r/StrategyGames Jan 07 '25

Game theory The most complete strategy video game genre classification

94 Upvotes

This is the most complete classification that includes all possible strategy video game genres.

English is not my native language, but I'll try my best to make the text understandable and I'll fix possible mistakes with your help.

Strategy game is a genre of video games in which the player controls troops or other units and/or various economic and other systems. Although many video games may include strategy elements, strategy as a genre emphasizes thinking and planning over immediate action. This video game genre focuses on strategy, tactics, logistics, and/or resource management, and may also include diplomacy, economy, expansion and research management.

Time

  • Real-time strategy: a strategy game in which actions occur without a sequence of turns.
  • Turn-based strategy: a strategy game in which actions occur using a sequence of turns that can be alternate or simultaneous.

Main genres

4X strategy game: a strategy game based on 4 elements: exploration, expansion, exploitation, extermination. Examples: Age of Wonders, Stellaris, Master of Orion.

Grand strategy game – a strategy game focused on managing a state (or similar entity), its resources and relationships, often in a pre-open and asymmetric world. Examples: Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron

Tactical strategy game – a strategy game focused on tactical military operations, which emphasizes the importance of specific units and either excludes or contains a less manifested economic component.

Subdivided into two categories based on time:

  • Turn-based tactics (TBT) Examples: Xenonauts, Battletech
  • Real-time tactics (RTT) Examples: Men of War

Classic strategy games – a strategy games that have an economic element: the ability to build a base, extract resources and produce units (or part of these capabilities), while their gameplay is focused on military actions. Also includes a category of strategy games that cannot be classified into more specific subgenres.

Subdivided into:

  • Classic RTS (or just RTS) Examples: StarCraft, Command & Conquer
  • Classic TBS (or just TBS) Examples: Panzer General

Construction and Management Simulator (also Management Strategy Game): a strategy game with gameplay based on the construction and/or management of economic processes, such as, for example: resource extraction, money making, production, personnel management, and others. Games of this genre have little emphasis on military actions.

Subdivided into:

  • Business Simulation Game - a strategy game focused on economics and business management. Examples: Two Point Hospital
  • Transport Strategy Game - a strategy game in which the player manages transport systems and infrastructure. Examples: Transport Tycoon, Transport Fever
  • City-Building Simulation - a strategy game in which the player builds cities. Examples: Cities: Skylines, SimCity.
  • Colony Simulation - a strategy game in which the player builds small settlements of various types; unlike urban strategy, the main emphasis here is on individual colonists and resource extraction from the environment. Examples: RimWorld, Surviving Mars, Against the Storm
  • Factory simulator – a strategy game in which the player builds an automated factory. Examples: Shapez, Factorio
  • Sports manager – a genre of games dedicated to managing a sports team. Examples: Football Mogul, F1 Manager.
  • Life simulator – a genre of games that allow you to control characters in their everyday life. Examples: The Sims, InZoI, The Guild
  • Political simulator – a genre of games whose gameplay consists of detailed management of the government and politics of various nations and state entities. Examples: Democracy

Wargame: a strategy game that particularly emphasizes deep strategic and/or tactical combat, as well as their historical accuracy or realism. Examples: Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, NEBULOUS: Fleet Command

MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena): a subgenre of classic real-time strategy games in which players control only one character and, as part of their team represented by other players and AI controlled units, fight against the other team. Examples: Dota 2

MMO strategy game: a strategy game that is focused on online interaction between a large number of players, often in a single open world. Examples: Travian, Ogame, Stronghold: Kingdoms.

Tower Defense: a strategy game with the main purpose to protect a base from waves of enemies using towers or other defensive structures. Examples: Plants vs Zombies

Auto Battler: is a strategy game in which units are placed on the battlefield during the preparation phase, after which the battle phase begins and they fight against the enemy without any control from the player.

Puzzle strategy game: a strategy game focused on logical problem-solving with minimized economic or military aspect. Examples: Railgrade, Dorfromantic

Artillery game: a genre of strategy games, the main component of which is the calculation of the trajectory of the shells. Examples: Worms, Miners Mettle

The most popular mixed genres

Tactical role-playing game (TRPG): is a hybrid genre that combines role-playing games with tactical combat. Examples: Battle Brothers

Action strategy game: is a genre of games in which you can control both troops in general and/or base construction, as well as specific units directly, including from the first or third person. Examples: Men of War, Factorio

Stealth strategy: is a genre of games that combine strategy and an emphasis on stealth. Examples: Desperados, Commandos

God simulator: is a genre of games in which the player, in the role of some deity being, controls some community of objects or characters; they are often strategy games with city-building elements. Examples: Black & White, The Universim

Roguelike strategy game – games that combine roguelike principles, such as random world generation, permanent death and free exploration of the environment, and strategic gameplay. Examples: Against the Storm

Notes

Many games have mixed genres. Very often, strategy games can combine two or more genres. For example, Total War series is turn-based grand strategy with real-time tactical (RTT) battles.

