Summary
There are many sub-genres of strategy games, from grand strategy to RTS, deck builders, city builders, and more. As long as there’s strategic depth and challenges to overcome that test players' ability to engage with its systems, then a strategy game can offer many hours of intellect-testing gameplay.
When it comes to free-to-play games, though, many focus on multiplayer content. Single-player modes in these games are often limited to short tutorial sections. With a little help, it’s possible to findfree strategy gameswith good single-player offerings. All of these games offer a good single-player experience across a variety of strategy sub-genres.
8Freeciv
Open Source Empire Builder
Freecivis an open-source project that aims for similar empire-building gameplay to the earlierCivilizationgames. The turn-basedgrand strategy gamecan be played with up to 126 other players online or entirely against AI opponents for single-player purposes. The game features 550 nations and 50 playable units, with premade campaign and scenario maps.
Freecivwill appeal to strategy fans who miss the gameplay style of the first two Civilization games, and it’s a robust global strategy system whether players play against other people or bots. The project is maintained by enthusiasts and volunteers from around the world and is well worth checking out for strategy fans.
7The Battle For Wesnoth
Fantasy And Grand Strategy
The Battle for Wesnothis another open-source grand strategy game, but its high fantasy themes make it quite unique. Players have access to seven fantasy factions across 17 single-player campaigns, with over 200 different combat units to command.
Theturn-based formatwill be familiar for grand strategy fans, with players able to make several moves on their turn, including moving and positioning units, engaging in combat, or securing towns and positions on the map. The scenarios are relatively simple and tend to focus on unit composition and combat over any other factors, but there’s still a lot of depth to the unit strategy.
Ancient history is fertile ground for strategy games, with numerous aspiring empires and early military techniques to emulate.0 A.D.takes this setting and throws together ancient civilizations from 500 B.C. to 500 A.D. in a contest for dominance. A grand strategy andRTS hybrid, it’s similar in concept to something likeAge of Empiresor theTotal Warseries.
The difference is that it’s another open-source project, and free to download across Windows, Apple, and Linux OS. It’s been in continuous development for a long time now, since first being conceived in 2003, and it’s surprisingly deep and feature-rich for fans of the grand strategy genre.
There may be a full, paid, Steam release ofDwarf Fortressnow, but Bay 12 Games still allows players to download the originalDwarf Fortress, now known asDwarf Fortress Classic, for free. For unfamiliar players,Dwarf Fortressis an ASCII graphics and text-based strategy game where players control an entire colony of dwarves.
It’s aclassic of the strategy genre, with almost infinite depth underneath its simplistic looks. Players are in charge of both the dwarves' exploration of their environment, and the running of the dwarven civilization. Players can also take a break from fortress management and explore the world as an adventurer character.
The simulated dwarves all have lives and thoughts of their own, and the variety players have to deal with, from political machinations to eldritch horrors, is something that any strategy fan should experience.
For players who’ve fantasized about running their own vault in theFalloutuniverse,Fallout Shelteris the game to fulfill that fantasy. Players act as the overseers of their own vault, assigning vault dwellers roles and developing their stats. The game revolves around gathering resources and developing the vault dwellers and the vault itself.
It’s not thedeepest strategy game, but it does have colony-building aspects, settler management, and even a combat system that’s now more robust than in the game’s earlier versions. For fans of theFalloutuniverse and its unique aesthetics,Fallout Shelteris definitely worth checking out, especially since it remains free to play.
Crusader Kings 2is a classic grand strategy game from Paradox Interactive that was made free to play in 2018. Originally released in 2012, the game has players take control of a medieval dynasty, pursuing crusades and attempting to win wars and land. The game takes place between 1066 and 1453, with players able to control historical figures like Charlemagne or forge their own dynasty in one of Europe’s larger empires.
While the original release of the game only allowed players to control European and Christian rulers, multiple expansions have since added numerous other factions. There’s also a lot of user-generated content and mods available for players to expand the game’s offerings. It’s a grand strategy classic. The only drawback for some players will be the lack ofRTS-style battles, as warfare is simulated.
2MechCommander 2
Classic Battletech Freeware
MechCommander 2is an RTS from the Battletech franchise that was made open source in 2006. Thanks to various different forks and modding efforts over the years, it’s not too difficult to find the fully functioning version of the original for free. Though, players may need to consult a guide on how to run it on a modern machine.
It’s not much more complex than the average modding experience, so most players won’t struggle, and it’s well worth experiencing this classic RTS with its original, delightful cutscenes intact. The game has a full single-player story told over three campaigns, with 29 different mechs to control. The strategic combat holds up well, even if the game is certainly showing its age visually.
Blizzard’s TCGHearthstoneneeds no introduction. The incredibly popularWarcraft-based card game is well known for its competitive scene. What players might not realize, though, is that the game’s solo adventures actually offer a decent amount of single-player content.
While this deep,strategic card-battleris certainly focused on its PvP scene, solo adventures can teach players a lot of what they need to know about the intricacies of the game and let them have fun doing it. There are a ton of missions, five adventures, and a practice mode where players can duel against bots to refine their skills. It’s a worthwhile offering for players who are less interested in the multiplayer side of the free-to-play game.
