Best Real-Time Games on Steam
Games where action continues continuously, demanding live decisions and timing.
Browse all Real-Time →
1Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - 42 Civilizations, 229 Campaign Missions, Singleplayer, Co-Op, Multiplayer, In-Game Editor, Mods, Cross-play...It is good to be the king.
Nov 14, 2019
In this game, you can…
- watch a monk convert your knights mid-fight, and they instantly switch sides.
- tell AI teammates what units to train, where to build, and what target to attack.
- play voice-acted historical campaigns like Saladin or Joan of Arc, and even run some of those missions in co-op.
- auto-explore the map with your scout.
- collapse buildings into rubble when they're destroyed, instead of just disappearing.
- queue unit production and technologies at the same time, so upgrades don't pause your momentum.
- skip the early setup and jump straight into fighting with a mode that starts after the opening minutes.
- race a campaign mission timer by destroying every castle in a city in under 30 minutes.
2Age of Empires II (Retired) - Age of Empires II has been re-imagined in high definition. With the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, this product will not be updated further.
Apr 9, 2013
In this game, you can…
- convert enemy soldiers so they instantly switch sides mid-battle.
- raise the population cap to 500 and flood the map with armies big enough to change your entire battle plan.
- win without conquering everyone by guarding a king, collecting relics, or building and defending a wonder.
- mass monks behind walls, upgrade them into tanky converters, then march out stealing whole armies while they chant.
- watch monks on both sides convert the same troops back and forth until someone breaks the stalemate with a surprise demolition squad.
- set up two markets far apart and generate more gold from trade just because the route is longer.
- fire a mangonel shot into a clump of archers and flatten them all at once.
- play campaigns as famous historical leaders like Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, or Joan of Arc.
3Age of Mythology: Extended Edition - Age of Mythology is back! Choose your god and take to the battlefield in this classic, upgraded with full Steamworks integration and enhanced features.
May 8, 2014
In this game, you can…
- drop meteors, tornadoes, or earthquakes that can erase towns mid-match.
- watch a cyclops grab a soldier and hurl him into his own troops.
- send a locust swarm across the map to eat farms and villagers.
- pick a major god, then choose a new minor god every age-up.
- field myth monsters like hydras and mummies, then counter them with heroes.
- build a Wonder, start a ten-minute countdown, and win by holding out under nonstop attacks.
- play a full 32-mission campaign chasing a Cyclops across Greece, Egypt, and the Norselands.
- use cheat codes to spawn laser-shooting bears and a flying purple hippo.
4Age of Empires® III (2007) - Microsoft Studios brings you three epic Age of Empires III games in one monumental collection for the first time.
Jan 5, 2012
In this game, you can…
- use cheats to spawn a monster truck that runs over armies and turns a losing battle into total chaos.
- build a custom Home City deck, then call in instant shipments of troops, buildings, resources, and upgrades mid-match.
- trigger a revolution and jump into an industrial-era escalation where heavier warfare shows up, including trains and even hot air balloons.
- capture and hold trade route posts and neutral settlements to keep a steady drip of resources, experience, and special units coming in.
- level up a named Home City between matches, unlocking new shipment cards that permanently expand what you can call down in future games.
- let villagers gather straight from mines, trees, and herds without hauling loads back, so your economy runs while you manage fights and timings.
- fight colonial gunpowder wars with muskets and cannons, blasting buildings apart until they collapse into debris under sustained fire.
- switch civilizations and get wildly different mechanics, including native tribes you recruit from the map and Asian factions with their own twists.
5Stronghold Crusader HD (2012) - The highly anticipated sequel to the best-selling Stronghold, Stronghold Crusader HD throws you into historic battles and castle sieges from the Crusades with fiendish AI opponents, new units, 4 historical campaigns and over 100 unique skirmish missions.
Oct 21, 2013
In this game, you can…
- catapult cows over the walls, spread plague inside the castle, and watch the defenders collapse from disease.
- set spike pits, moats, drawbridges, boiling oil, and pitch traps so your defenses kill attackers without leaving the walls.
- use a map builder to create custom levels, then replay them endlessly or share them for multiplayer matches.
- build a castle for hours, raise an army, then unleash a full siege that tears through an enemy stronghold.
- send assassins over the back walls while macemen rush the gate, turning one siege into a timed two-front trap.
- fight sieges with hundreds of units on screen at once, with archers, knights, and catapults all colliding around one castle.
- torch a battlefield with fire throwers and fire ballistae until buildings ignite and entire sections of a siege turn into burn zones.
- start with a fast mercenary rush, hit an enemy before their castle is finished, and decide the match in the opening minutes.
6Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® - Soulstorm - The third and final expansion to the genre-defining and critically-acclaimed RTS, Dawn of War. In Soulstorm, two new armies are introduced – Sisters of Battle and Dark Eldar - raising the total number of playable armies to nine.
