10 Strategy Games Designed for Players Who Love Getting Lost

Strategy games are all about executing perfect strategies that see you outwitting your opponents after a tense back-and-forth of strategic handshakes. But in my opinion, a great strategy game is one that you can truly get lost in. This is a strategy game that gives you a wide variety of tools to play with, letting you experiment with different strategies and win conditions to ensure that each match is different.

It's also one with a unique setting that lives up to its power fantasy. Whether that’s being a military general of a medieval army, or a commander of a space fleet.

Thankfully, there are plenty of standout strategy games that scratch this itch. That’s why, for today, we’ll be looking at 10 strategy games for players on the hunt for titles to get lost in.

10 XCOM 2

Choices That Last Your Entire Campaign

For most strategy games, seeing your decisions spiral into a clever win by outwitting your opponent or leaving your forces devastated is the fun of the genre, and XCOM takes it to an emotional extreme.

In XCOM 2, Earth is now officially occupied by alien rulers, making it your responsibility to run strike-force missions and bolster the resistance. Throughout your campaign, if you lose an operative, they're gone for good. That means if you solely invest in a squad of elite operatives and you get routed, your entire playthrough is over. If you also spec into a suboptimal build, you can also land yourself in hot water.

Of course, if you truly don't want to lose your favorite team, you could always save scum, but believe me when I say it's better to resist that temptation. XCOM 2 even gives you a way to lose the opportunity to do so in its Iron Man Mode, which locks you into a single save that you can't tamper with.

With so many build paths available (and so many ways for it to go wrong), it's understandable why players keep getting hooked on the game, running it back again and again.

9 Midnight Suns

XCOM Meets the Marvel Universe

Midnight Suns scratches all the right itches for me. An XCOM game set in a Marvel storyline focused on mystical villains and companions? Sign me up. The cherry on top is that you also get to form deep bonds with your companions throughout your playthrough, making it too easy to get hooked in the downtime between the actual strategy part of the game.

Speaking of strategy, while the game isn't as in-depth as XCOM, there's still plenty of variety in strategic options here. You'll get to bring in a squad of three operatives, which will usually be your playable OC, a support character, and a mysterious third slot depending on what build you're running. I, personally, am a fan of bringing in Doctor Strange, Hunter and then rotating between Ghost Rider or Magik. But there's really plenty of incentive to shake up your squad either way.

Throw in the several DLC characters, and there's plenty of variety in how you build the roster that'll keep you coming back for more.

8 Slay The Spire 2

A Refinement On A Solid Foundation

The first Slay the Spire was already one of the best deckbuilding roguelites out there. Which is why this year's sequel is all the more impressive, as it takes everything you loved about the first game and impressively iterates on it.

This new iteration of the game keeps the core experience while making changes to its Enchantments and Relics, and it keeps things fresh by introducing randomized biomes so you're never too comfy from the get-go. The devs also took out the Watcher from the roster of characters you can play, but added the Necrobinder and the Regent, who are stellar welcomes.

But arguably the biggest addition is that Slay the Spire 2 added co-op, letting up to four players attempt a run together. Do some bosses turn into damage sponges? A little bit, but with a team of four optimizing the best strategy they can, you can easily overcome the beefiest of health bars. Plus, with all the new variables added, it's all too easy to keep attempting run after run until you notice the birds chirping the next morning.

7 Darkest Dungeon

The Ultimate Stress Test

Darkest Dungeon isn't for everyone. It's a game that, in many ways, dares you to keep playing it as it introduces more random variables that are often obstacles you have to overcome or work around. Recruit a useful character? Congrats, they've developed a negative quirk which could end up accidentally wiping your party on your next expedition.

What keeps players coming back is its oppressive atmosphere and art design. The gameplay itself is solid once you wrap your head around it and learn many different strategies to help manage your characters' stress levels, quirks, and overall RNG throughout the game. But once you do, conquering this game can feel like climbing a mountain, but with your 200 IQ brain.

6 Crusader Kings 3

Follow Your Bloodline

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To say Crusader Kings' reputation precedes it would be an understatement, but after starting up one campaign, it doesn't take long to learn why. Unlike other history-focused strategy games, Crusader Kings doesn't follow one set era. Instead, it lets players follow an entire bloodline, letting you control and steer your very own dynasty throughout different historical eras.

