24 Games Like Rise of Nations
Our collection of RTS games like Rise of Nations features a diverse range of strategy challenges for fans of the genre.
Rise of Nations is a classic and highly successful game in the real time strategy genre with a 2003 release and an expansion pack (Thrones and Patriots) released a year later. This popularity amongst the gaming community also led to a spin-off game that shifted the game into a Fantasy setting in 2006 (Rise of Legends) which featured a similar balance between economy and military assets.
Rise of Nations utilises a territorial approach to gameplay with players restricted to building and creating within their area of influence or that of their allies. The game also used a few other game systems to separate it from the standard RTS experience of the day including a deep resource system with six different resources, infinite resource fields and responsive AI workers that won’t sit idle if you forget to assign them work.
The games like Rise of Nations below contain the best that the real time strategy (RTS) genre has produced with a focus on titles that have a similar setting to the Rise of Nations or Rise of Legends experience.
Age of Empires III
Marking the third game in the highly successful Age of Empires (AoE) franchise Age of Empires III continues the strategic routes of the series while making several interesting gameplay mechanic designs that provide light RPG elements. While Age of Empires III has not seen the longevity of it’s popular younger brother (Age of Empires II) in the multiplayer scene the title has still been rated positively by the community. In terms of single player campaign Age of Empires III focuses in on th...[Read Review]
Cossacks: European Wars
Cossacks: European Wars is a real time strategy (RTS) game developed for Windows and released in 2001 that explores the European 17th and 18th eras and draws inspiration from the popular strategy titles of the day. With over a dozen nations that bring their own uniqueness the strategy elements of this first game in the Cossacks franchise offers a wealth of tactical options. Expanded with several expansion packs all of these were made available in on collection marketed as the Cossacks Anthology....[Read Review]
Shogun: Total War
Shogun: Total War is the very first in the long series of games in the Total War series. The game is set in Japan and blends turn based gameplay with real time battles. The game incorporates many realistic historical elements into its gameplay. This includes references to the popular war book, The Art of War by Sun Tzu which features heavily in strategic advice presented to the player. Shogun: Total War takes place during the warring states period of Japan’s history which lasted from the 15th to...[Read Review]
Rome: Total War
Rome: Total War (RTW) is a strategy game that blends turn based strategy with real time elements. It is part of the highly popular and successful Total War series and is available for PC and Mac. The game is the third game in the series and also one of the highest rated among fans and critics. As the name suggests the game takes place during the Roman Empire and has players taking on the role of one of the available Roman families in the campaign game mode. These families (Scipii, Julii and Brut...[Read Review]
Empire Earth
Empire Earth (EE) offers delivers a real time strategy experience and is the first game in the expansive franchise released in 2001. Followed up with a 2002 expansion pack (Art of Conquest) Empire Earth has also subsequently expanded to a number of sequels with similar core gameplay. Like the popular Age of Empires II franchise of the day players start from a basic age of technology and advance through to a nano age with time (or the space age with the expansion). Empire Earth allows players to ...[Read Review]
Age of Mythology
Age of Mythology (or AoM) is a real time strategy game based on the Age of Empires series which offers a mythology based spin off to the otherwise historical RTS franchise. Exploring the legendary myths of some of the greatest civilisations of time such as the Greeks, Norse and Egyptians players will experience similarly robust campaign structures that draw from the legends of this civilisations rather than factual events across more than 30 game scenarios. Further content is available through t...[Read Review]
Age of Empires II
Age of Empires II belongs to the hugely success AoE series of real time strategy games and is arguably the most well known and widely praised from the franchise that continues to be relevant today. Originally launched in 1999 the game saw a revival with a 2013 HD remake and a 2019 definitive edition with a number of expansion packs along the way building on the game content and modernising the graphics. With single player campaigns primarily set around the Middle Ages players have dozens of play...[Read Review]
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 continues the highly popular real time strategy series with a 2008 game available on all major platforms that once again expands the franchise with new challenges and strategies. In a similar fashion to the previous Red Alert games you’ll get to experience an alternative reality with a different spin on World War II within a real time strategy framework and a high quality campaign design which includes co-operative stories for all factions. Fans of previous Red...[Read Review]
Empire Earth II
Empire Earth II builds on the popular original and delivers a strong real time strategy experience with plenty of new additions to the epoch based experience that sees you control units from the stone age to the synthetic age. Empire Earth II development was handled by Mad Doc Software who created the expansion pack for the original Empire Earth game so players are in safe hands for this expansion of the series. In Empire Earth II players can complete one of three available campaigns which focus...[Read Review]
Napoleon: Total War
If you’ve ever wanted to step into the shoes of the great Napoleon then you’ll love the experience waiting in Napoleon: Total War. Just like the other games in the Total War series it blends turn based gameplay with real time tactics. In the game you’ll get the follow some of Napoleon’s great battles from Europe to the Middle East and North Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. You’ll be assuming the role of Napoleon Bonaparte himself as you take to the campaign map and try to overcome your...[Read Review]
Total War: Shogun 2
Total War: Shogun 2 is a strategy game in the Total War series, it was developed by The Creative Assembly and released in March of 2011. Shogun 2 is one of the highest rated games of the series and takes place in a 16th century Japanese setting. This feudal Japan setting is set after the Onin War leaving the country fractured with various warlords fighting for control. Players will pick one of up to 11 clans (9 core, 1 limited edition, 1 DLC) and attempt to dominate their enemies and claim Japa...[Read Review]
