Strategy games often focus mostly on the mechanics which enable players to create new and interesting ways to dominate against the computer or human opposition. Trying to balance strategically-focused games so that they aren’t too focused on using one particular strategy overly often is a difficult challenge for any strategy game to accomplish.
As such, many strategy games leave themselves a little short in the story department. Some games try to stay heavily focused on having a strong narrative and a fun story, but it is less often it works in the strategy genre than in other genres of gaming. There are plenty of accessible strategy games with wide-open worlds, but there are fewer with great and fun stories.
6 Dawn of War – Dark Crusade
The Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War games are all set in the interconnected universe of Warhammer 40,000. Featuring races like the Orcs, Space Marines, and the Tau, to name but a few, the wars that take place between the various races fill up a number of games and spin-offs. Dark Crusade has one of the most fun stories of the lot.
In Dark Crusade, seven of the various races from across the Warhammer 40k universe find themselves situated on the same planet, Kronus. The simple but fascinating aim of the campaign is to take control of one of the seven factions and lead them to victory in a non-linear sandbox-style campaign. Much is learned about the history of Kronus and the various important artifacts and monuments on the planet which are strategically valuable to capture. The gameplay is fun, interesting, and combat-based in the extreme since players will often find themselves fighting with enemies over simple resources, but the overarching story of the game is simplistic, yet very fun.
5 Heroes Of Might And Magic
Heroes of Might and Magic, a series of turn-based strategy games set in the world of the Might and Magic series of RPGs, make for amazingly fun strategy while usually keeping the stories interesting, simple, and fun. One of the best examples of this came in the first game in the series, where Lord Morglin Ironfist was forced to flee his homeland with some followers and found himself in the land of Enroth.
Once here, Ironfist finds himself contesting for land against three other local warlords, and while the player can choose any of the factions and lead them to victory, Ironfist canonically wins out in the end. This story is another which keeps things fun without needing to over-complicate anything.
4 Age Of Mythology
A spin-off from the legendary Age of Empires series, Age of Mythology throws out much of the historical nature of those campaigns in favor of something more original and enjoyable. Age of Mythology features a set of heroes from Atlantis and Greece venturing across the world in attempts to stop a Cyclops, Gargarensis, from unleashing the titan Kronos from his underworld prison to destroy the world.
In their encounters with Gargarensis, the heroes meet more of their kind from Egypt and the Norse lands and have various run-ins with other Gods. The extensive campaign, set over 32 levels, allows players to figure out all kinds of strategies to use. The campaign contains humor, heartbreak, and a very fun, blockbuster feel to the story.
3 The Battle For Middle Earth
The Battle For Middle Earth is the strategy dream for many fans of The Lord of the Rings in RTS terms. Enabling players the choice between a good or evil campaign, they are able to either follow the plot of the movies through a variety of levels ranging from the Mines of Moria to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
If players choose the evil campaign, they can begin by winning the Battle of Helm’s Deep, but for Saruman’s forces, and help him take control of Rohan before helping Mordor to destroy Minas Tirith and provide complete victory for Sauron over the realms of man. Either way, players get a fun experience in the world of Middle Earth which they won’t soon forget.
2 Stellaris
Stellaris is a grand strategy game where there is no set plot, but players have a fun opportunity to make the one they wish from the situation in which they find themselves. Taking control of a species that has recently discovered the ability to travel faster than the speed of light, players begin to manage their section of whichever galaxy type they have chosen.
This means running into other species and making peace or warfare with them, and achieving whatever the civilization’s ultimate goals are. The idea of trying to take over an entire galaxy makes for a fun and unique game which has been praised for having a nearly RPG-like early-game feel and fascinating crisis events in the end-game.
1 Homeworld
Homeworld is another RTS game set in space, but this one focuses more on a specific plot that takes place over centuries. It focuses on a humanoid race who finds a buried spaceship that points to another planet and refers to it as home. Building a spaceship to take 600,000 of them there, they discover that their race was exiled to this planet on pain of death, and their planet is destroyed as a consequence of them leaving.
This all leads to a series of battles to try and reclaim this ancient home world as vengeance for the destruction of their own. The story is fascinating and nuanced but is also extremely fun and could fit into a variety of genres of gaming. It plays extremely well as an RTS and managed to breed a whole franchise.