos, with endless swarms of bugs crashing against your lines. The sound of gunfire, screams, and the satisfying squelch of dead Arachnids makes every victory feel well-earned. - Simple Base Building:
The base-building system keeps things simple. Build what you need, defend it from the never-ending bug tide, and focus on managing your troops instead of agonizing over infrastructure.
Why You’ll Still Be Playing in 2025:
Since its launch, Terran Command has evolved with DLC expansions adding more units, missions, and polish to the core experience. The devs have doubled down on fan feedback, improving performance and refining mechanics, so the bugs keep coming—and so do the humans. So whether you’re a die-hard Starship Troopers fan, a sci-fi nerd, or just someone who enjoys RTS games, this game delivers.
2. ICBM: Escalation
Steam Rating: 90%
Genre/Subgenre/Playstyle: Real-time strategy / Nuclear warfare simulation / PVP or Co-op
Why It’s Worth Playing:
ICBM: Escalation is a grand real-time strategy game that immerses players in the high-stakes realm of global warfare. As the leader of a continent-spanning faction, you’ll command vast armies, develop new technology, and wield the most devastating weapons ever created by man. The game offers a balanced mix of conventional and nuclear warfare, allowing you to construct a nuclear stockpile, research groundbreaking tech, and deploy a combination of nuclear submarines, strategic bombers, and intercontinental ballistic missiles to cripple your adversaries. ICBM: Escalation caters to different play styles with various game modes. The revamped diplomacy system adds new layers of intrigue, enabling players to form research agreements, negotiate ceasefires, and broker deals over captured territories.
The Good Stuff:
- Diplomacy or Annihilation? Yes.
Whether you prefer subduing your enemies with diplomacy or turning them into radioactive craters, ICBM: Escalation lets you decide how to play. - A Variety of Game Modes:
In Blitz Mode, you can quickly unleash global chaos if patience isn’t your thing. Conquest Mode offers a slow burn where strategy and brinkmanship reign. And Standoff Mode lets you play the long game, gradually escalating to nuclear Armageddon. There’s a single-player campaign too. - Deep Tech Tree:
Advance through Cold War tech into futuristic technology like the space-based death lasers Raegan dreamed of. - Strategy through Diplomacy:
The dynamic diplomacy system lets you broker worldwide treaties, negotiate ceasefires, or set up elaborate betrayals. - Nukes:
This is the definitive nuclear war game. Just remember: timing is everything. Launch too early, and you’re toast. - Multiplayer Enabled:
Gather up to 10 friends for intense matches where trust is fleeting, alliances are fragile, and betrayal is inevitable. - Modding Mayhem:
Community mods allow for fresh scenarios and replayability.
Why You’ll Still Be Nuking in 2025:
For anyone who loves real-time strategy with a global scope ICBM: Escalation is a great choice. It’s not just a game—it’s a test of how well you handle absolute power. The game has excellent reviews on Steam and is just waiting to be discovered by a bigger audience.
1. Hearts of Iron IV
Steam Rating: 91%
Genre/Subgenre/Playstyle: Grand strategy / World War II simulation / Complex and customizable gameplay
Why It’s Worth Playing:
Hearts of Iron IV is a grand strategy wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio. It allows players to lead any nation on Earth through the complexities of World War II, starting in 1936 or 1939. The game offers deep control over military forces, including the customization and command of divisions, as well as management of naval and air units. Players engage in intricate diplomacy, forge alliances, and navigate ideological shifts, with the option to follow historical events or explore alternate histories. The “national focus” system provides unique paths for each country, influencing research, production, and political decisions. Released on June 6, 2016, but enjoying continuous free and paid updates every few months since then, Hearts of Iron IV is the definitive World War II strategy experience.
The Good Stuff:
- Rewrite History:
Lead your country with historical faithfulness, or break free from the past and experiment with something new. - Deep Diplomacy:
Forge alliances, backstab your friends, or coax rival nations into wars. Hearts of Iron IV is less about peace and more about making sure you’re the last one standing after the dust settles. - Air, Land, and Sea:
Command land, air, and sea forces across realistic terrains where weather, supply lines, and terrain actually matter. - A Tech Tree to Rule Them All:
Research everything from rudimentary tanks to nuclear bombs. Choose your path carefully and transform your country and its military into your image. - Mods, Mods, Mods:
The modding community for this game is extremely active. Prefer the sci-fi version of Hearts of Iron? Or do you want to play through a world where modern day Canada rules the globe? - Multiplayer Mayhem:
Up to 32 players can join a single game, which means you can destroy friendships on a global scale. Or maybe just laugh maniacally as your carefully crafted empire steamrolls someone else’s lovingly micromanaged nation.
Why You’ll Still Be Obsessed in 2025:
The developers of HOI4 keep pumping out updates and expansions like they’re trying to feed an insatiable beast. AI improvements, better supply mechanics, and new focus trees mean there’s always something new to keep things interesting. In 2025, Hearts of Iron IV remains the undisputed ruler of World War 2 grand strategy.