Best Grand Strategy Games on Steam
Large-scale strategy games about nations, eras, diplomacy, economy, and war.
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1Hearts of Iron IV - Victory is at your fingertips! Your ability to lead your nation is your supreme weapon, the strategy game Hearts of Iron IV lets you take command of any nation in World War II; the most engaging conflict in world history.
Jun 6, 2016
In this game, you can…
- stage a surprise airborne invasion that takes an enemy capital before your own sea landing even leaves port.
- start as tiny Bolivia and snowball from beating one neighbor into grinding down half a continent, then gearing up to fight Brazil.
- oust Stalin in a civil war, reunite China as a warlord, or put another Napoleon on France's throne in the same game.
- manually switch combat plans mid-battle multiple times to change how a fight plays out instead of just watching it resolve.
- drive a tank army straight through a country that has no anti-tank and rip the front so wide it looks like someone took a bite out of the map.
- race the clock in a WW1 mod: stabilize a collapsing front, rush 1918 fighters to wipe the enemy air force, then snake an armored car into Paris seconds before the USA joins.
- turn a small nation into an industrial powerhouse through years of buildup, then flip the switch into rapid conquest the moment you're ready.
2Sid Meier's Civilization® V - Create, discover, and download new player-created maps, scenarios, interfaces, and more!
Sep 21, 2010
In this game, you can…
- open your borders to Gandhi, then watch him pillage your land, annex cities, denounce you, and launch nukes anyway.
- send a nuclear fleet across the world, punch through a submarine blockade, fire the warheads, then drop XCOM squads to seize the top superpower's capital before the space race ends.
- absorb a nearby city-state instantly, then trigger a chain-reaction war where your allies help wipe out an empire.
- start in 4000 BC with one settler and build a world empire.
- win wars by pure positioning, using terrain choke points while cities shoot enemies from two tiles away.
- bribe leaders and city-states into alliances until a few denouncements turn into a globe-spanning world war.
- fight late-game resource wars where uranium decides everything, nuclear subs blockade coasts, cruisers break through, and XCOM drops capture capitals.
- race two victories at once, then lose one turn before winning because another nation hits a different win condition first.
- build famous wonders in completely wrong places, like the Great Pyramids in Honolulu or the Great Wall of Portugal.
3Crusader Kings III - Love, fight, scheme, and claim greatness. Determine your noble house’s legacy in the sprawling grand strategy of Crusader Kings III. Death is only the beginning as you guide your dynasty’s bloodline in the rich and larger-than-life simulation of the Middle Ages.
Sep 1, 2020
In this game, you can…
- make the pope your vassal, imprison him over a feast insult, seize Rome, force-convert him, and banish him.
- create a custom religion with rules like forced nudity or ritual cannibalism, then use conversion to control and humiliate rivals.
- start as a two-year-old empress, face near-total revolt, then grow into a famous conqueror and reformer.
- play a dynasty where you die, then keep ruling as your heir.
- lose your wife to concubinage, rescue her decades later, then adopt a feral "wolf-boy" and raise him into a kingdom-building heir.
- turn a rumor into a chain of spying, blackmail, secret murders, and a land-claim war that drags the whole realm into marching armies.
- breed a "perfect heir" through dynasty genetics until your family tree becomes strategically useful and completely tangled.
- revoke an empire's election laws with a single decision, then deal with powerful nobles resisting the change and testing your rule.
4Total War: WARHAMMER II - The forces of Lustria await your command. Choose your Legendary Lord, expand your armies, forge alliances in a strategic turn-based campaign, and unleash the might of your monstrous forces in fast-paced real-time battles.
Sep 28, 2017
In this game, you can…
- get ambushed, eat a tactical nuke minutes into the fight, then rebuild your entire battle line mid-chaos and still win.
- lead an army of thousands of rats with poison bombs, lightning cannons, and rapid-fire guns that can erase units fast.
- play on a stitched-together mega-map where every race from both games is in one campaign with wildly different starting situations.
- race other empires to complete world-shaking rituals, then hold off enemy counterattacks long enough to finish yours.
- set up a chokepoint defense where one perfect position and timed spells lets you beat multiple elite armies at once.
- send a single hero into the front line to fight whole groups alone, then swing the battle with healing or devastating magic.
- slam cavalry into a line hard enough to rip it open, then follow up with hydras, dragons, and phoenixes to finish the collapse.
- pull 10,000 gold from a shipwreck, drop it straight into new buildings, then use the upgrade to launch your next conquest.
5Crusader Kings II - Explore one of the defining periods in world history in an experience crafted by the masters of Grand Strategy.
Feb 14, 2012
In this game, you can…
- use intrigue to install your brother as an anti-pope, go to war with the pope, and make your brother the official pope for Catholics
- seduce queens and empresses across multiple realms, then spread bastards so widely that another player can end up as your kid
- build a secret Odin cult, drag your spouse into it, get in a tavern brawl while disguised, then die crusading for Christianity while secretly pagan
- start as a powerful emperor or a lowly count in 1066–1453, and if you die without a viable heir, your run just ends
- lose one throne in a succession war, then inherit a completely different kingdom through your family line
- marry into a rival dynasty, line up your heir to inherit, and watch two kingdoms unify automatically when the right person dies
- plot a duke's murder with help from his spouse, spark the civil war you wanted, and steer the chaos toward your firstborn inheriting
- murder the king of France, marry his widow, and have a son with her who gains the claim you need to take the throne
- raid across Europe from a tiny island ruler, kill hundreds of thousands, hoard mercenaries and gold, then trigger a coalition dogpile that wipes your empire in two years
6Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Total War: SHOGUN 2 is the perfect mix of real-time and turn-based strategy gaming for newcomers and veterans alike.