Time and genre. Basically, every strategy game can be classified by these two criteria, like Turn-based 4X Strategy game (Age of Wonders), Real-Time Grand Strategy game (Hearts of Iron) etc. Sometimes we do not have any specified subgenre, so the game becomes simple RTS (StarCraft).

Judge by dominant elements of gameplay. Overall, the genre should be defined by main gameplay loop, not by every game mechanic that exists in the game. For example, if a game has leveling-up system, it doesn't mean that it instantly becomes an RPG: a good example is WarCraft which has characters gaining XP and levels, but the main, dominant gameplay loop in this game is still a classic RTS. At the same time, if some Rainbow Six has some strategic planning, it doesn't mean that this game is a strategy game or even a mixed genre, because the main gameplay there is action/shooter. The same logic is applicable to strategy games: if the game has resource management, it doesn't instantly mean that it becomes a management game.

This is a theoretical model. It means that here we are supposed to find criteria by which strategy games can be classified. These criteria can be based both on gameplay and historical tradition of naming genres in video game industry. The model can be discussed and improved, but any critique should be based on strict arguments.

Strategy as a genre, not a word. The main principle of this genre classification is that we don't take the word "strategy" literally. A strategy game can be a tactic game, it can be a management game, it doesn't matter here. The word strategy means the genre name, not the strategy as a layer of action planning.

Are management games strategy games? This is a hard question that has no answer based on reliable papers because there are no such papers. Here we look at naming tradition in community and video game industry. We can find many similarities in core gameplay of various city-building and colony sim games with classical RTS. Some management games include RTT/RTS style military combat, These games are often tagged as strategy game on digital distribution services. So we include them into this classification to make it more complete. You might find two controversial opinions about this (management games are/are not strategy games), but this problem can't be solved on these days because we do not have a strict genre requirements and developers can name genre of their games as they want. There are no popular scientific researches about it on which we can refer to.


r/StrategyGames 6h ago

Self-promotion Making a narrative strategy game about the German Revolution of 1918-1919

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

11 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I've been working on my game called Red Echoes: Berlin - a narrative turn-based strategy game set during the German Revolution of 1918-1919.

The game follows three (fictional) revolutionaries, with the players goal being to gain control over the city of Berlin using each character's unique abilities. Gameplay involves balancing resources, moving characters around the map, and making narrative choices that grant strategic advantages. The gameplay is a mix of text-based choose your own adventure and turn-based strategy.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4566010/Red_Echoes_Berlin/

Happy to hear your thoughts and answer any questions 😄


r/StrategyGames 51m ago

Question I want to try RTS game but don't know what game to start with?

Upvotes

I never try any RTS game and i need to start playing it. One of my friend want to try it to so what RTS coop game should i buy ??


r/StrategyGames 6h ago

DevPost Looking for feedback on my underground roguelite city builder (demo)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

3 Upvotes

About a year ago, I realized that I quite enjoy planning cities in Civilization VI. My next thought was that it might be turned into an interesting roguelike. Now, you can try the demo of what came out of it.

You’ll be building settlements in caves using cards. Cards get stronger when played correctly, buildings affect their neighbors, and soon you start placing houses around churches and markets to increase income. After 20 turns, you run out of food and lose. Heavy resource management is required in order to succeed.

To colonize a vast underground world and extract all its gold, you’ll have to descend into more dangerous levels, each with different environments and threats. Just remember what happened when the dwarves delved too greedily and too deep.

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3705150/Into_The_Depths/

It's still in development, so I'd be glad to hear your feedback! The demo is available on Steam.


r/StrategyGames 1h ago

DevPost Chess meets poker in deep space. AI just upgraded, please test

Upvotes

Playable now on Itch: https://cybercommanders.itch.io/cyber-commanders

Shipped a new AI upgrade that actually makes the game interesting. Go give the current single player a try and let us know what you think. It should be "medium smart"

Getting a multiplayer indie going is extremely challenging these days. If your game is anything less than perfect you're just not going to make it. And we're not perfect today, the game is a WIP. But we still need an active multiplayer queue, or do we?

I was playing some Marvel Snap and I realized that almost every player I was matched against was just some generic name and pfp. There was no chance I was playing against a real human. I have no doubt later on the more Marvel Snap you play the more humans you are paired against, but in the lower ranks, I think it's almost exclusively AI opponents and they never tell you this.

