The best tactics games on PC, PlayStation and Xbox
Plan, position, strike: games where the better plan wins, not the faster finger.
How to find games that really suit you: Select up to 5 games you have played and enjoyed. Playalike compares 20 traits such as combat, story and atmosphere and suggests games that hit exactly the same spot, even across genres.
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1 Baldur's Gate 3
- Turn-based combat
- Choices with consequences
- Fantasy setting
A sprawling D&D-based CRPG where inventive turn-based combat rewards creativity and nearly every decision reshapes the story and your bonds with its superbly written companions.
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2 StarCraft
- Sci-fi setting
- Co-op or multiplayer
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
The landmark real-time strategy classic with three wildly different yet finely balanced factions and a gripping sci-fi campaign full of betrayal and intrigue. Its multiplayer shaped competitive esports like few games ever have.
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3 Sid Meier's Civilization V
- Turn-based combat
The classic 4X strategy game: you guide a civilization across millennia, from its first settlement to the space age. Hex-based combat, city-states and multiple paths to victory create the famous "one more turn" pull.
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4 StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
- Sci-fi setting
- Co-op or multiplayer
- Lavish presentation
Blizzard's landmark RTS pairs a varied Terran campaign following Jim Raynor, where nearly every mission introduces a fresh twist, with a razor-sharp competitive multiplayer that defined esports for a decade.
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5 Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
- Co-op or multiplayer
The timeless real-time strategy classic: build a medieval civilization, gather resources, advance through the ages and lead armies in historical campaigns or intense multiplayer matches.
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6 Dota 2
- Challenging difficulty
- Co-op or multiplayer
- Fantasy setting
Valve's famously deep MOBA where two teams of five clash with over a hundred distinct heroes to destroy each other's base. Few games reward teamwork, game knowledge and precise execution as intensely.
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7 Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia
- Turn-based combat
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
A timeless turn-based strategy classic where heroes explore adventure maps, build up towns and lead armies of mythical creatures into tactical hex-grid battles. Eight distinct factions and legendary hot-seat multiplayer have kept it beloved for decades.
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8 Sid Meier's Civilization VI
- Turn-based combat
- Distinctive, stylised art style
- Lavish presentation
A classic 4X turn-based strategy game where you lead a civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Era, planning cities district by district across the map. Win through conquest, science, culture, religion or diplomacy, and get hooked on the famous 'one more turn' loop.
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9 XCOM: Enemy Unknown
- Turn-based combat
- Sci-fi setting
- A party of several characters
Turn-based tactical battles against alien invaders where cover, positioning and class abilities decide the outcome. Between missions you manage your base, research and funding, and fallen soldiers are gone for good.
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10 Slay the Spire
- Turn-based combat
- Challenging difficulty
A deckbuilding roguelike in which every run demands new card combinations and strategies.
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11 Divinity: Original Sin 2
- Turn-based combat
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
A tactical CRPG whose turn-based battles let you creatively combine elements, surfaces and terrain. It pairs that with huge freedom of approach, origin characters with their own storylines and four-player co-op.
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12 XCOM 2
- Turn-based combat
- Sci-fi setting
- A party of several characters
Turn-based tactics against an alien occupation, with permanent death for your soldiers.
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13 Age of Empires IV
- Co-op or multiplayer
- Lavish presentation
Classic medieval real-time strategy with asymmetric civilizations, base building and economy management. Documentary-style campaigns about real historical battles sit alongside a competitive multiplayer scene.
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14 Slay the Spire II
- Turn-based combat
- Distinctive, stylised art style
- Fantasy setting
The sequel to the genre-defining roguelike deckbuilder: every run you assemble card and relic synergies and make tense tactical decisions climbing the Spire. New heroes, alternate acts and co-op play open up fresh strategies.
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15 Rome: Total War
- Turn-based combat
- Lavish presentation
A landmark strategy game that pairs turn-based empire management on a campaign map with massive real-time battles involving thousands of soldiers. Lead a Roman family or a rival power as you manage provinces, forge alliances and command legions in the field.
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16 Sid Meier's Civilization IV
- Turn-based combat
The classic 4X strategy game where you guide a civilization from the Stone Age to the space race, with religions, cultural borders and diplomacy. Famous for its 'one more turn' pull and the award-winning theme 'Baba Yetu'.
