Invite your friends and enjoy the best co-op games on PC.

Nobody and nothing - except a friend - can compare with a good blaster, who also has a good blaster, then you have a total of two blasters and you can blast twice as much. This is the beauty of our favorite co-op games, be it online multiplayer. In recent years, the ranks of the best co-op games, such as the time-tested Left 4 Dead and Arma 3, have been supplemented by new RPGs, shooters and crazy cooking simulators.

This is our latest collection of the best co-op games to play together. Some can brighten up your day, while others can brighten up entire months.

Retired from the main list

Vermintide borrows heavily from another game also featured on this list, or to be more precise, it's Left 4 Dead in Warhammer guise. But it still focuses on smoother, more original melee combat, and amazing special effects that make the game a worthy choice for friends when they want to squash a few Ratlings.

This game is especially attractive to fans of the Warhammer Fantasy universe, which is very familiar in the gaming world. The main actions in the game will be: picking up dropped items and equipment that can be upgraded. So, completing missions over and over again with friends will guarantee you a good time.

Warning - don't play KALIMBA with a new friend. Although the game looks like a light-hearted puzzle game, it is actually a powerful tool for pushing the limits of human tolerance. Each player has two colored totems. Solving the color puzzles isn't particularly difficult, but coordinating your moves to jump will be much more difficult, especially if you're relying on your partner.

Despite its complexity, it's surprising how intuitive Kalimba feels: watching someone else play turns out to be more exciting than picking up a controller yourself (for simplicity, it's better to use that one). It's hard, but no problem can be solved alone, and every victory is shared.

Magicka 2 is good in every way, just like the original. Magicka 2 fixed bugs, improved graphics, and added several modes to our favorite co-op. The only thing I didn't like was the casting system. Apparently, due to a lot of negative feedback, the developers added new spell elements and casting mechanics to be more in line with the original. In the sequel, even the most hardcore sorcerers will be able to enjoy brilliant magical battles with friends.

If Payday 2 is a mixture of good action films, then Monaco is one hundred percent, distilled Ocean's Eleven. In Monaco you need to pull off excellent heists, hence the excitement and tension, which in itself is the perfect combination for spending a good time with friends. This game is a lot of details, plans, and there is something so wonderful when you cut off the electricity while your partner distracts the guard.

An excellent RPG from Runic that managed to steer me away from Diablo III. It was more Diablo than Diablo itself, and that crazy dungeon crawl is even harder and more intense if you go there with someone. In Diablo III maximum quantity There are four players, but in Torchlight you can get together as many as six. Too much? In a game where monsters explode and leave fountains of gold, "too much" is not the right word.

The three-character puzzle game Trine came out of nowhere, right around the time of the indie gaming boom in 2009. Trine's success spawned two more sequels. While Trine 3 was a bit of a disappointment this year, Trine 2 takes the best of the original, smoothes it out, improves it, and makes it all that much better. With the addition of online co-op, you can hand over control of two other characters to friends. As a gift, you are given a colorful picture and light, almost relaxing, puzzles.

is the first game in the series to deviate from the usual historical setting. Decades of creativity flows out of Warhammer's updated animation and wide range of classes, from dwarves who avenge wrongs by starting wars to vampire counts who fill their armies with the living dead. The story campaign also looks fresh, where the player will be pleased with the updated RPG mechanics with quests and selection of equipment for the heroes.

After Rome 2, Creative Assembly significantly improved the engine and the level of artificial intelligence of opponents, thanks to which Warhammer can be called one of the series. And, as before, the campaign mode can be played with a friend. Do you dare to unite the greenskins and the dwarves, two sworn enemies? You can also install the mod and play with a friend for the same faction. I couldn't think of a better cooperative strategy.

Year of issue: 2016 | Developer: Ghost Town Games | Buy

Overcooked is the natural embodiment of chaos. This is one of those cooperative games in which you need to join forces to win, even if after the end of the game you, not to mention, even want to see your partner anymore. But if you manage to catch the general rhythm and become part of a team coping with icy rivers, earthquakes in the kitchen, and even sudden pirate ships, then you will get indescribable pleasure.

Here everything is like in a real kitchen - one cuts onions, the second monitors the stove, and the third (the one who is best not allowed near the food) washes the dishes, running out of the kitchen from time to time. Overcooked was originally designed for multiplayer (playing it alone is not so fun), but, alas, the game only supports local network connections. But if you convince your friends to play the game, it will be one of the most unforgettable co-ops.

