Strategy games offer a satisfying challenge for those who love using their brains to outwit opponents or solve complex puzzles. Whether you’re a fan of competitive multiplayer or a solo strategist, these games engage players with deep mechanics, thoughtful planning, and tactical decision-making. Here’s a list of the best strategy games to play in 2024, ranging from light-hearted choices to intense, brain-burning experiences.
1. Scythe
Players: 1-7
Playtime: 90-115 minutes
Best For: Fans of area control, engine-building
Set in an alternate-history 1920s, Scythe blends area control with engine-building mechanics, creating a deep strategy game where players expand their territories, gather resources, and build powerful mechs. Each player leads a faction with unique abilities, making every game different.
The key to winning in Scythe is balancing expansion with resource management and knowing when to go on the offensive. The game rewards careful planning and strategic decision-making, making it a favorite among serious strategy gamers.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- Multiple paths to victory keep the game dynamic.
- Deep engine-building mechanics encourage long-term planning.
Scythe
It is a time of unrest in 1920s Europa. The ashes from the first great war still darken the snow. The capitalistic city-state known simply as “The Factory”, which fueled the war with heavily armored mechs, has closed its doors, drawing the attention of several nearby countries.
2. Terraforming Mars
Players: 1-5
Playtime: 120-150 minutes
Best For: Fans of resource management, sci-fi
In Terraforming Mars, players take on the role of corporations working to make Mars habitable by raising the planet’s temperature, creating oceans, and developing greenery. The game is driven by a combination of resource management, card drafting, and tile placement.
What makes Terraforming Mars so engaging is its rich variety of cards, each representing different technologies and projects. Players must decide how to best use their resources and which projects to prioritize, leading to endless strategic possibilities.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- High replayability with hundreds of unique cards.
- Complex resource management offers rich strategic depth.
Terraforming Mars
In the 2400s, mankind begins to terraform the planet Mars. Giant corporations, sponsored by the World Government on Earth, initiate huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level, and the ocean coverage until the environment is habitable. In Terraforming Mars, you play one of those corporations and work together in the terraforming process, but compete for getting victory points that are awarded not only for your contribution to the terraforming, but also for advancing human infrastructure throughout the solar system, and doing other commendable things.
3. Twilight Struggle
Players: 2
Playtime: 180 minutes
Best For: History buffs, fans of two-player conflict
Twilight Struggle is a highly immersive two-player game that simulates the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Players work to extend their influence over different regions of the world through a mix of political, military, and cultural strategies.
The game is driven by a card-based mechanic, where each card represents a historical event or action. The key to winning is knowing when to use each card for maximum impact while keeping your opponent's plans in check. The tension-filled gameplay makes every decision feel crucial.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- Perfect blend of historical events and strategy.
- High-stakes decisions and intense player interaction.
Twilight Struggle
"Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are – but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle..."
– John F. Kennedy
4. Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
Players: 2-4
Playtime: 180-240 minutes
Best For: Fans of civilization-building, history lovers
For those who love civilization-building games, Through the Ages is the pinnacle of the genre. Players develop their civilization from the ancient era to the modern age by focusing on technology, culture, government, and military. The game combines resource management, card drafting, and tactical warfare to create a deep, satisfying experience.
While it’s a heavy game with a long playtime, Through the Ages rewards players who think several steps ahead. There are multiple paths to victory, making it an incredibly rich strategic experience.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- Deep, long-term strategic planning across several eras.
- High replayability thanks to variable card drafting and player strategies.
Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is the new edition of Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization, with many changes small and large to the game's cards over its three ages and extensive changes to how military works.
5. Root
Players: 2-4
Playtime: 60-90 minutes
Best For: Fans of asymmetric gameplay, area control
Root is a beautiful, woodland-themed game that’s deceptively strategic. In this game, players take on the roles of different factions—each with its own unique abilities and playstyle—and compete for control of a forest. From the militaristic Marquise de Cat to the guerrilla-style Woodland Alliance, every faction plays differently, providing endless replay value.
Victory in Root comes from mastering your faction’s strengths while exploiting your opponents' weaknesses. Its asymmetric design means every game feels fresh and challenging, especially as you learn the intricacies of each faction.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- Asymmetric factions add variety and challenge.
- High level of strategic depth with constant player interaction.
Root
Root is a game of adventure and war in which 2 to 4 (1 to 6 with the 'Riverfolk' expansion) players battle for control of a vast wilderness. Like Vast: The Crystal Caverns, each player in Root has unique capabilities and a different victory condition. Now, with the aid of gorgeous, multi-use cards, a truly asymmetric design has never been more accessible.
6. Gaia Project
Players: 1-4
Playtime: 150 minutes
Best For: Fans of complex Eurogames, space exploration
A spiritual successor to Terra Mystica, Gaia Project takes the gameplay into space, where players colonize planets, develop technologies, and expand their civilizations. With 14 different factions, each with its own unique abilities, the game offers incredible variety and replayability.
