The PC is home to just about every type of video game under the sun, but few are as quintessentially PC as strategy games.
Because it's such a popular (and important) type of game for the platform, and because I've spent way too much time playing them over the past few years, I thought I'd help folks out by putting together a list of what I consider to be the very best strategy games for the very best system to play them on.
So what counts as a strategy game? That's a good question. One that, thanks to video gaming's ceaseless drive to remove all meaning from its genre names, we may never be able to settle on. The lines blur so much between "strategy" and "RTS" and "grand strategy" and "management" and "simulation" that I've tried to restrict this list to games that, well, most people would simply agree (through a gut feeling) were OK with being called "strategy games".
Here, then, are the best games to play if you feel like taking charge of something, ruining an economy and/or driving an army across the fields of your enemies.
Note: This feature was originally published on April 2016. The list has been updated in September 2019 with new additions and honourable mentions.
Civilization V
What more can I say? A titan in the field, it stands as not just the best Civilization game, but one of the best games ever released on the PC. Whatever your strategic cup of tea, be it war, diplomacy or exploration, Civilization V has you covered.
And yes, I know that Civilization VI is out now and is very good, but I think its obsession with yields and its lesser AI means it can't quite match the complete package of its predecessor.
Crusader Kings II
While most strategy games will have you manage wars and economies, Crusader Kings II does more. It also has you manage the heart. When a game can marry the traditional strategic concerns of running a medieval Kingdom with stuff like affairs, assassinations and, well, marriage, it deserves its place in the pantheon of greats.
Endless Legend
On the one hand, it's a lot like Civilization! On the other, it's one of the freshest strategy games on the market, building on Civ's foundations with a lot of cool, new and interesting ideas, from its slick user interface to the way its fiction results in some absolutely insane faction characteristics. It's also great to see a strategy game with a genuine sense of style.
Company of Heroes
For me, the RTS genre died in 2006. Not from a cataclysmic event, but because that's the year Company of Heroes was released and perfected the formula, basically saying "shut it down, we don't need any more of these." No game---even it's own drab sequel---has come close to matching it since. Replacing frantic mouse-clicking and boring build orders with a constant need for actual tactics, its slower pace and more realistic battlefield conditions mean that even ten years on this is still an absolute classic.
Total War: Shogun 2
The Total War series remains a pillar of PC strategy gaming, and while Empire is my personal favourite, I tend to recommend Shogun 2 first. It's more functional and focused than the Total War games before (or since), and it still looks absolutely gorgeous. Bonus: its big expansion, Fall of the Samurai, is probably the best thing in the entire Total War series.
Homeworld
The art. The music. The way it confronted a difficult control challenge---moving around a fleet of ships in empty 3D space---and absolutely nailed it. The recent remakes really only touched the sound and visuals, because everything else about Homeworld remains almost perfect.
Panzer Corps
Inspired by the classic Panzer General, Panzer Corps is a (relatively) simple turn-based game that still manages to pack an amazing amount of depth (and content) away. If you want to fight the entirety of the Second World War but don't want to spend hours learning complex rules or menus, this is the game for you.
World in Conflict
This may seem a surprising choice, but World in Conflict is a very good strategy game. It picks a spot in the genre---somewhere between Blizzard's chaotic immediacy and Total War's big-map tactics---and nails it, constantly taxing both your small-scale reactions and broader strategic concerns. It's also got a weirdly goofy, lovable feel to it you don't often get in this most serious of genres, from its over-the-top adherence to its 1989 setting to Alec Baldwin's "Jack Donaghy in fatigues" campaign narration.
XCOM 2
I didn't think XCOM 2 had any wiggle room left to improve on the first game. How wrong I was. Turns out that by adding stealth/visibility systems, honing the strategic metagame and greatly increasing the cinematic flair of the game you can make something great greater.
Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
I don't think any game, even up to the contemporary StarCraft II and Deserts of Kharak, has been able to excel at the traditional RTS model---mine, build and deploy---better than Age of Kings. The scale of the maps, and the armies you could build, and the emphasis on fortifications...it all just came together perfectly. If you're curious, the 2013 HD remake is nice and faithful.
Hearts of Iron IV
Let Captains and Colonels handle the small-scale stuff. Hearts of Iron IV puts you in command of an entire nation's war effort, from the production of weaponry to the deployment of armies. It's an intentional logistical nightmare, and once tamed can produce some of the most rewarding experiences in all of video games, especially with its endless variations of alternate history.
Honorable Mentions
I love these games, and think they're all excellent (and representative of different types of strategy game), but they just couldn't quite make the cut.
StarCraft II, The Banner Saga, Endless Space 2, Alpha Centauri, Command & Conquer Red Alert, WarCraft III, Europa Universalis IV & Sid Meier's Colonization.