10 Best Grand Strategy Games Of All Time, Ranked

Grand strategy games fall into a genre that shouldn’t be ignored. If you have a strategic mind, be sure to read this list of best strategy games!

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When you hear the words “grand strategy,” what is it that springs to mind? Do you think of massive map games? Of board games played by the old grognards sitting in the back of your local pub? The genre gets an unfair rap for being nerdy and overly complex, but that’s not always the case.

Granted, games like Gary Grigsby’s World At War most certainly are both of those things, but there’s an entire spectrum of complexity available to those wanting to get into the genre, and it’s well worth getting into. In this list, we’re looking at the 10 greatest map-coloring games ever created.

10 Galactic Civilizations II

Purists may argue that 4X games are slightly different from grand strategy, but in real terms, this is a grand strategy game. Placing you in charge of a selected species, you must then set out to conquer the known universe. However, you needn’t do this militarily. Like Civ, you can also win diplomatic, influence, and tech victories. With sprawling, incredibly large maps available to you, and a level of species customization not seen again until Stellaris, Gal Civ II is easily one of the best strategy games ever made.

9 Victoria II

Victoria II is an extraordinarily hard game to get into, but well worth the investment. With a gameplay period that spans from 1836-1936, will you play as a global power and fight in huge wars, or pick a smaller nation, and become rich from colonies? Or, will you take the hardest route, and pick an African, Asian, or Native American nation, and fight back against the colonizers? You’ll have to endure revolutions from the left and right, manage your economy and industrialization, and fight to survive in one of the most tumultuous periods in world history.

8 Dominions 4

Not many grand strategy games give you the chance to be a god. Dominions 4, however, pits you in a kind of divine civil war, where you must battle other Gods all vying to rule. While you need to build cities and fight battles, you must also grow your divine capabilities. Nurture your disciples and get totems, or fail. You can resurrect fallen comrades, fight epic battles, and create evil armies of doom. Truly original and utterly fantastic.

7 Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri

Far more than just Civilization in space, Alpha Centauri is one of the greatest strategy games ever made. In addition to everything that you know and love from Civ, you can breed mindworms to use as bioweapons, customize your vehicles, discover alien artifacts, and enjoy a story that’s one of the best sci-fi tales in gaming. It may be 20 years old, but it feels as though it’s barely aged, and in many ways, is yet to be matched.

6 Medieval II: Total War

While it is not the perfect Total War game, Medieval II did some things incredibly well. It had refined siege mechanics that meant you had to really use your brain (and stay away from towers, for heaven’s sake).

It introduced an interesting morality mechanic of “dread v. chivalry,” depending on your general’s actions, each of which had effects on your troops and those of the enemy. Then there’s the crusades, which allowed you to venture to the other side of the world in search of glory and favor with the Pope.

5 Rise Of Nations

A mesh of Civ and Age of Empires, Rise of Nations is essentially Risk, but on a massive scale. Starting from the stone age, you pick a nation, and set out to conquer the world. Upon picking a nation to invade, you are thrown into the role of commander. With units that range from swordsmen to attack helicopters, and a nuanced strategic model that lets you truly achieve victory through smarts, there’s never been another game quite like it. For additional fun, the Extended Edition includes an amazing Cold War scenario, where you must balance your expansion with the risk of nuclear war breaking out.

4 Crusader Kings II

The medieval period of European and Middle-Eastern history is effectively Game of Thrones, in real life, and in Crusader Kings II, you can be as foul as the Lannisters or as pure as the Starks. In addition to the obvious features, such as expanding your kingdom, there’s almost limitless other things to do.

Will you play as a lowly Count, bide your time, and fight for the throne? Rule over a breakaway kingdom struggling for independence? Marry your sister away to a lecherous duke to curry his favor? How about those prisoners sat in your dungeons, what fate awaits them? Will you be a strong Christian or Muslim ruler, or set out to reform your Pagan faith and strike at these new faiths?

3 Rome: Total War

The greatest Total War game ever made, bar none. Featuring a complex history, where you must pick one of three old Roman families, expand, and eventually fight a civil war and unify Rome, there’s so much to Rome. Settlements, once captured, can be occupied, enslaved, or exterminated, each with complex repercussions. The battles are rock paper scissors, par excellence, and the race to beat other Roman factions to a powerful position before the civil war is truly tense. Which family will you choose, and how will you shape the history of Rome?

2 Civilization V

A game that truly needs no introduction, Civilization is one of the most famous series out there. While VI may include new features, V is where the series truly peaked. Once religion and other features were added by expansion packs, it finally surpassed its predecessor. While it may lack the epic battles of the Total War series, or the intrigue of Crusader Kings, it makes up for it in sheer scale. With a campaign typically taking place over thousands of years, a massive tech tree, and with AI that’s quite capable of kicking you around, it’s tough, satisfying, and never repetitive.

1 Europa Universalis IV

The big daddy of them all, Europa Universalis IV is truly peerless. Its campaigns are longer in actual game time than Civ V. The number of available unique nations is mind blowing. The emergent stories from every campaign? Incredible. The level of research that went into it? It’s worthy of a PhD.

If you want a tough game, play as Holland, and fight free from Burgundy before forming the Netherlands and raking in mad cash. If you want an easy one, play as France, defeat the English in the Hundred Years’ War, and Europe is ripe for the plucking. Play as Ming China, and you will have to compete with the Europeans by attempting to stay up to date with technology that’s emerging on the other side of the world, while maintaining your divine mandate. Insanely detailed strategy like no other, it belongs on the top of this list.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/grand-strategy-games-best-ranked/