The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →For PC players looking back at 2024, the strongest recommendations span very different kinds of strategy: hellish empire-building, city management, space-scale real-time warfare and compact tactical puzzles. This is a curated shortlist, not a definitive ranking. Gamereactor published a numbered year-end list; PC Gamer used award categories and staff picks, so their recommendations reflect different editorial criteria.
How these recommendations were selected
The list combines two kinds of editorial signal. PC Gamer says every member of its 30-plus editorial team could nominate up to six games released in 2024 for its awards process. That is PC Gamer’s own editorial selection, not an independent survey of players or critics. Gamereactor, by contrast, published a numbered year-end list. The outlets do not agree on one universal order, and their lists are best read as starting points for finding a game that matches your preferred scale and style.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Age of Empires Collector's Edition - PC | $89.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
Sid Meier's Civilization VI - PC | $13.73 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
The Stronghold Collection - PC | $51.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
Sid Meier's Civilization V - PC | $20.75 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Sid Meier's Civilization V: The Complete Edition - PC | $21.95 | Buy on Amazon |
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Strategy is a broad label covering competitive real-time strategy, 4X empire-building, city construction and small-scale turn-based tactics. A game’s fit depends less on its place in any one list than on whether you want to manage a settlement or empire, solve tactical encounters, or build a story-driven campaign.
Recommended PC strategy games from 2024
Solium Infernum — unusual 4X empire-building
Gamereactor placed Solium Infernum first in its year-end list. Its hellish setting and distinctive 4X approach make it the pick to consider if you want empire-building with an unusual atmosphere rather than a familiar historical or sci-fi frame. [Gamereactor’s Best Strategy Games of 2024]
#1 Best Overall
- 11 New Units: Including the Huns' Tarkan, the Korean War Wagon and Turtle Ship, plus the Aztecs' Plumed Archer 26 New Technologies: One for each civilization, including Chinese Rocketry and British Yeoman
- New Game Types: Experience new challenges with `Wonder Race', `Defend the Wonder' and `King of the Hill' Real World Maps: Based on geographical locations such as Britain, France, and Italy
- Command Allied Computer Players: Use chat commands to order allies to attack, tribute resources, and build an economy or military Smart Villagers: Villagers work smarter, build walls more intelligently, and gather resources automatically after constructing a drop-off building.
- Farms Automatically Replant: Queue farms so they replant after being harvested Battering Rams: Units can garrison inside Battering Rams for protection, or to increase the Ram's speed when attacking foes.
Frostpunk 2 — strategy shaped by story and atmosphere
Gamereactor ranked Frostpunk 2 second, and it also appeared as a PC Gamer staff personal pick. Gamereactor highlights its world, story and atmosphere alongside the challenge of managing numbers. It suits players who want a narrative-rich strategy experience in which managing systems is part of the drama. [Gamereactor] [PC Gamer’s 2024 awards and picks]
Manor Lords — medieval settlement-building with battles
Manor Lords ranked third on Gamereactor’s list and won PC Gamer’s Best City Builder award. Its appeal crosses city-building and military strategy: Steam describes economic and social simulation alongside tactical battles. The original PC release entered Early Access on 26 April 2024, so it should be understood as an Early Access release, not a finished 2024 launch. [Gamereactor] [PC Gamer] [Steam listing for Manor Lords]
Rank #2
- EXPANSIVE EMPIRES: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before.
- ACTIVE RESEARCH: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization's progress through history.
- DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game.
- COMBINED ARMS: Expanding on the “one unit per tile” design, support units can now be embedded with other units.
Songs of Conquest — nostalgic fantasy with PvP and PvE
Gamereactor ranked Songs of Conquest fourth and called attention to its nostalgic presentation and both PvP and PvE play. It is a recommendation to investigate if you want fantasy strategy with options for competing against other players or taking on game-controlled opponents. [Gamereactor]
Tactical Breach Wizards — turn-based, room-by-room tactics
PC Gamer named Tactical Breach Wizards its 2024 Best Tactics award winner. Its encounters are puzzle-like and room-based, with unusual magic abilities at the center; PC Gamer later described it as a turn-based tactical RPG. This is the shortlist’s clearest fit for players who prefer solving focused encounters with character abilities over managing a city or empire. [PC Gamer’s 2024 awards and picks] [PC Gamer’s report on Tactical Breach Wizards]
Rank #3
- Stronghold - The original, award-winning castle sim that takes players through medieval Britain as they lead strategic military and economic expansion, defend against invaders, and conquer enemy castles.
