Highlights
- Steampunk-themed games offer a unique twist on the strategy genre, combining Victorian-era fashion with industrialization elements and airship battles.
- Popular Steampunk strategy games include Airships: Conquer The Skies, They Are Billions, and Iron Harvest.
- These games allow players to build cities, navigate politics, defend against zombies, control massive mechs, and make tough decisions in order to survive and thrive in a Steampunk world.
Steampunk is a theme that has increased in popularity in recent years. Many players may be familiar with steampunk festivals that show people commonly dressed in Victorian-era clothing with a twist of industrialization through outfits being decorated with pilot goggles and cogs. Game developers have been inspired by this style and have created worlds with a Steampunk style.
Best Steampunk-Themed Games
Steampunk has gained a lot of steam over the years and there are a lot of video games that adapt the style. Here's a look at some of the best.
Many of these games commonly have the player building new cities that expand through the use of steam power, or flying ships that battle in the sky. The Steampunk theme goes surprisingly well with the strategy genre and, therefore, these Steampunk games are by far the best for those looking for a tactful time.
7 Airships: Conquer The Skies
Metascore: TBD
Airships: Conquer The Skies
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Released
- August 16, 2018
- Developer
- David Stark
- Genre(s)
- Grand Strategy
One of the most common Steampunk strategy titles players are likely to enjoy are those that allow air battles in the sky between floating boats. One of the most common ways to travel in Steampunk-themed games are those that cross blimps with boats, and while Airships: Conquer the Skies may be a pixel art title, it still manages to display the intense airship battles that many players are sure to love.
Players will need to construct their ships piece by piece, choosing not only the modules that make up the ship but also the weaponry and resources it will need. Then players can take to the skies and battle against other players or the AI.
6 They Are Billions
Metascore: 72
Game developers commonly mix well-known themes alongside others to create interesting new experiences. They Are Billions is one such example of this, as in this strategy title, Steampunk meets the undead as players create Steampunk settlements and empires that will hopefully protect their few citizens from the zombies that have taken over the world.
Players will also be left to defend against these undead by using weaponry based on Steampunk designs, so that the hordes of zombies that will eventually attempt to attack these colonies can be dealt with.
5 Airship: Kingdoms Adrift
Metascore: TBD
Besides Airships: Conquer the Skies, Airship: Kingdoms Adrift is another Steampunk airship battle game that sees players battling for control of the skies. Players will be tasked with building up their fleets in the hopes of charting trade routes and establishing their industries to become the most successful airship captain of the clouds.
Instead of trading, players will also need to learn how to navigate the politics of Airship: Kingdoms Adrift as they learn about possible treachery and other gossip revolving around the ceasefire of the Great Sky War. Players can even go online if they are looking for more fights rather than politics.
4 Iron Harvest
Metascore: 75
While Steampunk is the most commonly known genre of its time that combines the Victorian style with a twist of industrialization, Dieselpunk is an offshoot of Steampunk that tends to be a lot grittier. Iron Harvest is a strategy game that allows players to control or fight against large Dieselpunk mechs in a real-time strategy setting.
With both an incredible single-player story, set in an alternate history 1920s, and an incredible multiplayer mode too, with 40 unit types to play with across the game's factions, Iron Harvest is a tactical dream.
3 Shardpunk
Metascore: TBD
Shardpunk, according to its developers, combines the tactical battles of XCOM with the tough decision moments of Darkest Dungeon to make it one of the most intense Steampunk strategy titles to be released in 2023. The Rat Swarm has made its way through the walls of the Steampunk settlement known as The Capital, and now the player and their team must work their way through the three city districts if they hope to survive.
10 Forgotten Steampunk Games
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With a Steampunk arsenal of weaponry that the player will either need to mend or leave to cool when used in battle, players are sure to enjoy every moment of Shardpunk.
2 Frostpunk
Metascore: 84
With Punk in its name, Frostpunk is another impressive Steampunk strategy title that players who enjoy the genre are sure to spend countless hours playing. As the ruler of the last city on Earth, it is up to the player to keep the cold at bay and make sure the citizens and their infrastructure is managed if they hope to survive the upcoming storm.
In this city-builder survival title, players will be forced to make all the hard decisions, from setting laws that determine the working standards of their citizens, to who gets all the food. In a city that is using steam power to stay afloat, new technologies may be the only way to get ahead of the dangers of the outside world.
1 SteamWorld Heist
Metascore: 86
SteamWorld is a well-known franchise that explores a Steampunk environment through various genres of gaming. Unsurprisingly, one of the best Steampunk strategy titles can be found in this franchise, as many players have fallen in love with the strategy shooter SteamWorld Heist.
In this title, players command a steam robot pirate crew in various shootouts as they attempt a successful heist. Players will have to think strategically in this Steampunk game, where they are forced to aim each gun individually to line up the most impressive of skilled shots or ricocheting bullets in order to take down their enemies.
