What Are The Best Free Strategy Games?

The games on this list aren’t just good because they are free – they are polished, competitive games that offer interesting strategic challenges.

 Many of these games are online, and you can test your strategies against the ultimate opponent: another person. 

After hundreds of hours developing your favorite strategy and exploring all that these games have to offer, you will marvel even more at their nonexistent price tag.  

11.  Zero-K

Zero-K Gameplay

Zero-K is a classic RTS game with over 100 units, a handful of different PvP game types, and a horde mode where you fight off waves of enemies with other players.  Meet the enemy on land with powerful mech units, fight for air supremacy with jet fighters, or rule the waves with massive battleships.  The environment is completely moldable, with the ability to carve channels of water into the land to give your navy an advantage.  Play a campaign set during the end of the universe and win the last great war of the galaxy, or hop online and play exciting 1v1 matches against real opponents.

Rule the Waves:  Navies can become extremely powerful, and new water channels can be carved to give your ships greater mobility.

Classic RTS Style:  Manage your economy and micro your units to gain every kind of advantage, and remember: never stop building units. 

10. Conqueror's Blade

Conqueror's Blade Gameplay

Conqueror's Blade is a medieval-period strategy game that gives you tactical control of units and heroes struggling to dominate a unique continent of war.  Play as one of ten commanders from different cultures and lead your army agaisnt the castle walls of other players.  Conduct the expansion of your empire as you trade with other factions and carve out a small empire in the midst of a chaotic MMO battlescape.  Invest in fortifying your home castle, which can be defended from a superior force by a few brave heroes.  Defend a choke point against a wave of enemies with your swords and crossbows, scale the ramparts of a well-guarded archer tower, or swing your cavalry around the rear of the enemy lines to smash their exposed flanks.  With diverse unit features and a dynamic campaign map, this game has everything a budding warlord could hope for.

Heroes Wanted:  Lead your troops to victory with the might of your heroes and a good plan of attack.

Empire Expansion:  Struggle to expand your borders against empires controlled by people from around the world.

Play Conqueror's Blade for Free:  https://conquerorsblade.com/homepage

9.  Call to Arms

Call to Arms Gameplay

Call to Arms is a seamless fusion of Real Time Strategy and First Person Shooter gaming.  Command a platoon of Rangers into a defensive position in 3rd person, then switch to FPS mode and gun down the enemy assault.  Take cover with your squad of navy seals on the high ground and then manually throw a grenade into the enemy building.  Commandeer a tank and play in “armor” mode with your friends and blow everything around you to smithereens.  This is a winning combination, and provides the strategy of an RTS with the pure fun of FPS gameplay.

FPS + RTS:  Switch seamlessly between controlling whole squads of men to controlling one solider in order to establish yourself as the dominant force on the battlefield.

Armor Mode: Hop into tanks and duke it out across modern battlefields.

Play Call to Arms For Free:  https://store.steampowered.com/app/302670/Call_to_Arms/

8. Atlas Reactor

Atlas Reactor Gameplay

Join a team of real players as you face off 4v4 in this turn based tactical battle game.  Gameplay is divided into the Decision phase, where the team plans their moves, and the Resolution phase, in which every character enacts their moves simultaneously. Embrace the chaos and expect the unexpected, for you may be walking into an enemy trap.  Destroying an enemy piece will take cunning, and use of the different phases to anticipate or deflect enemy moves.  The rounds go quick, and the cast of characters is colorful and diverse, with paladin-like mechs, agile ninjas and beastly animals. 

All at Once:  Missiles, lasers, and swords all cut through the scene simultaneously as a vicious melee comes down to the wire.

Unique Characters and Abilities:  Atlas Reactor features a cast of original characters and unique classes such as digital a sorceress and a robo-ronin.

Play Atlas Reactor For Free:  https://www.atlasreactorgame.com/en/

7.  Starcraft 2

Starcraft 2 Campaign Gameplay

Starcraft 2 is an RTS that helped define the RTS genre.  Choose from the Terran, Zerg, or Protoss races and face off in a variety of different PvP modes or play through the campaign and halt the encroaching doom of the Zerg hordes.  Starcraft 2 has achieved good competitive balance between the races after 3 expansions and dozens of unit changes.  Supplement your Terran marines with exciting mech units and powerful missiles, overwhelm your opponents with swarms of zerglings, or rely on the powerful psionic abilities of the Protoss to win.  The players, tournaments, and stories from Starcraft 2 are some of the best in esports - and all you have to do to participate in this legendary game is download the game on the Blizzard website.  

Base Building:  The structure of your base will determine what units you can build.  But watch out!  Never leave them undefended to enemy raids.

Unique Races:  Play through the campaigns of the three different races and choose your favorite to bring with you into PvP combat.

Play Starcraft 2 For Free:  https://starcraft2.com/en-us/

6.  UFO Online: Invasion

UFO Online: Invasion Gameplay

Fight aliens, and participate in exciting clan wars in this MMORPG that uses simultaneous turn based combat phases to efficiently resolve hundreds of player actions.  Join players from around the world online as you travel the wastes of an apocalyptic world reeling with zombies in the wake of an alien invasion. The bleak setting enhances the feeling of desperation, and every kill is a thrilling encounter with the grotesque.  Save the world from the festering remains of a devastating UFO invasion, or indulge in the chaos and fight other humans in devastating clan wars.

