Some people may think the top-down gameplay style is “old school,” but there are plenty of games coming out that will invoke it!
#10 Conscript
The Great War was brutal. There are so many lives lost and countless stories to be told of the horrors that happened on the battlefields. Players are stepping into the role of a French soldier in the Battle of Verdun. With your brother MIA, you’re set off to find him. However, the trenches and no man’s land are filled with dangers. Can you navigate this raging battle to keep your home whole?
#9 Age of Mythology: Retold
In September of 2024, we saw the remastered version of Age of Mythology. This is an RTS game that is all about tapping into the different mythos. Players must work to secure their territory and dominate the competition. But as mentioned, we’re not just dealing with a legion of normal soldiers to do your bidding. To protect your lands, you’ll have access to the pantheons. Choose your gods to help you and use their powers to unleash havoc. When the gods are not enough, call upon your monsters, from cyclops and trolls to mummies. Embark on your journey to conquer the lands by force.
#8 Hades 2
Ah, now here’s a top-down title that everyone wants to fully get their hands on. And yes, I know it’s already on Steam Early Access, but some people will want to wait for the game to be fully ready before playing!
Anyway, Hades 2 is the sequel to the hit roguelike title from Supergiant Games. This time around, though, you’re not just trying to escape the underworld; you’re trying to save Hades himself! Why would Zagreus do that? He wouldn’t, but Hades’ daughter would!
With everything you loved about the original game mixed with new characters, heroes, and gods to interact with and get boons from, you’ll have a whole new underworld to enjoy.
#7 Dread Pilots
If you want something that is less “wartime” and more “sci-fi” instead, we’ll happily show you Dread Pilots. But you won’t feel so happy when you play this game because it’s a mind trip that will make you wonder if you can survive within it!
You see, you’re a pilot trapped in a “realm between worlds” where monsters of all kinds are waiting to kill you. You’ll need to think smart and outfit your ship with weapons and defenses to withstand the onslaught coming your way.
Gain allies to ease the burden, and see if you can find a way out of this place!
#6 COMMANDOS: ORIGINS
In wartime, you need heroes, but not all heroes are remembered because their missions were so secret that no one dared talk about them! COMMANDOS: ORIGINS will allow you to see the origins of a unit that helped lead the world to freedom in WWII, and you’ll see how Jack O’Hara met the unit that would change everything.
But since you’re the one commanding these commandos, you’ll need to be smart and tactical with each order you give. You’ll undertake various missions, and each must be thoroughly planned out so you don’t march these warriors to their doom! Do you think you can lead them to victory?
#5 Ara: History Untold
Something that many people love to picture is how they would “rule the world” if they were given the chance. Ara: History Untold is a game that will let you do that in more ways than one. You’ll not only pick a nation and lead it, but you’ll guide the very world through your choices and actions.
You’ll decide what your nation does and doesn’t do. From who they fight to what technologies they study, and more! You get to guide everything and see where it leads. With so many options at your fingertips, you’ll want to play multiple styles to see all that can happen.
#4 Wanderlost
A top-down survival game set during a zombie apocalypse? Sounds like fun! In Wanderlost, you’ll be put into a wilderness area with very little to work with. But you have the chance to grow, expand, and survive by using the resources around you to build a home, get food, and so on.
Start small, and then work your way up so you can endure every wave of zombie and beast that tries to kill you. But you can’t rest in just one area; there are multiple biomes that you can explore to find new resources to make living easier!
Will you survive this apocalypse? Or will you be the next thing for dinner?
#3 Stormgate
When a title claims to be the “future of RTS,” they better back it up, and Stormgate might just do that. The title takes place in the future, where a portal allows monsters to ravage our world. While humanity survived, the remnants are now forced to fight off the monsters once again when they suddenly return.
The reason the team feels the game can be the future of the genre is because it’s a “Social RTS.” That means you can play every mode with friends, including the campaign mode! Plus, you’ll have lots of new challenges due to the game evolving the more it’s played.
So you might want to keep an eye out for this one.
#2 Men of War II
War games are honestly one of the best settings to put the top-down genre because of the nature of war. It’s about going to a battlefield and setting everything up so you can fight the enemy while also taking out their advances before they can overrun you.
In Men of War II, you’ll have one of the deepest RTS experiences possible as the game gives you complete control of your units and the battlefield itself so you can devise deep strategies to defeat your foes with its deep campaign.
Plus, you can go online and see how far you’ll go against other players!
#1 Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
You might remember a certain co-op title with this game’s name. If you do, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is the “single-player version” of that title. Instead of having a group of dwarves delving deep into planets to try and mine resources, you’ll be doing it all on your own! Good luck with that.
The good news is that you’ll get to wield all kinds of weaponry and set up defenses to help you with your quest from world to world. The better you do, the bigger the rewards! But the bigger the rewards, the more dangers you’ll have to face!
Are you up to the challenge?
