The Best RTS Games

Best RTS games at a glance

How these RTS games were selected

The ranking considers:

• Real-time decision-making
• Resource and economic depth
• Base, city or colony development
• Unit control and tactical clarity
• Campaign quality and replay value
• Single-player, cooperative and competitive modes
• Accessibility for new strategy players
• Variety across traditional and adjacent RTS subgenres

Age of Empires II, Rise of Nations and Supreme Commander most directly represent traditional base-building RTS design. Company of Heroes emphasizes real-time tactics. Total War separates a turn-based campaign from real-time battles, while Anno 1800, Frostpunk and RimWorld are adjacent management games included for players seeking slower economic or survival strategy.

1. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Best overall RTS game

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition begins with a small settlement and expands through resource gathering, technology and military production.

Food, wood, gold and stone compete for worker time, making economic balance central to every match.

Civilizations share a readable foundation but differ through units, bonuses and technology access.

Historical campaigns introduce objectives and factions through structured missions.

Skirmishes and multiplayer reward scouting, timing and adaptation to an opponent’s economy and army composition.

It supports single-player, LAN and online co-op, and online PvP.

Choose it for the strongest all-around introduction to base building, economic management and competitive real-time warfare.

2. Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

Best large-scale RTS game

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is built around enormous maps and armies operating across land, air and sea.

Strategic zoom moves smoothly between individual units and the full battlefield.

The economy uses continuous resource flow, so production can stall when demand exceeds income.

Factories, defenses and experimental units create escalation from early expansion to continent-spanning warfare.

Long-range artillery, aircraft and naval forces make map control important far beyond the immediate front line.

It supports single-player and multiplayer.

Choose it for strategic scale and combined-arms conflict. Players seeking intimate squad tactics should choose Company of Heroes 3.

3. Company of Heroes 3

Best tactical RTS game

Company of Heroes 3 focuses on small military units fighting across destructible World War II battlefields.

Cover, flanking, suppression and line of sight give positioning more importance than raw unit quantity.

Infantry, armor and support weapons must work together because each force has exploitable weaknesses.

Capturing territory generates resources and creates shifting front lines.

Tactical Pause allows orders to be prepared during single-player battles, reducing pressure for players learning the systems.

It supports single-player, online co-op and online PvP.

Choose it for detailed battlefield tactics and unit preservation rather than large economic empires.

4. Rise of Nations: Extended Edition

Best nation-building RTS

Rise of Nations combines traditional real-time battles with borders, cities and technological ages.

Territorial control influences where structures can be placed and how safely armies can operate.

Several resources support population growth, research, military production and trade.

Nations develop distinct bonuses while advancing from ancient eras toward modern warfare.

The Conquer the World structure adds a broader strategic layer around individual real-time battles.

It supports single-player, co-op and multiplayer.

Choose it when the sweep of a civilization game should happen inside a faster RTS structure.

5. A Total War Saga: TROY

Best mythic historical warfare

A Total War Saga: TROY combines a turn-based campaign map with large real-time battles inspired by the Trojan War.

The campaign involves settlements, diplomacy, resources and army movement.

Battles emphasize infantry formations, terrain and the timing of flanking attacks.

Heroic characters and myth-inspired systems distinguish its armies from a strictly historical simulation.

Because empire management happens in turns, only the battlefield layer is a true RTS experience.

It supports single-player, LAN and online co-op, and online PvP.

Choose it for large ancient battles and campaign strategy. Choose Age of Empires II when base building during each match is essential.

6. Anno 1800

Best economic real-time strategy game

Anno 1800 centers on cities, trade routes and increasingly complex production chains during the Industrial Age.

Population groups require different goods and services before settlements can advance.

Factories depend on reliable supplies, transport and workforce availability.

Islands encourage specialization and trade rather than producing everything in one location.

Diplomacy and naval conflict exist, but economic planning remains the primary challenge.

It supports single-player, online co-op and online PvP.

Choose it for logistics and city growth rather than rapid unit micromanagement.

7. Frostpunk

Best society-survival strategy game

Frostpunk places the last city around a generator in a world of extreme cold.

Coal, food, shelter and medical care must be balanced against falling temperatures and a limited workforce.

Laws can solve immediate problems while creating lasting social consequences.

The city layout matters because heat coverage and travel efficiency affect survival.

Scenarios introduce different crises and force the player to reconsider familiar priorities.

Frostpunk is single-player.

Choose it for survival, moral pressure and real-time crisis management. It is not a conventional military RTS.

8. RimWorld

Best colony simulation

RimWorld follows a group of colonists attempting to survive on a distant world.

Each colonist has skills, needs, health conditions and relationships that affect settlement stability.

Players assign priorities, build facilities and respond to external threats rather than directly controlling every action.

