Despite the massive boom of RTS games throughout the 90s and early 2000s with classics like StarCraft and Command & Conquer, the genre has steadily declined over the years. However, with iconic RTS franchises like Age Of Empires and Stronghold receiving remasters, as well as indie developers taking up the mantle, the genre is beginning to gain popularity once more.

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This steady increase in the popularity of the RTS has been facilitated in part by an abundance of Early Access titles. Due to the nature of Early Access, it can be hard to discern whether a game is worth the money in its current state; this list aims to provide a variety of games that show extreme promise.

7 Cepheus Protocol

This game tasks players with protecting San Francisco from a zombie outbreak with a heavy military theme and traditional RTS gameplay, as well as the option for third-person control. Cepheus Protocol's biggest weakness is arguably its visuals, and it has been in Early Access for over three years now, but at the time of writing, it still receives regular updates.

In the game, players must race to secure resources and expand their influence across an open-world map with classic RTS base-building, tower defense elements, and real-time combat. Cepheus Protocol is at its best when players are forced into tight spots against large amounts of zombies while simultaneously dealing with the game's variety of potentially hostile factions.

6 Age of Darkness: Final Stand

This dark fantasy RTS takes clear inspiration from the popular indie title, They Are Billions, with its focus on base defense against large hordes of enemies. Like They Are Billions, Age Of Darkness combines its base defense mechanics with RTS gameplay.

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Although building defenses in Age Of Darkness is integral to success, the powerful heroes and variety of unit types can be immensely useful in specific situations, and how useful they are will come down to how good the player is at micromanaging them.

5 WARNO

This immersive RTS aims to be a realistic modern-day battle simulator, tasking players with enacting broad strategies in fast-paced combats by commanding a variety of units in traditional RTS fashion.

Unlike many RTS games, WARNO is almost entirely focused on the tactical prowess of players and how well they can micromanage their varied forces instead of the base-building and resource-management elements that are common in the genre. The game has been designed around this emphasis on combat, with over six hundred different military units available.

4 NEBULOUS: Fleet Command

This highly tactical space simulation game features visuals and slow-burning space combat reminiscent of the revered science fiction show The Expanse. Its gameplay is heavily simulated and focuses on advanced movement controls, realistic radars, and deception.

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Similarly to WARNO, NEBULOUS: Fleet Command is focused entirely on combat but features a much more granular approach, with players designing entire fleets to take into battle before carefully maneuvering them in 3D space. NEBULOUS: Fleet Command is a highly complex game, but once players have gotten to grips with the game's advanced controls and abundance of mechanics, it can be an immensely immersive and tactical experience that few other games can rival.

3 Terra Invicta

This combination of grand strategy, geopolitics, and tactical simulation-heavy space combat in 3D space is a strange but highly distinct experience that won't be for everyone, but for those that don't mind pushing through Terra Invicta's inaccessible start, there are some fascinating gameplay mechanics to interact with.

In Terra Invicta, players take control of one of several distinct asymmetric factions with their own unique victory conditions, attempting to orchestrate a defense against an overwhelming alien threat by farming the Earth for resources, managing politics, and engaging in real-time tactical space combat against the alien enemy.

2 Diplomacy Is Not An Option

In Diplomacy Is Not An Option, players are tasked with building a small kingdom, surrounding it with walls and defenses, and defending it against massive hordes of physics-simulated enemies with armies of soldiers, archers, and catapults in real-time strategic combat.

The game is heavily focused on base building and resource management, and players will have to work fast to build up a strong defense and army in time to defend against the increasingly difficult waves of enemies. However, Diplomacy Is Not An Option is a fairly accessible combination of RTS and base defense with a cartoony, inoffensive art style, light tone, and epic scale that helps it stand out from the abundance of base defense games on the market.

1 Thronefall

This minimalist RTS game features a clean and colorful aesthetic in simplistic 3D environments, a brilliant fantasy soundtrack, and highly polished, accessible gameplay that's hard to find anywhere else in the RTS genre.

Admittedly, Thronefall is extremely simplistic as an RTS, with players having minimal control over their units and a larger focus on economy management and base defense. However, the building and management of combat units are immensely important to success in Thronefall, especially when playing with some of the game's many difficulty modifiers. Thronefall released back in August, but it's consistently receiving updates, with a new map released back in September. At the time of writing, Thronefall is a highly replayable minimalist RTS with devoted developers and a low price point that makes it one of the most accessible and sure-fire Early Access games on Steam.

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