2025’s Strategic Masterpieces- The Best Games So Far
The first half of 2025 has some truly amazing strategy games, with the gaming industry showcasing an impressive array of titles that push the boundaries of real-time strategy, turn-based combat, and management. From grand historical sagas and innovative strategic roguelikes to intense modern warfare games, and even whimsical management sims, this year has already provided countless hours of strategic depth and compelling gameplay. I think that we have been having one of the best years yet, and there we’re only six months into 2025. Let’s take a dive into the 15 best strategy games of 2025 so far, and highlight what makes each one a must-play experience.
15 – Age of Darkness: Final Stand
Age of Darkness: Final Stand officially launched out of Early Access in January 2025, and it was the first game I have reviewed this year for Strategy and Wargaming. Obviously inspired by the likes of They Are Billions, Age of Darkness. Final Stand is a solid dark fantasy survival real-time strategy (RTS) that throws enough twists into the formula to make it worth your while. Players are plunged into a grim world overwhelmed by ominous “Nightmares”, and tasked with building and defending humanity’s last bastions against seemingly endless hordes. Utilizing its innovative “SwarmTech” technology, the game renders tens of thousands of enemies on screen simultaneously, creating intense and visually stunning “Death Nights” that truly test a player’s prowess in laying down and planning out defensive structures. The highlight of the game, for me, was its long and well-thought-out campaign, with enough twists and turns to justify being invested from beginning to end. With its basic but fun base-building mechanics, resource management, and a roster of unique heroes, Age of Darkness: Final Stand offers a challenging single-player experience campaign, and a highly anticipated cooperative multiplayer mode.
14 – Cataclismo
Published by Hooded Horse and released in May 2025, Cataclismo is a game that merges real-time strategy (RTS) with LEGO-like structural building mechanics of something like Stronghold, but with a lot more details and physics in the mix. Similar to Age of Darkness, Cataclismo is also set in a dark fantasy, tower-defense-inspired setting. Developed by Digital Sun (creators of Moonlighter and League of Legends’s Mageseeker). If Age of Darkness was all about creating mazed-like defenses, Cataclismo is the kind of game that challenges players to meticulously design and construct fortresses brick-by-brick. It’s perfect for those of you who love turtling and want to obsess about creating the wildest and most unpredictable thing imaginable just because it looks cool! Beyond defensive construction, players must manage resources, train units, and deploy heroes to reclaim this blighted world.
13 – Tower Dominion
Here’s another strategy game that came out of nowhere and one that players have been playing non-stop. with it currently having a very positive review rating on Stem. Launched on May 8, 2025, Tower Dominion is a traditional tower defense game, set in a genre where every game is attempting to reinvent the wheel. Tower Dominion does that in a very simple way, by blending it with roguelike mechanics and terrain manipulation. Here, players aren’t just placing towers; they actively shape the battlefield by building and designing the enemy’s path using a tile-based system. This allows for the creation of choke points, long winding routes with ample fields of fire, and elevated positions to maximize defensive effectiveness against the alien “Artronid” invasions. With three distinct factions, each offering unique biomes, towers, and strategies, and a roster of 30 heroes to unlock, Tower Dominion has replayability in spades.
12 – Grit and Valor – 1949
What a nice surprise Grit and Valor – 1949 was, and it wasn’t one I was initially expecting to enjoy as much as I did. It looks like a real-time strategy (RTS) mix between Into The Breach and Iron Harvest. Set in an alternate World War II where the Axis forces have unleashed powerful mechs on the battlefield, it’s up to the players to lead an elite squad of resistance mech pilots on a critical mission to deliver an EMP weapon into the heart of Berlim and turn everything off, to allow the Allied Forces to turn the tide of the war. This game distinguishes itself with its dynamic, ever-changing battlefields and roguelike progression, ensuring that each run offers unique challenges and opportunities for customization. Commanders will have to deploy their mech squads, make the best use of terrain, and use the constantly dropping abilities to improve their mech and their pilots to best overcome the waves of Axis mechs. I have reviewed it quite positively, and it’s a great choice for those of you looking for a light, real-time strategy (RTS) game with an addicting roguelite element, earning its spot as one of the best Strategy Games of 2015 so far.
11 – Knights in Tight Spaces
Knights in Tight Spaces is the much-anticipated sequel to the sleek and stylish predecessor, the John Wick simulator called Fights In Tight Spaces. This is a turn-based, deck-building strategy game that takes players away from the modern day and back into the medieval era, where they must party with other warriors to win randomly generated fights across a lengthy campaign. The game has the same style of card-based gameplay with turn-based movement on a grid, where players must make use of their cards to position themselves strategically in order to outsmart their opponents and deal the maximum amount of damage within a stylized medieval world. Success is all about carefully constructing powerful decks of abilities with the cards you’re given and executing precise maneuvers. The game changes a lot when compared to the original, by adding a party, weapons, and equipment. Knights in Tight Spaces delivers a fresh and addictive experience for fans of both turn-based strategy games, and deck-building roguelites.
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