While some consideration was given to historical importance, the main factor was how enticing each game would be to pick up and play irresponsibly into the wee hours of the morning, right here and now. This list also favors games that still hold up and are fun to play today over those that are considered definitive, innovative, or trend-setting.
Effort was taken to include a variety of subgenres of strategy as well, even though those can sometimes be difficult to compare to one another. As Sid Meier would say, these games present a series of interesting choices that can lead you to defeat or triumph. In terms of classification, this list contains games in which strategy is the primary concern - or at least one of a handful of primary concerns. After much consideration, they’ve been narrowed down to the best of the best.
Even if we’re just limiting ourselves to the digital variety, there are dozens and dozens of RTSes, 4Xes, wargames, and grand strategy paragons worthy of high praise.
What are the best strategy games? It’s a daunting question to answer, with the genre spanning back almost as long as humans have been playing games.