Mar 5, 2008
In this game, you can…
- conquer four planets and three moons in a system-wide campaign, choosing to liberate, enslave, or destroy worlds as you take enemy headquarters.
- recover morale by having an officer execute one of your own soldiers mid-battle to steady the rest.
- drop infantry straight onto enemy emplacements and bases while artillery and nukes pound the front line at the same time.
- build and use flying combat units in every army to attack from above and strike over ground defenses.
- stack flamethrowers across an entire army, putting them on troops, tanks, walkers, and turrets for all-out fire-based assaults.
- spend a separate faith resource to trigger healing and attack-boost powers that can swing a fight at the exact moment you need it.
- leave most corpses on the battlefield so the ground stays carpeted with bodies as the fight drags on.
- level up a Necron Lord into an increasingly dangerous machine leader over the course of a campaign.
7Rise of Nations: Extended Edition - Rise of Nations is back! Play the updated classic with full Steamworks integration and enhanced features!
Jun 12, 2014
In this game, you can…
- capture enemy cities and instantly inherit their factories and buildings, turning the invasion into a working part of your economy.
- fire nukes to push an Armageddon Clock toward global collapse, forcing everyone to weigh victory against ending the whole world.
- block incoming nukes with a Missile Shield, then use World Government to annex cities instantly and steal a capital before anyone reacts.
- start with one ancient city and end the same match launching nuclear ICBMs and flying stealth bombers.
- build only inside your borders, then expand cities to shove that build zone outward and choke off where enemies can settle.
- win fights just by hitting the next era first, so muskets roll over medieval armies that were winning seconds earlier.
- watch units upgrade across history in absurd leaps, like war elephants turning into tanks and rafts becoming nuclear submarines.
- play a map-wide alternate-history campaign where missions jump from Alexander stealing elephants to Cold War scenarios as the CIA or KGB.
8Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution - Command any of the six unique factions in the next standalone expansion of the critically acclaimed Dawn of War real-time strategy franchise. Choose to build a massive army or lead a small squad of elite heroes into battle and experience a single player campaign customized to your favorite race.
In this game, you can…
- play the whole campaign as any of six factions, all hunting the same target for totally different reasons.
- drop a core campaign hero and replace them with an Honor Guard squad like Terminators instead.
- team up with two friends in a survival arena where each of you controls one hero through up to 20 enemy waves.
- capture relay beacons to unlock more squads or even vehicles, turning one won point into a bigger army next fight.
- level up heroes, get a guaranteed new trait every level, and swap in loot that changes how you fight.
- level a Last Stand hero to 20, unlock gear, then reset and do the whole climb again up to four times.
- win fights by forcing squads into cover, pinning them down with suppression, then flushing them out with grenades or flamers.
- retreat a veteran squad to safety mid-fight, reinforce it, and bring it back before it gets wiped.
9Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution - Command any of the six unique factions in the next standalone expansion of the critically acclaimed Dawn of War real-time strategy franchise. Choose to build a massive army or lead a small squad of elite heroes into battle and experience a single player campaign customized to your favorite race.
In this game, you can…
- play the whole campaign as any of six factions, all hunting the same target for totally different reasons.
- drop a core campaign hero and replace them with an Honor Guard squad like Terminators instead.
- team up with two friends in a survival arena where each of you controls one hero through up to 20 enemy waves.
- capture relay beacons to unlock more squads or even vehicles, turning one won point into a bigger army next fight.
- level up heroes, get a guaranteed new trait every level, and swap in loot that changes how you fight.
- level a Last Stand hero to 20, unlock gear, then reset and do the whole climb again up to four times.
- win fights by forcing squads into cover, pinning them down with suppression, then flushing them out with grenades or flamers.
- retreat a veteran squad to safety mid-fight, reinforce it, and bring it back before it gets wiped.
10Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Anniversary Edition (Classic) - All of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War in one glorious package. Play the genre-defining classic real time strategy game in all its blood-soaked glory, including four complete campaigns and nine full-fledged factions.
Aug 7, 2007
In this game, you can…
- watch a giant walker grab an enemy, crush them in its fist, then throw the body across the battlefield.
- drop your base buildings from orbit onto captured territory, then start producing troops right where the fighting is.
- drop elite walkers and armored squads from orbit straight into the middle of an active battle.
- win the economy by taking map control points, fortifying them, and using that territory to fuel your next wave.
- keep the same squad alive, reinforce it mid-battle, and swap in special weapons so it changes roles on the fly.
- hunker infantry into shell holes for cover, then break an enemy squad's morale and watch them crumble in a firefight.
- roll out late-game heavy armor and long-range artillery, then rain missiles across the map while tanks bulldoze through defenses.
- fight a campaign that keeps escalating through different warzones as new factions and bigger war machines join the war.