Year of issue: 2016 | Developer: Ubisoft Massive | Buy

In the year since its release, The Division has evolved from an endless co-op shooter with cover, into a co-op shooter with a very clearly defined ultimate goal. Yes, long quests and chasing after upgraded equipment are not for everyone, but if you and your friends love shooters with character upgrades, then The Division is definitely worth paying attention to.

Walking through post-apocalyptic Manhattan, regular shootouts with bots and a set of non-standard missions will help each member of your team reveal their skills. The shootouts look very spectacular, and therefore a coordinated attack with grenade throws, deceptive maneuvers and covering fire, even for the hundredth time, will bring the same emotions as the first.

If your team wants to level up, then you can always find quests for any level in each of the five locations. In the Tier 2 location you will find raids and short missions where you need to show a well-coordinated team spirit. If you are interested not so much in shootouts as in quests with an emphasis on psychology, then choose the Dark Zone location, which may not show your friends the best side. If everyone has the updates installed, we recommend testing your strength in the Underground, Survival and upcoming Last Stand modes, where you can play both together and against each other, collecting weapons and equipment along the way.

Year of issue: 2011 | Developer: Overkill, Starbreeze | Buy

Trying to pull off a complex heist in several stages in a team with not the most efficient bots in Payday 2 single player is not always fun, and sometimes even boring. But here the co-op mode comes to the rescue. With a friend, any heist turns into a mixture of "Ocean's 11" and "The Expendables."

And the only thing better than a stealthy robbery is a sudden change of plans, as a result of which an alarm sounds and you have to fight your way to the exit. And if the mistakes of bots are sometimes downright infuriating, then the mistakes of friends make the game much more interesting.

Year of issue: 2012 | Developer: Gearbox | Buy

With its endless fun and weapon-heavy extravaganza, Borderlands 2 is one of the few games on this list that boasts a great single-player experience. You'll have a lot of fun exploring the planet Pandora, shooting goons from your car, endlessly replenishing your ammo as if you were trying to stock up for a gun party.

All this will be much more fun if you have a bunch of friends with you. Each character takes its place in the team, for example, on more difficult levels you will simply need to have a tank, a silent assassin and a medic in your team.

It's also worth noting that the durability of the creature and the value of the reward for killing them directly depend on the number of players in your team, so if you really want tough, bone-crushing action, you just need to find more friends.

Year of issue: 2014 | Developer: DrinkBox Studios | Buy

Guacamelee is a vibrant mix of Metroids and Castlevanias styles, sprinkled with plenty of witty references and memorable carnival masks. The 2D art is simply stunning, as is the world exploration and combat system. What sets it apart from classic games from the Metroid and Castlevania series is its support for up to four players.

You can only play over a local network, so if you manage to lure your friends, they are unlikely to leave the screen until they explore every corner of Guacamelee.

Release: 2018 | Developer: Capcom | Buy

All Monster Hunter games can be played solo or with strangers online, but in co-op (with a friend) the game really unlocks its potential. There are combos here, as in all Capcom action games, almost like in Devil May Cry, but more risky and conscious, forcing you to study the attacks of these huge creatures.

More difficult monsters force you to cooperate and be constantly on guard, and fights go much better when you and your partner specialize in in various forms weapons. And grinding rare drops and monster parts will be much more fun with a couple of friends on discord.

Release: 2018 | Developer: Fatshark | Buy

This sequel to Vermintide definitely expands on the Left 4 Dead formula, adding an entirely new group of enemies in addition to the Skaven and a clearer leveling and loot system. The game feels good and moderately tough when you slam a huge club into the ratman's face. The build system is simple and is divided into five character types. If you like Left 4 Dead, but have already played it too much, Vermintide 2 will grab your attention and is perfect for a couple of dozen hours of bloody carnage.

Release: 2018 | Developer: Rare | Buy

Project Rare is a fun co-op sandbox, but it's really fun when played with friends. Sea of ​​Thieves is a wonderful open world game and is completely undemanding - jump on board with your friends, choose a direction and just enjoy the boat ride, drinking grog, playing musical instruments and shooting each other with cannons. Or just chat with each other for an hour against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset.

For fun and profit, you can chase other teams and engage in ship-to-ship combat, look for lost treasures, or capture a skeleton fort, but it's just great to chat with friends like in a chat room with beautiful waves and a sudden Kraken.