Mar 15, 2011
In this game, you can…
- import British marines through a single foreign-trade port, buy an ironclad, and mow down elite samurai with Gatling guns and cannons.
- grow powerful enough that allies and vassals flip on you, then fight off a coordinated dogpile ordered by the Shogun himself.
- recruit a new general from the rank and file when leaderless troops win battles, promoting a regular soldier into command.
- pivot your clan from sword charges to rifles, factories, and a new emperor after getting shredded by modern gun lines.
- bait an army into a trap with one division, encircle it with gun units, wipe it out in volleys, then upgrade to bigger guns when armored samurai appear.
- watch a trained ninja assassination play out as a cutscene gamble that can succeed cleanly or fail in a spectacular botch.
- climb castle walls with any unit, push through multiple inner tiers, and turn a siege into a chaotic all-hands fortress storm.
- fight battles where weather, thunder, petals, and war drums all keep going while armies clash and enemies try to sneak through forests.
7STAR WARS™ Empire at War - Gold Pack - Command or corrupt an entire galaxy in the definitive Star Wars strategy collection. It is a time of galactic civil war. Will you take up the reins of the Rebellion, assume control of the Empire, or rule the Star Wars Underworld?
May 25, 2010
In this game, you can…
- build the Death Star, park it over a planet, and erase the entire world on command.
- play as a crime syndicate and take over the galaxy with bribery, kidnapping, racketeering, and piracy instead of straight conquest.
- target specific ship systems in space fights, like hangar bays or tractor beams, to shut down fighters or stop captures.
- run a planet takeover in two stages: win the space battle, then land troops and fight on the ground to actually claim the world.
- drop Darth Vader into a ground battle and let him carve through an entire base while your army pushes in behind him.
- mass an absurd armada, then watch it collide with an even bigger one, like 10 Star Destroyers facing 35 Mon Calamari cruisers.
- zoom out from a single starting world to controlling a galaxy-wide war map where every build choice changes the next battle.
- install total-conversion mods that jump eras, letting you field Clone Wars fleets like the Malevolence and rewrite what units even exist.
8Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition - Command the seas, control the land, forge a new nation, and conquer the globe.
Mar 4, 2009
In this game, you can…
- march an army from India to Northern Europe while fighting across three continents and multiple oceans.
- get steamrolled in Europe, evacuate half your empire by ship to the New World, seize a South American foothold, rebuild, then sail back for revenge.
- trigger colonial uprisings so early the United States can form in 1710, then land troops and erase it in 1711.
- command a fleet in real time, turn into the wind, fire broadsides, then grapple and board enemy ships.
- use chain shot to shred masts, cripple a warship's movement, then close in for a boarding takeover.
- start a world war in the 1720s as alliances cascade, then bombard capitals like Moscow with cannons and mortars.
- invade England as Sweden after surviving naval attacks, take the whole island, then pivot east and siege Moscow.
- build a trade-and-colony money engine by seizing overseas trade theaters and escorting fleets to keep them alive.
9Against the Storm - A dark fantasy city builder where you must rebuild civilization in the face of apocalyptic rains. As the Queen’s Viceroy, lead humans, beavers, lizards, foxes, and harpies to reclaim the wilderness and secure a future for civilization's last survivors.
Dec 8, 2023
In this game, you can…
- pause anytime, pick up most buildings, and relocate them without penalty to rebuild your whole layout mid-crisis.
- open a new glade and immediately get stuck with a timed curse or ruin you have to deal with.
- draft only a few random buildings each run, even if they don't match what you can currently make.
- burrow through the forest to uncover new glades.
- burn down an abandoned temple or restore it for different consequences and rewards.
- turn one food into many by swapping ingredients, like making skewers from meat, eggs, mushrooms, or larvae.
- run one town with multiple species that want different luxuries and excel at different jobs.
- win a settlement, take permanent upgrades back to your hub city, then launch another expedition with a totally different opening puzzle.
10Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition - Spanning the most turbulent era in Western history, your quest for territory and power takes you through Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and even onto the shores of the New World.
Nov 15, 2006
In this game, you can…
- assassinate the Pope, sack Rome, then get welcomed back into the Church when a new Pope gets elected.
- trade a marriage proposal for a whole castle and a new general in your family.
- fight off Mongol and Timurid invasions, including armies with armored elephants carrying cannons on their backs.
- join a crusade, capture Cairo, exterminate it, then trade the city to get Rome.
- send spies to stir unrest, blockade ports to stop repairs, then storm a city while your agents open the gates.
- convert a settlement between city and castle, then specialize it as a trade hub or a knight-producing fortress.
- watch generals and princesses pick up life-derailing traits like "Ugly woman," "Wife Is Horrid," or alcoholism that change how they perform.
- sail west after the "World is round" event and end up fighting the Aztecs on their home continent.
- play huge Lord of the Rings total conversions where you break the Black Gate, take Barad-dûr, and fight Sauron.