AI storytellers shape raids, accidents, visitors and opportunities into unpredictable campaigns.

The simulation supports many valid colony structures and self-imposed goals.

RimWorld is single-player.

Choose it for emergent stories and detailed colony management. Players seeking conventional armies and competitive matches should start with Age of Empires II or Supreme Commander.

Which RTS game should you play first?

Match the recommendation to the experience you want:

• Historical base building: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
• Huge science-fiction battles: Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
• Cover-based squad tactics: Company of Heroes 3
• Civilizations advancing through ages: Rise of Nations
• Ancient campaign strategy and real-time battles: A Total War Saga: TROY
• Production chains and trade: Anno 1800
• Survival and difficult social decisions: Frostpunk
• Emergent colony stories: RimWorld

Age of Empires II is the clearest place to learn the traditional RTS formula. Anno 1800 is a better starting point for economic planners, while Company of Heroes 3 suits players who care more about tactical positioning than base construction.

Best RTS games for beginners

Age of Empires II provides structured campaigns that teach gathering, construction and unit counters progressively.

Rise of Nations uses familiar borders and historical advancement to make large-scale development easier to understand.

Company of Heroes 3 allows Tactical Pause in single-player battles, giving newcomers time to prepare orders.

Anno 1800 has a slower pace but introduces many interacting production chains, so complexity grows substantially.

Supreme Commander offers excellent strategic visibility but asks the player to manage a very large scale. Frostpunk and RimWorld are readable at first, yet their cascading systems can punish weak long-term planning.

Best multiplayer RTS games

Age of Empires II supports competitive matches, co-op campaigns and varied civilizations.

Company of Heroes 3 creates smaller tactical battles where coordination and unit preservation matter.

Supreme Commander supports huge multiplayer conflicts with several fronts and combined arms.

Rise of Nations provides a classic nation-building alternative, while A Total War Saga: TROY combines campaign cooperation with real-time battles.

Anno 1800 supports co-op and PvP but focuses more heavily on economies and islands than rapid battlefield control.

Frostpunk and RimWorld are single-player recommendations.

Traditional RTS versus real-time tactics

Traditional RTS games usually combine resource collection, base development, technology and military control inside the same match.

Age of Empires II, Rise of Nations and Supreme Commander fit this description most closely.

Real-time tactics games narrow or remove the economic layer to emphasize positioning, cover and unit survival. Company of Heroes 3 sits closer to this category, although territory still generates resources.

A Total War Saga: TROY is a hybrid because its campaign happens in turns and only battles unfold in real time.

Understanding the distinction helps players choose between managing an economy and commanding forces already available on the battlefield.

Best RTS games for base building

Age of Empires II provides the strongest balanced foundation of economy, defenses and military production.

Supreme Commander expands base building to a far larger scale with factory networks and experimental weapons.

Rise of Nations connects cities and borders to the standard RTS economy.

Anno 1800 replaces military bases with dense cities and industrial production networks.

Frostpunk turns settlement design into survival infrastructure, while RimWorld focuses on the daily needs and security of a small colony.

RTS versus turn-based strategy

RTS games continue while players make decisions, so delaying an action can have immediate consequences.

Turn-based strategy divides play into discrete turns, allowing decisions without the same real-time pressure.

Some hybrids complicate the distinction. Total War campaigns use turns but resolve battles in real time. Company of Heroes 3 includes a tactical pause in single-player while remaining a real-time game.

Players who prefer unlimited planning time can continue with the best turn-based strategy games. A broader genre overview is available in the best strategy games.

Tips for starting an RTS game

Begin with the campaign or tutorial before entering competitive multiplayer.

Learn one basic economic opening rather than memorizing every unit and technology.

Use control groups to select armies, production structures and scouts quickly.

Keep producing workers or economic units unless the game provides a specific reason to stop.

Scout early. Information about an opponent’s resources, defenses and army composition is often more valuable than one extra combat unit.

Spend accumulated resources. A large unused stockpile creates no battlefield advantage unless it is being saved for a specific technology or emergency.

Review losses by identifying the first major mistake, not only the final battle.

Players who enjoy the Age of Empires structure can explore games like Age of Empires.

Final recommendations

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is the best overall RTS for its balance of economy, warfare, campaigns and multiplayer. Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance leads for strategic scale, while Company of Heroes 3 provides the strongest squad-level tactics.

Choose Rise of Nations for nation building, A Total War Saga: TROY for ancient campaign warfare or Anno 1800 for industrial economies.

Choose Frostpunk for society survival or RimWorld for emergent colony stories, while recognizing that both sit outside the traditional competitive base-building formula.

The right RTS depends on what the player wants to manage under pressure: workers, production chains, firing lines, territory, heat, colonist needs or an army spread across an entire strategic map.