5 – Total Victory: World Conflict 1939-1945

Of all the wargames coming in 2026, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that Total Victory: World Conflict 1939-1945 (try saying that 3 times in a row) is one of the most anticipated, especially if you’re a more traditional hex-and-counter wargamer. Developed by the hands that molded the excellent WarPlan into existence, this time Kraken Studios is aiming for the stars and trying to create the ultimate turn-based World War 2 grand strategy, a game so massive it will be taking over your gaming existence for the foreseeable future. This demo has 2 very appealing scenarios: The first four months of the German advance on the East, and the 1941 North Africa campaign. These scenarios alone should keep you busy for a couple of weeks all by themselves.

4 – Space Scum

Space Scum is an apparently Battle Brothers-inspired sci-fi turn-based strategy game that puts players at the helm of a band of mercenaries as they battle across several planets, earning loot and equipment. This move to a sci-fi setting means that the combat is now more ranged focused, and you’ll be dealing a lot more often with shotgun-armed bandits than with spears and daggers. Cover is now a lot more important as well, and this beefy demo gives you a look at all aspects of combat. The game has a very distinct comic-book style aesthetic that’s super pleasing and works surprisingly well with its gritty brutality. There’s also a tinge of Star Wars in the characters’ industrial design that I really love. I have nothing bad to say about it, and I cannot wait to play and review Space Scum.

3 – ZeroSpace

Fans of competitive multiplayer RTS have been in a bit of a drought lately. In fact, lately would be quite an understatement, because since the release of StarCraft 2, no other title has quite managed to even come close to scratching that itch for many, and the last attempt came in the form of Stormgate, and we all know that didn’t go quite as expected. ZeroSpace, however, seems to be heading in the right direction to become the best sci-fi RTS of 2026. A promising multiplayer scene alongside an engrossing singleplayer campaign that puts players at the helm of the heavily armed Protectorate, a galactic force whose main goal is to secure humanity’s future in space against vicious alien factions, is a combination we haven’t seen in quite a while. This game also has the best unit positioning feature I have ever seen, and it’s such a massive upgrade on the quality of life. I think every game should have it, which is one that allows you to drag a line of units across the screen. Absolutely game-changing.

2 – Dust Front RTS

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ll know that Dust Front RTS has been one of my most anticipated strategy games for quite a while. I love its premise of traditional RTS with grand strategy-elements, and the setting of fighting on a desolate world, where war has been waged for countless generations between humans, mutants, and robots, is right up my alley. If you’re going to go dark, you better lean into it! It’s a bleak setting, and the concrete and ash-ridden setting looks stellar! The demo zooms into the RTS aspect of the game, and you’ll be fighting the siege of an industrial city against one of two factions (Bandits or Mutants) on a map that’s procedurally generated every time you boot it up, even if the mission type is fixed. A great demo and the standout strategy title of this Steam Next Fest.

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