Best Base Building

RimWorld is a sci-fi colony simulator that focuses on the stories of the people who inhabit it. While it features complex base building and resource management, its core strength lies in its AI-driven 'storyteller' system which generates unpredictable events. Players must manage everything from psyc...

XCOM 2 remains a benchmark for turn-based tactical combat, tasking players with leading a global resistance against an alien occupation. The games permadeath system creates intense pressure and meaningful consequences for every decision. Base building, research, and soldier customization add layers...

Stationeers is a space station construction and management simulation game developed and published by RocketWerkz, the studio founded by Dean Hall. It entered early access on Steam in 2017. The game requires players to manually manage atmospheric gases, electrical grids, and thermal regulation.

No Man's Sky has undergone a remarkable transformation since its initial release. Now boasting a vast, procedurally generated universe to explore, players can gather resources, craft equipment, build bases, and engage in space combat. The game's constant updates have added significant depth and cont...

Dark Reign: The Future of War is a 1997 real-time strategy title from Activision. It’s notable for pioneering complex unit behaviors and detailed environmental interactions within the RTS genre. The game offers strategic depth appealing to players interested in classic sci-fi combat scenarios and ba...

Seven Kingdoms: Ancient Adversaries is a real-time strategy game released in 1998. It recreates the conflicts between ancient civilizations – primarily focusing on Roman and Persian empires – demanding strategic base building and resource management. The game’s notable historical setting and complex...

Godsworn is a 2024 early-access RTS by Thunderoak Interactive, notable for combining classic base building with heroes and Baltic myth in cooperative campaigns.

Imperium Galactica II is a classic real-time strategy title from 1999. Players manage an interstellar empire through strategic base building, intense space battles, and tactical ground combat across a vast, evolving galaxy. The game’s complexity and scope offer a challenging experience for strategy...

Valhalla takes the RPG formula of Origins and Odyssey to England during the Viking Age. It features a massive or map, deep character progression, and a unique base-building mechanic where players establish their own settlement. While it is much larger in scope than previous titles, it offers incredi...

Palworld is a multiplayer, open-world survival and crafting game where players collect mysterious creatures called 'Pals' to fight, build, farm, and work in factories. Dubbed 'Pokémon with guns,' it blends creature collection with base management, exploration, and combat. This paid early-access titl...

Released in 2014 by Corroding Games, this indie real-time strategy game is notable for its Total Annihilation-inspired gameplay and robust cross-platform multiplayer features.

Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour is an expansion pack for the real-time strategy game Generals, released in 2003 by EA Los Angeles. It expands upon the modern warfare mechanics of the base game by introducing nine specialized generals across the USA, China, and GLA factions. The expansion als...

Age of Empires IV revitalizes the classic RTS formula with modern graphics and refined mechanics. It features distinct civilizations with unique units and technologies, set across various historical periods. The game balances traditional base building and resource management with large-scale tactica...

Tooth and Tail is a real-time strategy game developed by Pocketwatch Games, an independent studio led by designer Andy Schatz, and released in 2017. The game is notable for its streamlined control scheme, designed to make the RTS genre accessible with a gamepad using a single button and a directiona...

Conquest: Frontier Wars is a 2001 space RTS by Fever Pitch Studios, notable for linking star systems through wormholes and making supply lines central to combat.

9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far is Petroglyph's 2024 voxel-styled RTS, notable for classic base building, destructible maps, and cooperative campaign play.

Surviving Mars tasks players with establishing a self-sufficient colony on the red planet. The game combines city building with resource management and survival elements, requiring careful planning and adaptation to harsh Martian conditions. Procedural generation ensures each playthrough is unique,...

Littlewargame is a browser-based real-time strategy game developed by a small indie team, noted for its retro pixel-art style and free online multiplayer.

Machines at War 3 is a real-time strategy game developed by Isotope 244, notable for its massive procedurally generated maps and sci-fi unit battles.

Haegemonia: Legions of Iron is a space-based real-time strategy video game developed by the Hungarian studio Digital Reality and released in 2002. Its campaign follows conflict and political consolidation within the Solar System before expanding into interstellar exploration, while play combines fle...

Metal Fatigue is a real-time strategy game developed by Zono and released in 2000. It is distinguished by its simultaneous combat across three parallel layers: the orbital, surface, and underground levels. Players control one of three warring megacorporations, managing resources and building customi...

Diplomacy is Not an Option is an indie real-time strategy game developed by Door 407 that blends city-building mechanics with large-scale tower defense. Players are tasked with constructing and managing a medieval settlement while preparing for massive, relentless waves of enemy forces. The core gam...

Land Air Sea Warfare is a real-time strategy game developed by Isotope 244, distinguished by its massive cross-platform battles across multiple terrains.

KeeperRL is a dungeon-building roguelike game created by Michal Brzozowski that combines base management with turn-based tactical combat. Inspired by the Dungeon Keeper series, the player assumes the role of an evil wizard tasked with constructing an underground fortress, recruiting monsters, and re...

They Are Billions is a challenging real-time strategy game where players build and defend colonies against hordes of zombies. The game features a unique steampunk setting and a focus on base-building and resource management. Players must strategically position defenses and manage resources to surviv...

Dark Reign 2 is a real-time strategy game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by Activision in 2000. It is a prequel to the 1997 game Dark Reign and was built on a full 3D engine, departing from the isometric 2D perspective of its predecessor. The game features two factions—the Jovian Detent...

Loria is a real-time strategy game developed by a small indie team, heavily inspired by classic fantasy RTS titles and featuring a dedicated map editor.

KKND2: Krossfire is a 1998 real-time strategy video game developed by Beam Software as a sequel to Krush, Kill 'n' Destroy. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, it continues the conflict between the human Survivors and the mutated Evolved while adding the Series 9, a faction of technologically advanced...

Developed by Slipgate Ironworks and published by THQ Nordic, Tempest Rising is an upcoming real-time strategy game heavily inspired by the classic Command & Conquer.