Starting all the way from the Middle Ages, if you're a skilled (and often, morally dubious) enough player, you'll be able to keep your lineage alive for millennia. This usually involves removing potential rivals, stocking up your gold reserves, and, of course, getting into less-than-conventional marriages (to put it lightly).

It's fair to say there aren't many immersive strategy games quite like this, and it's likely because Crusader Kings fills a niche so well that players aren't in demand for anything besides it.

5 Total War: Warhammer 3

From Tabletop to Video Games

The Warhammer franchise is loaded with all kinds of games, but if you're looking for an experience to match the iconic tabletop game, you can't get better than Total War: Warhammer 3.

Much like the tabletop game, this real-time strategy game lets you control your dream army spread across an expansive campaign, which lets you duke it out on incredibly detailed maps. The more battles you win, the larger your empire grows, and the stronger your recruitable units become.

Each faction is fairly distinct as well, and isn't your usual palette swap with different monsters. Each faction opts for different strategies, unique economies, magic systems and winning conditions. Which, if you're a strategy game fanatic, is more than enough to keep you hooked while trying to find the most optimal ways to win and counter each faction.

4 Manor Lords

Come For The Strategy Game, Stay For The Townbuilding

It's no surprise that city-building strategy games would lend themselves to a captivating gameplay loop, but Manor Lords may be the most in-depth medieval builder yet.

In the game, you get to experience the full responsibility of being a medieval lord. To help with that immersion, the game goes all in on faithfully recreating its setting, from the structures you can build, to the peasants who inhabit your city. As you can expect, they'll need round-the-clock care to help survive enduring threats like enemy armies, disease, and changing weather conditions.

This is all before the actual combat part of the game, which features a real-time battle mode like Total War: Warhammer 3. In-between caring for the town, you'll need to rally your militia, hire mercenaries to fill your ranks, deal with morale fatigue, and consider your battle strategies. So, if you're someone with a passion for admin and overoptimizing your cities, than Manor Lords is sure to become a rewarding time sink.

3 Age of Mythology

A Must-Play For Mythology Lovers

Age of Mythology is a tremendous strategy game which lets you control a variety of mythological armies from many different pantheons throughout history. Not only do you get to control Norse or Greek soldiers, but you'll also get to add heroes and magical units to your armies like Odysseus or Frost Giants.

Growing up as a mythology head, this game was everything. Even the campaign was a treat, taking you through several different regions and letting you experience critical moments in mythology, like Ragnarök or the Fall of Troy. Getting into lobbies with online players or bots was also really engaging. Taking the time to understand how each faction played battles, and how to exploit their strengths and weaknesses, made for a really engaging gameplay loop, which isn't surprising given how passionate the player base is.

If you love mythology, then this game is an absolute must-play.

2 Stellaris

An Iconic Sci-Fi Strategy Game

The strategy game genre is no stranger to featuring fantastic sci-fi games, but if you ask me, Stellaris might be one of the best there is. This game lets players amass their own empire of ships to scout out new galaxies, explore ancient ruins, and engage in grandiose space battles.

You first start out as a fledgling civilization, and you'll get to design your species, their ethics and origins before exploring the great unknown regions of space. As you play, your strategic decisions also make for narrative beats in the game. If you take on a more pacifistic approach, this can lead to the establishment of federations and marking your cultural footprint in the universe. Alternatively, if you decide to become a warmonger, the universe will follow and become a massive war-zone.

Throw in the endless amounts of customization, a mesmerizing atmosphere, and a delightful slow-burn, and you're bound to get hooked into your campaign for weeks.

1 Sid Meier's Civilization 7

A Modern Masterpiece

When I think of the most defining strategy game of this generation, my mind goes to Civilization 7. Unlike in previous entries, where you'd pick one empire to take through multiple civilizations, you can now pick a new civilization at the start of each age during a campaign. This starts in the Antiquity Age, moving through to Exploration and finally landing in the Modern era.

Like any great strategy game, Civilization 7 is a masterclass in making you take "just one more turn" before realising you've played through an entire match for hours on end.

The devs have consistently listened to player feedback and updated the game as well. Just this year, the devs released the Test of Time update, making these ages optional and letting you start as any civilization in any age. With so many updates and variety in builds, eras, and commanders, it's fair to say there's enough content here to keep you satisfied for years if you wanted.