Year of issue: 2017 | Developer: Bungie | Buy

In addition to loot boxes, Destiny 2 features a good Halo-style campaign, a ton of fun side quests, an increasing number of strikes, and two six-person raids.

Destiny 2 features dozens of hours of co-op play, from silly fun to serious final battles. There's enough fun to be had out of all this before the Eververse starts to bother you.

Release: 2018 | Developer: Ghost Town Games | Buy

Overcooked is the epitome of chaos. The type of co-op where you have to help each other to win, but chances are you won't even be talking at the end of the day. Overcooked 2 keeps the same idea of ​​breaking relationships, but before you start hating each other, you'll really enjoy playing together. The sequel adds new maps and new difficulty. You can play online or locally. You can now make sushi and teleportation has been added. Just like in your regular kitchen, really.

Year of issue: 2017 | Developer: Larian Studios | Buy

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a sprawling, inventive adventure and one of the best RPGs ever made. You can play one of the best RPGs with three friends in online co-op. Players rule the chaos of this world, and that means one friend can kill a guard or reveal his second identity as a living dead man at the worst possible time, but that's exactly what makes OS2 so great to play with friends.

You no longer have to deal with a dedicated group of characters that you form over time. You're dealing with three stubborn people trying to achieve different goals. It's a beautiful mess of one of the most lush, immersive RPG worlds. And once you're done, Game Master mode lets you create new campaigns from scratch using an extensive D&D-style toolkit.

Release: 2017 | Developer: The Creative Assembly | Buy

Total War: Warhammer was the first project in which the company moved away from historical themes and it worked. 10 years of Warhammer creativity flows here, both in the animation and the diverse factions. In Warhammer 2, Creative Assembly tried to solve the problems of the series that have been present for many years: the gameplay ceases to hold up as the empire grows and dominates the world map.

What hasn't changed is launching a grand campaign with a friend, taking two friendly factions against the rest of the world. Sharing control over a huge army is truly a breakthrough: one of you can take care of local control and deployment of troops, while the second will carry out tactical cavalry raids. Or whatever it is in Warhammer, lizard-like people, huge bats and so on. If you have Warhammer 1, you can combine these games into a global campaign.

Year of issue: 2013 | Developer: Digital Extremes | Play

Warframe can get boring quickly, as the core gameplay involves completing randomly generated levels in an attempt to level up your character. And so time after time. Some missions are inconvenient to complete alone, and playing online with strangers is not suitable for everyone, especially beginners. But Warframe transforms if you invite your friend into it, turning into a fun virtual shooting gallery where you and a friend can shoot hordes of enemies.

And if the game hooks you, then you can spend more than one day understanding all the intricacies. You can sit until the morning, reading on forums strategies for upgrading things and crafting features. But you can also play it with friends who have just started it - you don’t have to go through it at the same time. You can go about your business and meet on the Grineer ship from time to time.

Year of issue: 2017 | Developer: Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc. | Buy

Cuphead doesn't get any easier just because a friend has your back in co-op. Adding a second player overloads the already overcrowded world with colorful animations and complicates the passage of this arcade side-scroller, so multiplayer is an option only for concrete best friends.

But in the same way that your brain and hands merge into perfect strength after many failures, and the gradual recognition of patterns takes root at the level of pure instinct, the interaction between two people turns into telepathy. Friendly telepathy with the goal of completing a cartoon game.

Year of issue: 2016 | Developer: Klei | Buy

For a couple of years, Klei refused to include co-op in its gothic survival masterpiece, arguing that co-op mode would spoil the unique atmosphere, which consists entirely of a feeling of loneliness and independent exploration of the world. As it turned out, the developers worried in vain, because the notorious atmosphere in the company of friends is felt even brighter. At the moments when cyclops deer burst into your camp, destroying half of your winter supplies, you understand that it’s better to deal with this kind of thing in a cooperative.

Klei is renowned for its attention to detail and balance in its games, and Together's three main modes (Survival, Wilderness and Endless) have the perfect balance of item drops and character skills. The most interesting is the Endless mode. Chatting with a friend on Discord or Skype while trying to pool resources to survive the coming harsh winter - isn't that great? And remember: Happiness is a refrigerator full of frog legs.

Year of issue: 2015 | Developer: Asteroid Base | Buy

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (or LIADS) is truly an achievement in local multiplayer design. We've seen a resurgence of local multiplayer in PC games lately, but few have the style, color, and originality of LIADS.