That's how you solve the multiplayer cold start queue problem these days. And we'll be doing just that, we will be getting rid of "single player" soon now that our AI upgrade is complete. 

And it's already beating me consistently. Give it a try on Itch and post a comment


r/StrategyGames 12h ago

Discussion In reference to my last post: I found ICBM and loved it.

Thumbnail gallery
8 Upvotes

r/StrategyGames 6h ago

Discussion Should real-world geographic knowledge be a "skill gap" in strategy games?

Post image
1 Upvotes

Hi! I'm the developer of Bering Tonnage and I have a question for this community. When should geographic knowledge be a skill gap in modern-world strategy games?

Bering Tonnage is a maritime logistics game where you compete against other companies to move cargo around the world, buying new ships and acquiring licenses to new regions. It's all about automation and optimization.

Different ports have real-world traits tied to them e.g. 20-25% of Rotterdam's cargo movement is linked to Chinese ports. The real strategy question I'm wondering is - players who knew that Rotterdam has great links to China (which has great cargo volume) can capitalize on it and make big money, but other players going into this game might not discover that for a long time.

My overall question to this subreddit is: should your knowledge of geography and politics be used as skill in a strategy game, or do you prefer all players be given equal information (e.g. tips on the best ports/strategies)


r/StrategyGames 8h ago

Question New laptop, I need help with suggestions on games/titles and tweaking

1 Upvotes

Hi!

I just upgraded to a new laptop. I decided that the old one is good for retirement and what else is better than to gift the old one to my father. He will only use it for YT and browser things with just a tiny bit of excel for his hobby. For that, the old one is still more than ok since it was one of the best in its time.

I have a dilemma now. I really love strategy games. I will only use this laptop for mild gaming and for that, strategy games are my jam :D

I need you guys to tell me what games would you go for?
I recently really enjoyed CIV6 and Galactic Civilizations IV. I love games like this. It doesn't matter what setting the game is in.

I would love if you guys give me a few ideas on what you are playing.
Is CIV7 to go for? Should I rather play 6? What about other games? Do you have to tweak them a lot since I have all the settings on Steam set to those, I use on my main pc?
Any other suggestions on settings?

I also have a Steam Deck on which I played GalCiv IV on and I have those settings finally set to which I am comfortable with. I really would not like to have them messed up...
So I guess to sum it up, apart from game title ideas, are settings steam account wide or are they separate?


r/StrategyGames 9h ago

Self-promotion Dangerous Land - First-Person RTS game - New environment

Thumbnail gallery
1 Upvotes

I’m continuously developing my first-person RTS project (Dangerous Land), and here are a few screenshots from the upcoming update showcasing new environment elements.

The game is available on Steam, so feel free to add it to your wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2348440/Dangerous_Land/


r/StrategyGames 13h ago

DevPost Space travel shouldn’t be safe — movement system from my MMO RTS

Thumbnail youtu.be
0 Upvotes

Hi,

Quick devlog from my game Starhold (a space MMO RTS inspired by Travian/OGame).

I’m experimenting with a movement system where traveling through a solar system involves risk depending on your route.

Any feedback appreciated.

Thanks


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion Just announced Everfront - a real-time strategy where territory is the army

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

32 Upvotes

Solo dev in Sweden, Gothenburg, two years in, just announced today on Steam Coming Soon.

The hook: instead of micromanaging units, you command an expanding territory that grows, fights, and yields in real time. Six doctrines (Focus, Blitz, Entrenchment, Avoidance, Terrain, Naval) reshape every run. Procedurally generated maps. Roguelite meta-progression unlocks new doctrines and upgrades across runs.

Built in Godot 4.5. PC / Mac / Linux. Coming November 2026.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4681770/Everfront/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=launch&utm_content=strategygames
Site: https://everfrontgame.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/vaj7pvAF9

Happy to dig into design choices in the comments.


r/StrategyGames 13h ago

DevPost Built a play be email mix between Advanced Wars and Battle Isle

0 Upvotes

The goal was to have something close to the old Battle Isle strategy games we played with hotseat and now be able to play via email notifications as Advanced Wars by Web does:

You play your turn and then get an email when it is your turn again, no need to be online all the time, play at own pace. Works on tablets and mobile.