Simultaneous turn-based combat:  consider each move carefully, for the enemy will move with your characters and anticipate your most likely route.

Massive Multiplayer Online:  Join other players as you exterminate the alien menace, or player your own way as a peaceful trader.

Play UFO Online: Invasion For Free:  https://store.steampowered.com/app/442810/UFO_Online_Invasion/

5.  Magic the Gathering Arena

Magic the Gathering Arena Gameplay

Magic the Gathering: Arena is a digital adaptation of the classic Magic: the Gathering card game.  Face off against real players, build your online decks with in-game achievements and booster packs, and watch the monsters and abilities of Magic come to life on screen.  Every card comes with its own unique art and flavor text.  Watch your enemy’s life counter chip away as you overrun your opponent’s magical monsters, and use the cunning strategies from the real Magic card game to best your opponent.   This is no longer a simple card game, but an ancient battle where mystic powers are channeled through beautiful cards.

Card Game Pyrotechnics:  Experience the abilities, monsters, and environments of Magic cards like never before with Magic the Gathering Arena.

New Cards and Abilities:  Arena comes with new cards and brings them to life in dazzling fashion.

Play Magic the Gathering Arena For Free:  https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena

4. Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms

Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms Gameplay
Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms combines action, adventure, and role-play in a free to play clicker game with actual strategy.  Follow a DnD-type narrative as you go questing, picking up characters as you move through a quest chain that offers interesting decisions and action-packed battles.  Pick up new warriors and level them to outrageous power levels, and follow a narrative that rivals the best DnD storylines.  This is an idle management strategy game, and so for the most part you administer weapons and supplies and level up while you watch your heroes spill blood on their quest. But it is also a clicker game, and once in a while your characters might need a few clicks from you to dispose of enemies quicker. 

A Merry Band of Warriors:  Follow a fun and exciting story as your characters level up on their way to domination, with many role play and DnD driving the core gameplay.

A Complete World:  Interact with the world map to visit unique sights and keep your party satisfied with loot.

Play Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms For Free: http://dnd.wizards.com/products/digital-games/mobiletablet-pcmac/idle-ch...

3.  Guild Quest

Guild Quest Gameplay

Guild Quest is a guild questing strategy game perfect for playing on your second screen or in the background of other games.  Control a mob of loyal “guildians” and send them on quests of your own making to collect gold and increase your renown.  The art style is unique, with pencil-drawn maps and characters that provide a quaint charm to the animations.  Go questing often and return to your roost to reap the benefits of your haul.  Search for buried treasure on far away coves or raid orc villages in bloody exchanges to establish your guild as the dominant force on the island.  Then, move on to the next island and go questing all over again.

Quest Hopping:  There are never enough quests to do, and your guild will clamor for more gold and resources in order to be the absolute best.

Upgrade Everything: Your guild fighters will continue questing while you are away, and will need to be upgraded when you log in again to maximize efficiency.

Play Guild Quest For Free:  https://store.steampowered.com/app/547680/Guild_Quest/

2.  Gwent

Gwent Gameplay

Originally conceived as a side game for The Witcher 3, Gwent is a turn-based card game that can be played against real players.  Choose a deck based on the major powers of the Witcher universe, including the martial Nilfgaardians, the elves of the Scoia’tael, the sturdy Northern Realms, the frenzied Vikings of Skelliege, and the unrelenting fury of the Monster deck.  Play a traditional match of Gwent, or enter an arena mode and play with a randomized deck.  Field armies of siege weapons, infantry, and heroes from the Witcher series to overwhelm your opponent’s hand.  Collect that werewolf bounty later: there is Gwent to be played. 

Torch the Opposition:  Build your deck as you carve up opponents and enjoy a Gwent game far more in depth and polished than the one from the Witcher 3.

Collect Them All:  The fun and joy of collecting all the cards and building the best deck possible will keep you playing round after round.

Play Gwent For Free:  https://www.playgwent.com/en

1.  Realm Grinder

Realm Grinder Gameplay

Forge your kingdom from the ground up in this massive idle RPG strategy game.  Starting from a single farm, harness the resources of your land to forge a legitimate kingdom guarded by spells, armies, and defensive buildings.  There are many ways to play: join the forces of evil and blanket the lands with your goblins, or fight the good fight with the traditional heroes.  If you are patient enough to make it to the late game, your city will thrive with the addition of late game techs, excavations of nearby ruins, and unique events that give unexpected powerups. Establish your hegemony through the fury of your clicks and relax as your tiny village grows into your own private empire.

It Takes a Village:  Realm Grinder turns into a full-blown city sim with hundreds of unique buildings and citizens.

Choose your Alignment:  Fight for the forces of good or for evil, each offering different bonuses and play styles, and see your influence cover the world. 

Play Realm Grinder For Free:  https://store.steampowered.com/app/610080/Realm_Grinder/

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