7 – Civilization VI

Look, Civilization VII isn’t quite on the level it needs to be to be featured here, but fortunately, for us, Civilization fans, Civilization VI has matured into a massive, feature-rich experience that covers the entirety of human history and is quite possibly the best 4X of all time. The “unstacking” of cities was a masterstroke, forcing you to think about geography and district placement in a way that previous entries never did. Every playthrough feels distinct because the map dictates your strategy. You might be aiming for a scientific victory, only to realize your neighbor is spreading their religion aggressively, forcing you to pivot your entire society to counter them. It remains the king of the 4X genre for a reason, and if you have a couple of friends to jump into a game with you, it’s a perfect experience to play over the course of several days or weeks, and it’s sure to keep you talking about your strategies, highs, and lows when you’re together or on a Discord call.

6 – Football Manager 2026

You might be wondering why a sports game is on a strategy list, but anyone who has played Football Manager knows it is one of the deepest management simulations in existence. Football Manager 2026 is a game of data, scouting, and long-term strategic planning. You’re as much of a coach as you’re the president of the club you’re coaching. Building a squad over several seasons, developing youth talent, and adjusting your formation to counter a specific opponent is pure strategy. While all of that is super cool, the multiplayer experience you’re really looking forward to is to arrive at the final of the Champions League against your mate who swears he is “The Special One” and to defeat him 5-0. I have been there, you have been there. We have all been there.

5 – WARNO

The Wargame series of games made quite a mark on the multiplayer aspect of strategy games, becoming one of the most played online strategy titles in recent memory. If you miss the days of Wargame: European Escalation or Wargame: Red Dragon, then WARNO is the game you’re looking for. It is a beautiful, complex (and terrifying) depiction of a Cold War conflict in Germany in real-time tactics format, with hundreds of units from that era. Players spend dozens of hours creating the perfectly balanced deck to take into battle and duke it out in massive real-time battles across huge maps. It’s an intense, micro-managing, heavy experience that requires plenty of effort to learn, and even more if you want to be good and competitive at it. It’s also imperative that you have a calm head and a good understanding of combined arms warfare to succeed.

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