At its core, Gaia Project is about resource management and spatial planning. The game’s depth comes from figuring out how to expand your reach and develop technologies in the most efficient way possible. It’s a brain-burning experience that rewards long-term strategic thinking.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- Incredibly deep gameplay with multiple paths to victory.
- Complex yet rewarding strategic choices for experienced players.
Gaia Project
Gaia Project is a new game in the line of Terra Mystica. As in the original Terra Mystica, fourteen different factions live on seven different kinds of planets, and each faction is bound to their own home planets, so to develop and grow, they must terraform neighboring planets into their home environments in competition with the other groups. In addition, Gaia planets can be used by all factions for colonization, and Transdimensional planets can be changed into Gaia planets.
7. Brass: Birmingham
Players: 2-4
Playtime: 60-120 minutes
Best For: Economic strategy fans, history lovers
Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game set during the industrial revolution in England. Players build industries, establish trade routes, and expand their influence across the region. The game revolves around clever resource management and strategic planning, where timing is everything.
The challenge in Brass: Birmingham is balancing short-term gains with long-term strategy. You’ll need to manage your loans carefully while developing industries that can produce resources or generate income over time.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- A rich economic engine that requires careful planning.
- Elegant balance between risk and reward.
Brass: Birmingham
Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game sequel to Martin Wallace' 2007 masterpiece, Brass. Brass: Birmingham tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the industrial revolution, between the years of 1770-1870.
8. Viticulture: Essential Edition
Players: 1-6
Playtime: 45-90 minutes
Best For: Fans of worker placement, wine lovers
In Viticulture, players take on the role of vineyard owners in Tuscany, competing to grow grapes, make wine, and develop their vineyards. The game uses a worker-placement mechanic, where players assign their workers to different tasks like harvesting, wine production, and attracting visitors.
Viticulture stands out for its beautiful theme and well-balanced gameplay, making it accessible for newer strategy gamers while still providing depth for veterans. The game’s combination of long-term planning and tactical decision-making ensures satisfying strategic play every time.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- Excellent balance between strategy and thematic immersion.
- Simple yet deep worker-placement mechanics.
Viticulture Essential Edition
In Viticulture, the players find themselves in the roles of people in rustic, pre-modern Tuscany who have inherited meagre vineyards. They have a few plots of land, an old crush pad, a tiny cellar, and three workers. They each have a dream of being the first to call their winery a true success.
9. Everdell
Players: 1-4
Playtime: 40-80 minutes
Best For: Fans of engine-building, nature themes
Everdell combines engine-building with worker placement in a beautifully illustrated world filled with critters and constructions. Players manage their resources to build a bustling city, utilizing different cards that represent various characters and buildings in the forested world of Everdell.
The game’s depth comes from managing resources and timing your actions. As your engine grows, so do your options for building an efficient and high-scoring city.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- Stunning artwork and immersive theme.
- Tight, challenging engine-building gameplay.
Everdell
Within the charming valley of Everdell, beneath the boughs of towering trees, among meandering streams and mossy hollows, a civilization of forest critters is thriving and expanding. From Everfrost to Bellsong, many a year have come and gone, but the time has come for new territories to be settled and new cities established. You will be the leader of a group of critters intent on just such a task. There are buildings to construct, lively characters to meet, events to host—you have a busy year ahead of yourself. Will the sun shine brightest on your city before the winter moon rises?
10. Concordia
Players: 2-5
Playtime: 90-120 minutes
Best For: Fans of trading, ancient history
Concordia is an economic strategy game set in ancient Rome, where players build trading empires by acquiring resources, developing new cities, and managing trade routes. The game’s unique card-based action system forces players to carefully plan each move and optimize their strategy over time.
Victory points are hidden until the end of the game, adding an element of surprise and tension to each session. Concordia is known for its elegant mechanics and smooth gameplay, making it one of the most beloved strategy games in the genre.
Why It’s a Top Strategy Game:
- Simple yet deep gameplay mechanics.
- High replayability with multiple maps and strategies.
Concordia
Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire ruled the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. With peace at the borders, harmony inside the provinces, uniform law, and a common currency, the economy thrived and gave rise to mighty Roman dynasties as they expanded throughout the numerous cities. Guide one of these dynasties and send colonists to the remote realms of the Empire; develop your trade network; and appease the ancient gods for their favor — all to gain the chance to emerge victorious!
Final Thoughts
Strategy games offer endless opportunities for tactical thinking and careful planning. Whether you prefer complex economic engines, civilization-building, or tense political conflict, the games on this list provide a diverse range of experiences to satisfy any strategist. So gather your friends, or go solo, and dive into these best strategy games of 2024 for an engaging and challenging tabletop adventure!
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