35 – News Tower
News Tower is my favourite management and strategy simulation game to play in 2025. If that’s because I was once a journalist in the early 2010s, or because it’s a really excellent game, might be up to debate. However, everyone on Steam agrees it might be the latter because News Tower is sitting and has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating, with 96% of reviews praising its take on an early 20th-century news station manager. The objective is to run a successful printed media empire, making decisions on content, managing reporters, and responding to breaking news events. Players must balance various factors, such as audience engagement, competition, and editorial choices while navigating the challenges of running a media outlet in a dynamic, ever-changing environment. There are also other factors at play like political influence, the mob, and the media agenda. It’s an absolutely fantastic title I cannot recommend it enough.
34 – Classified France ’44
Here is another turn-based strategy game in the vein of XCOM, it’s almost like that game is so perfect, that everyone needs to get their take in. And I’m glad they do! Enter Classified: France ’44, XCOM during the Second World War, and a game that manages to deliver a tense, challenging and inspired take on the widely gamified conflict. You’ve unleashed at the heart of occupied France during the crucial months leading up to D-Day, and it’s your job to put together a team of special operatives, make contact with several branches of the Resistance and make life a living hell for the German troops defending Normandy. Classified France ’44 manages to blend tactical gameplay with an emergent narrative (the stories you build yourself are always the better ones), emphasizing the importance of stealth during tactical missions. Its strategy layer could be a bit more in-depth, but I believe the tactical one more than makes up for its shortcomings. I gave it a 9 out of 10 when it came out!
33 – Sea Power: Naval Combat In The Missile Age
Sea Power: Naval Combat In The Missile Age has just come out, but it made quite an impression on the naval strategy gaming scene due to its amazing detail, excellent user interface (if you know, you know), and amazing graphical fidelity for what is essentially- a hardcore wargame. Sea Power plunges players into the tense and technologically driven naval conflicts of the Cold War, where battles are no longer limited to lobbying shells at each other in the hope of a lucky hit, but commanders must be able to understand how each weapon system works, from missiles to planes, to everything else in between. This game distinguishes itself by offering one of the more meticulous simulations of modern naval warfare available in 2025, emphasizing the crucial role of electronic warfare, missile technology, and air power in shaping maritime battles. Under active development, the game’s set to have a dynamic campaign out sometime in 2025. If you’re looking for something with the depth and complexity of Command: Modern Operations, but don’t want to take a master’s degree in operational warfare, then Sea Power is probably the best thing you can pick up.
32 – Northgard
You’ll excuse me, but I have to say that Northgard is such an amazing, amazing game. A real-time strategy game set in a Norse mythology-inspired world, where players control a Viking clan and must explore, conquer, and survive in a harsh, untamed land, where your main concern isn’t other humans, but mother nature herself. Players must manage resources, build settlements, and expand their territory while contending with hostile forces, build up stockpiles to face harsh winters, and battle against menacing mythical creatures. It has one of the most striking art styles available, and its focus on surviving against nature offers a very distinct experience from other great real-time strategy games. In 2025, 7 years after its release, the game’s still under active development, with free updates and paid DLC being dropped regularly.
31 – Starship Troopers: Terran Command
Is there any other setting that’s better suited for an RTS than Starship Troopers? With its different enemy and allied units, each with its own specialization? Focus on lines of sight, and maximizing lines of fire usage? The importance of using the terrain to your advantage in order to set up killing fields and protect your troops? I don’t think so, and in fact, I just described the factors that make Starship Troopers: Terran Command such an amazing real-time strategy game. Add to those mechanics an original storyline that manages to keep the satirical edge of the book and movie alike, and you have in your hands one of the best single-player RTS made in the last two decades. I cannot recommend Starship Troopers: Terran Command enough. C’mon you apes, do you want to live forever?
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