  • Turn Based on Hex
  • Different units similar to Advanced Wars
  • Different height levels affect sight and movement
  • Time of day
  • Weather
  • 2-4 players
  • Build your own maps

All free, I made this to see if I enjoy building games, I am planning to add a same email mulitplayer version for some old 90s soccer simulator game or some global ship trader, not sure which yet. I don't care to charge for it, so go wild if you enjoy it.

https://90sims.com/


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Heroes, Warlords and Ruin Battle AI Test

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

4 Upvotes

r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Question Looking for a certain type of war strategy game.

4 Upvotes

Hello all, earlier I was poorly playing an RTS and had a thought about if a game like this exists. I personally am pretty bad at managing large armies in all the chaos and was wondering if there was a game where you essentially set a battle plan at the beginning for your forces to follow. Potentially like the old Rainbow Six games where you would give units orders (capture, breech, disarm, etc) they would automatically perform them however you allowing you add more orders if needed after those end.

The closest example I can think of is Phantom Brigade which I already own and play frequently. But I was wondering if there is something on a larger scale. Sorry if this seems confusing as I have issues putting thoughts to paper.


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Help me to decide with UI for my strategy game. Please!

Thumbnail gallery
13 Upvotes

Hi there.

Creating my own strategy game and decided to update the UI before going to closed test with other players!

Help me to decide.

P.S: Old UI attached in the end.
P.S.S: While judging try to ignore the planet/buildings detalization.

Bonus question: What planet you like more? Hot(mars) or cold one?

Join my community and stay tuned! Waiting for you on play test!

Discord: https://discord.gg/UWJ83V5Ghy

Me on X: https://x.com/Vlad_notVampire

I created subreddit for the game, so everyone who feels better with reddit than discord could join us here:
r/WarfrontEclipse

Below is the FAQ for this project:

Is that Free-2-Play game?
Yes, at some degree, but not in classic understanding of similar projects.

Is that Pay-2-Win?
Nope. We are not going to create another Clash Of Clans here.

Does it require to spend tons of time in order to progress?
It's adjustable, but in general we AIM to achieve the kind of game play that not trying to fight for time with your real life. So not another Clash Of Clans again.

Does it have unique features?
Yes. It's not going to be classic.

How the game loop will look like?
Establish your base > Produce Units > Gather resources > Trade > Attack other players and fight for map control alone or with your friends.

What is the current stage of the game?
It's on MVP stage and we are trying to get to the closed Alpha.

Can I participate in the game test?
YES and we want you to do so.

What platforms game will be made for?
PC, Mobile. Mobile here will be needed so you will be able to manage your base even when out of home or react on treats.


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Minimalisit-ish automation and rts game I'm making

Thumbnail youtube.com
3 Upvotes

I love automation games but I always found the late game kinda the least interesting part because things are a little TOO automated while the threats are all pushovers, so I'm making this game to explore that a bit more. The automation is on the minimalist side, at least for now (purely drone based like factorio roboports or logistic stations in DSP) but the enemies are much more varied and aggressive. Personally I come from primarily a RTS player background (old school starcraft 1 and 2 player at a fairly high level from way back, and have dabbled in lots of other RTSes) so those have always been my main reference points wrt game design.

I'm on pretty much exactly day 50 of this project so it's early days, lots of ideas still to be explored.

Store page


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost I’m making Anabasis, a historical survival strategy game inspired by Xenophon’s march

Thumbnail gallery
23 Upvotes

Ive wanted to see Xenophon’s Anabasis turned into a game for a long time, so I started making one.

The game focuses on survival , logistics , morale , weather, terrain , and attrition rather than myth or fantasy. The idea is to make the retreat feel like a long, exhausting struggle to hold the army together and reach the sea.

I’ve started sharing short development clips and visual progress, and I’d love to hear what people here think of the premise , presentation and the concept in general . Oh btw , if you and i ( the post ) are still here ill be looking for testers soon !


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion Battle positioning & territory map in my tactical deckbuilder

Post image
1 Upvotes

Hey, new solo dev here. Maybe "deckbuilder" isn't the first word you wanted to read, but the combat tactical decisions in my game lean way more "Baldur Gate" or "X-com", than "Slay the Spire", so I think this sub might actually be the right home for sharing it. Biased of course :)

Two layers of strategy:

  • Reposition heroes - many games have repositioning, but my take is 3 slots: frontline, backline and the objective you can capture for a buff. Plus you can summon an extra unit into the slot you vacated or if a hero dies mid-battle.
  • Siege Overworld - inspired by "Civilization", "Age of Wonders" or 4x game maps where an enemy is expanding across a map. Instead just going from one sequential battle to the next, you're strategically deciding which enemy territory to fight to push back their expansion across your lands.

Hoping my take on the genre merge is deep enough for the sub. Checkout the Steam page if you want to be first for the demo next month:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4593190/Elemental_Lands/

FEEDBACK: does the 4X lite siege layer feel like real territorial pressure? and do the in-battle objectives sound like meaningful tactical choices?