LIADS also promotes intra-team conflict in places where other co-op games do not. With so many stations and only two crew members, failure comes from poor communication rather than lack of skill. The game is, of course, good, but it’s still annoying that there is no online co-op option. Despite this, it feels like the game is designed for co-op play while sitting on the same couch, plus there are a bunch of settings for the co-op mode.

Year of issue: 2015 | Developer: RuneStorm | Buy

A strange and grotesque co-op game with a brilliant idea: you and your friends will play as space cleaners, forced to clean up all the chaos that the brave space marines from other games leave behind. Grab a bucket with a rag and get ready to wash blood off walls, burn limbs, collect shell casings and repair pipes using welding. Yes, it's dirty work, but it's dirty work in space and with friends, and, oddly enough, it's enough to have a fun few evenings.

The highlight of Viscera Cleanup Detail is its physics, which sometimes throws up interesting surprises. For example, if you are carrying a bucket of bloody water and collide with another player, all the water will spill in the blink of an eye, creating even more work. Be prepared for unkind comments if you forget the dynamite in the stove; and, of course, nothing compares to the sight of your friend being crushed by a faulty elevator, even if it means another half hour of cleaning.

But the fun doesn't stop there: each corpse has name tags, and this is where most of the game's Easter eggs can be found. You can also find out what happens if you press all the buttons on a device that resembles dynamite (spoiler: it is dynamite) and ruin the final cleanliness rating for the level by trying to feed a chair to an alien octopus, which will lead to a large green burp on the ceiling, walls and your friends. This is a real gem of the gaming industry. And if you have a group of friends who are open to new ideas, then it's time to give the game a chance.

Year of issue: 2013 | Developer: TT Games | Buy

There are many good Lego games on the market that can be recommended to connoisseurs of this style: for example, Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Lego Batman 2 or Harry Potter, but Marvel games are superior to all others. They are not tied to specific film adaptations, and therefore you can see in them a team of Spider-Man, Captain America, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men (you don’t get this even in modern comics).

The levels here are interesting and inventive - you will visit Doctor Doom's castle, Stark Tower, Asgard and other locations. Essentially, this is a grand tour of the Marvel universe, created with great love for the characters, which is evident in their animation and voice acting. In addition, here you can explore Manhattan or jump from a S.H.I.E.L.D. carrier. This part is much more interesting than the sequel, which focuses on the adventures of the Avengers.

Year of issue: 2014 | Developer: Ubisoft | Buy

The main feature of Far Cry is waiting. Getting to the outpost undetected creates tension. Taking out a couple of guards creates even more tension. Eventually, someone notices you, raises the alarm, and all hell breaks loose.

In the company of a friend, all these outings will be much more interesting. You can always see by the outline what your partner is doing so risky. When it comes time to go into the open, the sheer variety of “toys” in Far Cry 4 creates chaos that you can immerse yourself in with great pleasure. Why sneak around in the shadows when you can drop grenades from a helicopter while your friend demolishes the main gate on a war elephant?

Year of issue: January 1999 | Developer: Sven Co-op Team | Play

It was intended to be a cooperative Half-Life, but the mood is very reminiscent of the episode “Interdimensional Cable” from the series “Rick and Morty.” We go to a random server and find ourselves in the colorful world of Teletubbies. We go to another - and here we are waiting for a parody of the Mega Man series, a secret military base or Egyptian pyramids, where we will have to fight off Anubis himself with grenades.

Download a set of quirky maps, connect with your friends, and immerse yourself in a retro shooter full of funny and awkward moments. If you play with the right people, you'll have hours of fun in a hilarious romp with monsters, scientists, and soldiers from Half-Life.

Year of issue: 2016 | Developer: Chucklefish | Buy

Exploration, mining, crafting, and adventure in Starbound's massive 2D galaxy can keep you busy. long hours. Completing story quests, creating colonies on other planets, upgrading your arsenal, ship and your abilities are very well implemented here. in an interesting way. And all this is multiplied by two if your friends join the game.

In co-op mode, you can easily invite friends to work on joint projects: destroy a couple of monsters or just walk around the spaceship. You are allowed to complete story quests, as well as fight bosses that are extremely difficult to defeat alone. The game has a fun chat design - everything written is displayed in bubbles above the characters' heads. Great solution, only complementing the wonderful atmosphere.