- Stronghold 2 - The King, having fled after the defeat of his own armies, is now attempting to rule his country from a secret location. Powerful barons are jostling for what is fast becoming a disintegrating kingdom, and it is up to you to stem the tides of their ambition and unite the land again under the King.
- Stronghold Crusader and Stronghold Crusader Extreme - Journey to distant Arabian lands and lead a determined group of Crusaders. Relive the historic Crusades in four campaigns as Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, the Sultan of Syria. Stronghold Crusader Extreme adds 20 new missions, new buildings and larger armies of 10,000 troops.
- Stronghold Legends - Play as epic leaders throughout history, including King Arthur and the forces of Camelot, Siegfried and Dietrich in the German Ice Campaign, and Vlad Dracul and his evil forces in Transylvania.
- ESRB T Teen for images of Blood and Violence
Sins of a Solar Empire 2 — large-scale space strategy
Sins of a Solar Empire 2 was a PC Gamer staff personal pick, not the winner of a formal award category. PC Gamer’s current genre guide includes it as a 2024 release and frames the wider strategy genre across games such as real-time strategy and 4X. Consider this one if you want space-scale strategy rather than settlement management or compact tactical missions. The genre guide has been updated since 2024, so it is useful for context, not as a frozen year-end ranking. [PC Gamer’s 2024 awards and picks] [PC Gamer’s current strategy games guide]
Which game fits the way you like to play?
Use the shortlist’s differences in scale and structure to narrow your choice. The evidence cited for each game does not establish a complete mode-by-mode comparison, so the distinctions below stick to what the sources do identify.
Rank #4
- Successful diplomacy will depend on players carefully managing relationships with other leaders
- Expanded visuals and immersive audio invite would-be kings to take up the reigns of power and forge a mighty empire
- An intuitive interface eases both new players and Civ veterans into the game
- The addition of ranged bombardment allows players to fire weapons from behind the front lines
- Choose one of eighteen historical civilizations to lead from the stone-age to the space age
- For empire-scale play: start with Solium Infernum for a distinctive 4X setting or Sins of a Solar Empire 2 for space strategy.
- For a settlement and its systems: Manor Lords combines city-building and economic and social simulation with tactical battles.
- For narrative and atmosphere: Frostpunk 2 is the clearest match among these recommendations.
- For compact, turn-based tactical encounters: look at Tactical Breach Wizards.
- For different opponent types: Gamereactor specifically highlights PvP and PvE play for Songs of Conquest.
Platform check: Unicorn Overlord
Gamereactor’s fifth-ranked game, Unicorn Overlord, is described in its list as a deep tactical RPG. That makes it relevant if you want strategy within an RPG structure rather than a conventional 4X campaign. However, the cited recommendation does not establish PC availability. Treat it as a genre comparison, not a confirmed PC purchase recommendation, unless you verify a PC version through an official storefront or publisher listing. [Gamereactor]
Quick Recap
Best Value
- ENDLESS REPLAYABILITY: Play as one of 43 historical leaders and wage war by land, sea, and air, conduct diplomacy & espionage, establish religious beliefs, and discover new technologies in your quest to build the most powerful empire the world has ever known.
- HUGE BATTLES: Wars between empires spread across land and sea. Ranged bombardment challenges you to develop clever strategies to guarantee victory on the battlefield.
- DIPLOMACY: Negotiate with some of history’s most cunning rulers, each with a well-crafted plan for victory. City-states present a diplomatic battleground on which the major powers of the world will vie for supremacy.
- RELIGION: Cultivate Great Prophets and create a religion you can customize and enhance.
- ESPIONAGE: Send your spies into foreign cities for surveillance, to steal advanced technologies from your competitors, or to interfere with city-state alliances.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