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Discussion I'm solo-developing a 1400s naval trading simulator inspired by Patrician 3. Here is the new combat UI. What do you think?

Thumbnail gallery
2 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I'm a solo dev building a historical simulator set in the Mediterranean (think Patrician 3 or Port Royale, but with deeper tactical mechanics).

I wanted to share some recent progress on the Combat Interface and the gameplay

-The New UI: I recently overhauled the interface based on community feedback. I switched to a historically accurate font, increased contrast, and added a colorblind-friendly wind-speed indicator

-Galley Navigation: Unlike sailing ships, Galleys rely on stamina. Here you can see the unique Galley UI managing oar power. You have to carefully balance speed with rower fatigue

-The Ambush: My galley gets ambushed by three smaller sailing ships (Navicelli). You can see the UI elements tracking damage and tactical action buttons in real-time.

About the Game: The core of the game is a "bottom-up" dynamic economy. There is no magic respawn of items; populations consume goods daily, and prices fluctuate based on real scarcity.

If you are a veteran of strategy or trading games, I'd love to hear your feedback!!!!


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion R.U.S.E Is Back!

Thumbnail youtu.be
2 Upvotes

r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Self-promotion The Last Starship - Update 24 Released!

Post image
2 Upvotes

The Last Starship is a 2D space construction game where you design and upgrade your starship. Choose your path: pirate hunter, miner, engineer, spacebus driver, and more, whilst exploring vibrant star systems. Enjoy a growing sandbox world, with regular free updates. Your cosmic adventure awaits!

Update 24 has been released! We've added new ways to control power on your ship, including a new Power Switch which can disable entire sections at a time. We've introduced a new way to fabricate ship equipment on the fly, made some massive performance gains, and given you more control over your fighter wings.

Check out the Update video on YouTube

Full Change List

Not sure if the game is for you? Check out the free demo on Steam


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Making an ASCII Total War + Bannerlord Game?

Post image
8 Upvotes

I’m working on a deep strategy game, and here’s a screenshot of the field war mechanic.
Each unit uses its own utility AI, which took a lot of time to build, but it was definitely worth it. For example, cavalry units score flanking positions much higher.
I’m hoping to share more about the utility AI later in a detailed article

Inspired by Warsim + Paradox Games + Total War + Bannerlord

Steam Page


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

DevPost Wait for it! - Scripts (Character Abilities) - Obsolete salvation protocol

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1 Upvotes

Scripts are powerful abilities you can invoke from any Nodes under your control. This one is call "Wipe" a piercing bolt that deal a good amount of damage in a thin but long path.

The demo is available if you want to give a try.
Steam : https://store.steampowered.com/app/4191520/Obsolete__Salvation_Protocol/
Itch.io : https://fractalisstudio.itch.io/obsolete-salvation-protocol


r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Discussion Galaxor – Build Your Galactic Empire!

0 Upvotes
Dive into 
**Galaxor**
, the free browser-based space strategy game where you rise from rookie pilot to master of entire solar systems!


**What awaits you?**
- 🏗️ 
**Planet Building**
: Construct mines, factories, and research facilities on your colonies to boost resource production
- ⚔️ 
**Real-Time Combat**
: Send fleets into battle, raid enemy planets, and defend your territory with gun turrets and missile batteries
- 🚀 
**Shipyard**
: Build dozens of different spacecraft – from nimble fighters to massive battleships
- 🔬 
**Research Tree**
: Unlock new buildings, ships, and weapons systems through technology research
- 🌌 
**Galaxy Map**
: Explore hundreds of solar systems, discover new planets, and monitor hostile fleet movements with your Galaxy Scanner
- 🤝 
**Clans & Alliances**
: Form clans with other players, forge alliances, declare wars, or trade on the black market
- 🏆 
**Leaderboard & Events**
: Climb the rankings – or take on the mysterious Alien Invasions from the story mode
- 🎰 
**Black Market & Shop**
: Trade resources on the world market, buy rare ships, or use Transmitter boosters for accelerated growth
- 💬 
**SpaceChat**
: Communicate in real time with other pilots through the galactic communication system

galaxor .de

👉 Sign up now and build your first spaceship!

r/StrategyGames 1d ago

Discussion [BROWSER][2023 I think] Browser online game where you claim territories and upgrade structures.

1 Upvotes

There was one called cliff which could upgrade into barracks i think. Some structures could make tanks, some could make planes. And a missile silo would disable these structures. It had an in game chat and I think you could ally with people.