Year of issue: 2016 | Developer: Playground Games | Buy

Amplitude Studios made a name for themselves with Endless Space and Endless Legend, but their most creative and original project was their beautiful (if a little weird) game Dungeon of the Endless. A couple of fragile heroes and resources fall under your control; the main task is to save the crystal during periodic attacks from enemies. Everything here looks painfully familiar, but the small differences will still surprise you. Time moves only when the doors to the dungeon are opened. To complete the level, you need to find the crystal and make a mad dash to the exit, through the creatures swarming everywhere.

If you play alone, then it’s more likely tactical game, with the ability to press pause during the battle and think through a further strategy. Co-op removes this option and makes the game more intense. To survive at later difficult levels, you need to have a large supply of resources, a clear understanding of where who should be, and what towers to build. It’s so easy to get confused or run away, but that’s the whole point of the game.

The roguelike genre, plus tower defense, plus co-op and RPG, may seem like incompatible things, but they still go together.

Year of issue: 2015 | Developer: Tripwire Interactive | Buy

The original Killing Floor deserves praise and, of course, it makes sense to recommend Killing Floor 2, since it is a serious step forward, here you will find more players and new levels, plus all sorts of bonuses are added to early access members. Killing Floor 2 is big game, even in this unfinished state. It's an FPS where you and up to 5 other players must survive a series of attacks. During the defense you have to shoot and beat up some very restless test subjects.

Survival is sometimes very difficult (especially on difficult modes), and do not forget that teamwork is vital. It’s good that the Tripwire guns are made here at a high level: recoil and accuracy of fire.

Year of issue: 2015 | Developer: Steel Crate Games | Buy

What I like most about this game is the paperwork. Stop, stop! Come back! KTNB is a game based on the scene that every action movie has where the hero has to defuse a bomb and some nerd on the phone asks him “what do you see?”

KTNB is making waves with the Oculus Rift, but you don't need the experimental VR hardware to enjoy the game. The deminer can take the laptop from one side of the sofa, and the advisers open their demining instructions on the other side. Communication is the most important thing in this game, and any number of players can give advice, making KTNB a terrifyingly team-based game.

Year of issue: 2015 | Developer: Rockstar North | Buy

GTA has a lot going for it, but co-op heists are probably the best thing Rockstar has to offer in an open world game. Four players team up to overcome a series of story missions in which each character plays a different role as they take part in a grand heist. There will be everything from stealing vehicles as part of the preparation for a robbery, to murder and other interrelated tasks.

Missions cleverly make everyone feel like they are playing a key role in all these troubles on the path to fabulous wealth.

Having all four players come to the end of each heist while dramatically escaping from the cops is far more satisfying than the game's main story. If only Rockstar would make more missions like this. They would have paid for themselves in full.

Year of issue: 2011 | Developer: Valve | Buy

There's no doubt that Portal 2 has a very crude co-op experience. As two test robots, Atlas and P-Body, you and your friend must learn the darker, more dangerous side of the GLaDOS programs, as they are too dangerous for human test subjects. The 3D spatial thinking that makes the Portal series so addictive will work even better when you're not alone in solving problems.

Co-op in a game is great if neither of you knows the answer: if your partner has to wait patiently for you to solve a riddle every time, you feel like an idiot; if not, they will rush you, which is what makes the game really cool. It’s true that it’s very difficult, several years after the game’s release, to find newcomers. Luckily, Valve's team of map editors have created a full set of excellent new maps for dual play.

Release: 2018 | Developer: DrinkBox Studios | Buy

First off, Guacamelee 2 has had a place on this list for years, thanks to its Metroid-esque spirit and co-op support. The sequel supports up to four players, allowing you to travel together and have tons of fun, colorful combos in a classic beat-em-up. A more recent game, in contrast to the slow and atmospheric Hollow Knight, which is why co-op fits so well here. Stupid, exaggerated (in terms of characters) and with really fun fights. You can also now play as a chicken.

Year of issue: 2014 | Developer: Larian Studios | Buy

It may have been surpassed by Original Sin 2, but it's still one of the best: a deep, rewarding RPG that you can play with a friend.

Divinity: Original Sin stands out for several reasons. First, it's a return to classic RPG form. Secondly, you can explore this deep world and absurdly funny texts together with a friend, this opportunity appeared for the first time in the game, and is popular with gamers.

The Enhanced Edition has completely revised the voice acting, pictures and trophies. There are also new modes for fans of brutal combat, or those who want to explore the history of the world.