The Settlers Online
The Settlers Online (The Settlers Online: Castle Empire) is a free to play browser based strategy game that utilises familiar mechanics from the core Settlers franchise. The result is a mixture of popular modern strategy games and the MMO strategy genre. The Settlers Online offers an accessible challenge which features a familiar gameplay loop of building a sprawling city, raiding bandits, achieving objectives and in time gaining levels that unlock additional content to expand your strategy opti...[Read Review]
Medieval: Total War
Medieval: Total War is the first game in the Total War series to feature a medieval setting and is the second game to be released in the franchise. The game has plenty of improvements over the very first Total War game and offers the same blend of turn based and tactical combat that the series is well known for. For the fans of historical accuracy in their games you’ll definitely find it in Medieval: Total War as you expand your empire over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East (a setting tha...[Read Review]
Empire: Total War
The fifth game in the Total War series takes you to the 18th century and even includes a special United States campaign which will have you participating in some of the most well-known and historical battles in American history. Empire: Total War is similar to all the other games in the series in that it blends real time tactic battles with turn based strategy. The game was the first in the series to add real time naval battles which often prove to be an explosive experience. During the main cam...[Read Review]
Medieval II: Total War
Medieval II: Total War is the second game in the Total War series to take place in a Medieval setting and is the overall fourth game in the highly tactical strategy series. Just like the previous instalments in the series the game combines turn based and real time elements as you make your way across the map through conquest and allegiance. Fans of the original Medieval: Total War will enjoy the familiar setting as players once again battle across Europe, the Middle East and Africa using medieva...[Read Review]
DomiNations
DomiNations combines traditional real time strategy games such as Age of Empires and Rise of Nations with the more modern mobile genre that is dominated by the likes of Clash of Clans in an attempt to offer great strategy challenge on mobile devices (iOS and Android). The result is a unique variant of the mobile strategy genre that achieves some of it’s objectives but doesn’t quite reach the peak of capturing real time strategy on mobile. Your overarching objective in DomiNations is ...[Read Review]
Act of War: Direct Action
Act of War: Direct Action is a real time strategy (RTS) that definitely pulls some inspiration from the likes of Command & Conquer with a modern day warfare setting that mixes in some futuristic elements. Featuring some unique mechanics to the genre raise the experience above others in the genre which continues in the expansion pack Act of War: High Treason (available together with the base game as Act of War: Gold Edition). Set during an economic crisis in the near future Act of War explore...[Read Review]
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
Serving as a spin off title to the popular Rise of Nations title, Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends is a real time strategy game that attempts to blend the worlds of fantasy magic and technology together into one. Despite the change in setting the game stays closely to the original Rise of Nations experience although does shed some of the deeper 4X and turn based elements which purists of the original may hold dear. The game is not just a trimmed down version though and instead uses this space fo...[Read Review]
Sins of a Solar Empire
Sins of a Solar Empire is a sci-fi strategy game with 4X elements that will have you conquering a large universe with military force, economic power or diplomatic negotiations. With elements of real time strategy also present the game seeks to combine the two well known strategy niches of RTS and 4X gameplay into a single challenge. Sins of a Solar Empire is set in the distant future and has you at the head of a space exploring race that are looking to expand their empire deeper into the stars t...[Read Review]
Supreme Commander 2
Supreme Commander 2 is the second game in the Supreme Commander series of real time strategy games that explore modern and futuristic warfare with a focus on vehicle combat. The game takes place in a futuristic setting and is available on Windows, Mac and Xbox 360 with backward compatibility available for Xbox One. Supreme Commander 2 takes you through three different campaigns as you command the United Earth Federation, the Illuminate and the Cybran in battle. Each of these campaigns has their ...[Read Review]
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is a science fiction real time strategy game published in 2007 by Electronic Arts and joins the broad number of games within the C&C franchise with a number of changes to the core formula. For this adventure players will explore a futuristic 2047 with a story that continues to explore the Global Defence Initiative (GDI), Brotherhood of Nod and a new alien faction known as the Scrin. Designed to serve as a sequel to the 1999 Tiberian Sun title it’s...[Read Review]
Supreme Commander
Supreme Commander is a real time strategy title that was been born out of the success of Total Annihilation, an exceedingly popular 1997 strategy game. Centred around mechanical units known as Armoured Command Units (ACU) it’s a futuristic war like adventure. In this future setting humanity has also reached a point of space travel which makes it possible to jump across the galaxy quickly through an invention known as the quantum gateway. With the ability to travel the stars the United Eart...[Read Review]
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is a stand alone expansion to the original Supreme Commander title, this standalone approach was used in order to alter gameplay features, add additional units and improve performance over the original release. Set in the same futuristic setting where humans have achieved space travel through the use of quantum tunnels, capable of sending ships from one side of the galaxy to the other near instantaneously. This has in turn led to many human colonies across the ...[Read Review]
Total War: Rome II
Total War: Rome II continues the strategy based Total War series and takes you back to Rome once again with a large number of improvements over the original Rome adventure and other titles in the franchise. The game was released in late 2013 and takes the Total War series up to a total of 8 large scale strategic games. Total War: Rome II is set during 272 BC with the main campaign spreading 300 years from that starting point although players can continue beyond this if they wish. Unlike the prev...[Read Review]