4 – Terminator: Dark Fate- Defiance
The Terminator franchise has seen better days in cinema, but when it comes to strategy video games, players never had a lot of choice. At least now, in 2025, the one they have is pretty damn good. Terminator: Dark Fate- Defiance is a surprisingly complex and realistic strategy game with a big campaign where forces carry over from mission to mission, adding a new level of responsibility to your actions, as you lead the survival of mankind against the machine menace.
3 – Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector
Warhammer 40,000 games are always hit or miss. Some are pretty amazing (looking at you, Space Marine and Space Marine 2), while others are absolute garbage. Fortunately, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector falls into the first of those two categories, and in my opinion, it’s the best Warhammer 40.000 game you can play in 2025, especially if you’re into turn-based strategy. Set during the Devastation of Baal, the game’s campaign puts players in charge of the Primaris Space Marines as they fight against the Tyranids in a challenging and really well-told single-player campaign. The graphics are awesome, the turn-based strategy is filled with opportunities and depth, there’s a solid multiplayer mode with a very active community, and despite being released in 2021, the game is constantly receiving new updates and new DLC. Soon, it’s going to receive a 12-mission story campaign where players will lead the Sisters of Battle against the Orks.
2 – Distant Worlds 2
I recently published a list of the best strategy games set in space that got over 100.000 views, and the coveted number 2 spot was occupied by Distant Worlds 2, and for just over 15 dollars, if you enjoy grand-strategy games, this one should be a no-brainer. It’s one of the most detailed video games ever made, with each of the game’s systems (economics, society, research, warfare, trade) intricately connected and influencing each other (yes, it did all of this before Europa Universalis 5!). Whenever I’m talking about Distant Worlds 2, I mentioned that I realized the true scope of the game when I found out that before talking with any other civilizations, you needed to research their language first. I think that tells you everything you need to know when it comes to its depth. Fortunately, you don’t have to interact with every single one of these systems, and the game has a very good automation system that allows players to focus just on the parts of empire management they enjoy, and even let everything run autonomously, and just make the big-picture decisions, like a true ruler.
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