Summary
- Some strategy games focus on combat, providing constant, challenging battles for players to engage in.
- Mount & Blade: Warband offers a combat-focused experience with large-scale warfare and dense combat systems.
- Endless Dungeon, Shogun Showdown, and Darkest Dungeon 2 offer combat-focused gameplay with additional strategic elements.
Typically taking place in hostile environments and war-zones, many strategy games have an inherent focus on combat. This isn't always the case, with some games providing strategic experiences that focus on diplomacy, problem-solving, or even narrative. However, some strategy games focus almost entirely on combat.
These games excel with their distinctive combat systems, but more importantly, they allow players to frequently engage in battle. The best of these titles leave little in the way between the player and combat, providing constant gauntlets of challenging battles.
Best Strategy Games With The Most Immersive Mechanics
The immersive mechanics in these strategy games will not only keep players engaged, but also transport them deep into game worlds.
8 Mount & Blade: Warband
A Sandbox Of Large-Scale Warfare
Mount & Blade: Warband
- Released
- March 30, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Alcohol Reference, Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
Mount & Blade: Warband is a combat-focused strategy sandbox game that emphasizes large-scale warfare. This focus on large battles is supported by a dense combat system that allows players to command impressive armies from the ground.
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This results in an immersive experience despite relatively standard visuals, with much of the fun coming from the game's large scale and RPG systems. While participating in combat can be somewhat clunky, leading troops from the ground provides a much more tactile and immediate experience than is typical of strategy games.
7 ENDLESS Dungeon
A Twin-Stick Shooter With Strategic Gameplay
Endless Dungeon
- Released
- October 19, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Tower Defense, Roguelike, Shooter
As a twin-stick shooter, Endless Dungeon is a decidedly combat-focused experience, excelling with its stylish visuals and punchy gunplay. However, the addition of resource management and tower defense gameplay results in an added level of strategy.
While it may not be as refined as its predecessor, Endless Dungeon excels with its focus on snappy combat. Unlike Dungeon Of The Endless, the tower defense elements of Endless Dungeon are supported by accessible twin-stick controls and tactile action that breaks up the exploration and resource management still present. As a result, it offers a more accessible experience that's great for fans of action.
6 Shogun Showdown
A Turn-Based Roguelike With Strategic Action
Shogun Showdown
- Released
- September 5, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ // Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Genre(s)
- Turn-Based RPG, Roguelike
Despite its nature as a turn-based game, Shogun Showdown remains an action-packed experience. This is thanks in large part to its intuitive controls and minimalist user-interface, which encourage a fast rate of play while remaining strategic.
In the game, players battle enemies in small, 2D arenas, making use of tiles to take down foes with satisfying combos. As a roguelike, Shogun Showdown revolves heavily around combat encounters, and, as a result, allows players to enjoy near-constant action.
5 Warcraft 3
A Classic RTS With A Focus On Micro
Warcraft 3: Reforged
- Released
- January 28, 2020
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Strategy
Warcraft 3 is a real-time strategy game with a comparatively slow pace to other games in the genre, such as StarCraft 2. However, its slower rate of play results in a decidedly combat-focused experience thanks to PvE elements and the lack of expansion opportunities.
Best Slow-Paced Strategy Games
Strategy fans who prefer a more methodical and slow approach to their favorite genre should look no further than these games.
Economy management and base-building are still very much a part of Warcraft 3, allowing the game to remain a strategic experience. However, micromanagement and spell-casting are frequent, offering players recurring opportunities to express their skill.
4 Darkest Dungeon 2
A Gauntlet Of Turn-Based Battles
Darkest Dungeon 2
- Released
- May 8, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Roguelike, RPG
Darkest Dungeon 2 is a merciless crucible of tactical decision-making that takes players on a hellish road trip through environments overrun by horrors. This dismal tone is contrasted, however, by moments of reprieve and shining resolve that keep the game from being too downtrodden.
Regardless, Darkest Dungeon 2 is firmly combat-focused, tasking players with battling eldritch horrors and violent brigands. There are other elements to the game, such as light exploration and resource management, but even the game's narrative beats are often dealt out in bespoke combat encounters.
3 Battle Brothers
A Strategic Sandbox RPG
Battle Brothers
- Released
- April 27, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Indie Games, Tactical, RPG, Strategy, Adventure
In Battle Brothers, players are given little time to do anything but participate in combat. This is thanks to the constant pressure of having to pay wages and supply food to the mercenary company that players are charged with managing.
This mercenary company is good at one thing and one thing only, and that's fighting. A slew of gruesome and unforgiving battles await players in Battle Brothers, but it remains a deep and rewarding experience thanks to an abundance of loot and a diverse perk system.
2 Wildfrost
A Tactical Deck-Builder
Wildfrost
- Released
- April 12, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ // Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Genre(s)
- Digital Card Game, Strategy, Roguelike
Many deck-builders have a focus on combat, but Wildfrost is particularly so for its tactical twist, tasking players with battling enemies on dynamic battlefields. In the game, players must build and manage a deck of cards, using them to gain advantages in combat and keep their limited companions alive.
By simultaneously tasking players with positioning and managing units on a battlefield, Wildfrost becomes a delicate dance, with even the smallest mistakes often leading to catastrophic results. However, these combat encounters are packed with open information, allowing players to make informed decisions and reducing overall frustration.
1 StarCraft 2
A Fast-Paced RTS With Frequent Battles
StarCraft 2
- Released
- July 27, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
StarCraft 2 is a competitive real-time strategy game that plays at a breakneck pace. While its single-player campaigns offer an accessible point of entry for newcomers, the competitive versus mode of StarCraft 2 offers a rewarding but brutally unforgiving arena.
Each match of StarCraft 2 revolves around base-building, economy management, and combat between armies large and small. From small skirmishes in the middle of the map to large-scale battles at the opponent's base, fighting is both frequent and expressive. However, this does emphasize quick and efficient micromanagement, making StarCraft 2 a less accessible experience for newcomers to the genre.
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