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17 Into the Breach
- Turn-based combat
- Sci-fi setting
- Puzzles and brain teasers
Compact turn-based tactics where three mechs defend cities from giant kaiju-like aliens. Every enemy attack is telegraphed in advance, so each turn plays like a tightly designed chess puzzle with roguelike runs and time-travel resets.
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18 Sid Meier's Civilization VII
- Turn-based combat
- Lavish presentation
Turn-based 4X strategy where you guide an empire through three historical ages, reshaping your civilization at each era transition. City building, diplomacy and warfare combine into the series' trademark one-more-turn pull.
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19 Europa Universalis IV
- Choices with consequences
- Open world
- Challenging difficulty
A deep grand strategy sandbox where you guide any of hundreds of nations from the late Middle Ages to the Napoleonic era through diplomacy, trade, colonization and war. Its complexity is daunting at first, but crafting your own alternate world history is endlessly absorbing.
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20 Dragon Age: Origins
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
- A party of several characters
A grim fantasy RPG where you lead a band of memorable companions as a Grey Warden against the Blight. Tactical pausable combat, distinct origin stories and weighty moral choices shape the fate of Ferelden.
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21 Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
- Fantasy setting
- Strong, story-driven narrative
- Co-op or multiplayer
A landmark real-time strategy game that blends base building with powerful hero units that level up in battle. Its gripping campaign, including Arthas' fall, defined Warcraft lore, while its multiplayer and map editor became legendary.
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22 Divinity: Original Sin
- Turn-based combat
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
A classic party RPG built on tactical turn-based fights where elemental combos like fire, water and oil can be chained creatively. It pairs an explorable world full of puzzles and humor with a co-op mode in which the two heroes can even argue over decisions.
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23 Medieval II: Total War
- Turn-based combat
- Lavish presentation
- Challenging difficulty
A turn-based grand campaign of diplomacy, city building and dynastic scheming across medieval Europe and the Middle East, paired with massive real-time battles involving thousands of troops. A landmark entry in the Total War series for anyone who wants to rewrite medieval history.
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24 Company of Heroes
- A party of several characters
- Lavish presentation
- Co-op or multiplayer
A landmark WWII real-time strategy game where cover, destructible environments and squad-level tactics decide every battle. Its cinematic Normandy campaign and enduring multiplayer set the standard for tactical RTS.
What matters with Tactics games
Tactics games reward thinking over reflexes: you win by reading the situation, positioning carefully and making every action count. The list above spans a wide range, so it helps to decide first whether you want turn-based play, where you can take your time over each move, or real-time strategy, where planning has to happen under pressure. Difficulty varies a lot too, and so does structure: some games are long story campaigns, others are built around short, repeatable runs or competitive matches.
If you want deep tactical combat inside a big story, Baldur's Gate 3 is the standout, with D&D-based turn-based fights that reward creative solutions and choices that reshape the plot and your companions. XCOM 2 is the pick for tense squad tactics, since permadeath means a single bad move can cost you a soldier for good. Heroes of Might and Magic III combines town building and map exploration with hex-grid battles, and its hot-seat multiplayer makes it great for sharing one PC with friends.
Prefer real-time decisions? StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty offers a varied campaign where almost every mission adds a new twist, plus a famously sharp competitive multiplayer. For something bite-sized, Slay the Spire turns tactics into card combat, with every run asking for new combinations, which makes it easy to play in short sessions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best turn-based tactics game for beginners?
Civilization VI is a friendly starting point thanks to its steady pace and multiple ways to win. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a good next step if you want squad combat, though it is tough and losing soldiers stings.
Which tactics games can I play with friends?
Heroes of Might and Magic III is known for its hot-seat multiplayer, and the Civilization games support multiplayer matches. Dota 2 is entirely team-based, while StarCraft II and Age of Empires II offer competitive and team matches.
Are there tactics games with a strong story?
Baldur's Gate 3 is the obvious choice, with superbly written companions and decisions that reshape the story. The original StarCraft and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty also feature gripping sci-fi campaigns full of betrayal and intrigue.
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