A massive, 100-hour RPG can be played with friends on a drop-in/drop-out basis, but the most dedicated of you should understand that you will have obligations to your playing partner. These are huge consequences, so it’s better to take your best friends as a partner so that you can experience a story with them that you won’t find anywhere else.

Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator

Year of issue: 2011 | Developer: Thomas Robertson | Buy

Let's get one thing straight: Artemis is not a Star Trek game. There is a series for that legal reasons. Agreed? Agreed. Definitely not based on Star Trek.

So, Artemis is one of the best Star Trek games. It is presented as a “simulator of the captain's bridge on a spaceship,” and its highlight is that each player has his own control scheme with different data. Players (captain, gunners, helmsmen, engineers, operators and scientists) see only a screen in front of them, so, say, an engineer will not be able to help the gunners or take the helm. But he will be able to distribute energy among the engines.

At the center of everything is the captain, who, oddly enough, does not have any screens in front of his eyes: he simply yells at his subordinates to do what is required. In last year's version 2.0, we saw many innovations affecting control schemes and the general style of drawing. If you have only played the first version of Artemis, we recommend getting a group together and playing the new upgrade on a local network.

It's incredible how quickly you adapt to the military system of orders and responses (“Helmsman, set course for Deep Space 1, hold half impulse.” “Half impulse to DS1, that's right, Captain”). And this is not because you have gotten used to the role, but because here you need to formulate commands clearly and concisely, otherwise you will all die. Well, maybe a little because you got used to the role.

Year of issue: 2013 | Developer: Bohemia Interactive | Buy

The ability to play with two or three will not surprise anyone, but the Arma engine supports dozens of players simultaneously. There's actually a lot to see here, one plays pilot, takes you and ten other people to a war zone, leaves you there to link up with twenty other people for an assault. Arma 3 isn't strictly a co-op game, but I'm including it on the list because it becomes truly memorable when everyone is on the same side against an overwhelming AI enemy.

As you dive into Arma 3, be sure to check out the Zeus multiplayer mode. One player, in the role of Zeus, leads the game as a D&D-style dungeon master, breeding equipment and enemies. As soon as you anger Zeus, he will immediately send lightning strikes at you. This is one of the fantastic co-op missions that you should never miss.

Year of issue: 2013 | Developer: Mossmouth | Buy

This is one of the best games for PC. Isn't there a reason to download it? No? Most people see Spelunky as a single-player game, but all the fun is in the multiplayer. There's so much that can go wrong here - a randomly dropped rock, bomb, vase (or any other object) could send your friend diving towards sharp spikes, but that's only small part potential of cooperative play. Remember: when you're playing through a game together, don't underestimate the power of magic.

It’s easier to carry important objects around the level with two pairs of hands. A dead player can be resurrected at next level, which makes passing Spelunky much easier. You can even create cunning plans - one distracts the merchant, and the second drops bombs on him. In most cases, of course, everything goes down the drain, but isn’t that why we sit down to play Spelunky?

Year of issue: 2009 | Developer: Valve | Buy

Fanatically balanced, well-written shooter Left 4 Dead 2 is built on the struggle of four surviving members of one team. As soon as an incredible number of zombie monsters are sent to the team, the team needs to clearly coordinate its actions, and be ready at any time to save a comrade at the last second, so that later such a story can be safely retold.

Valve also deserves credit for how long they have supported L4D2 by adding level editors, Steam Workshop support, porting of maps and characters from Left 4 Dead 1, and continuing to offer "mutations", frequently changing game modes that offer something new for the experienced players.

Left 4 Dead 2's active modding community is also a huge part of why the game is so highly regarded, having produced new campaigns such as . This allowed L4D2 to remain fun even after the base company became completely obsolete. Plus, you get to play as a Velociraptor, which certainly guarantees our highest rating.

This selection includes the TOP 10 online games with friends on PC. Of course, most of them have both single player play and modes for competitive play with other opponents, but believe me, it’s much more fun with familiar opponents.

1. Warframe – driving fights in deep space

“ ” – stealth, parkour, huge medieval axes and exoskeletons. All this manages to be combined in an amazing way in the world of the distant cosmic future.

Warframe video games

• Game website: https://www.warframe.com/

2. Tom Clancy's The Division - cool technologies in the apocalypse

"" - a gloomy first-person shooter in a New York dying from an epidemic, became Ubisoft's best-selling game in history. And no wonder.

Video games Tom Clancy's The Division

There are many more nice little things, like a gaze control system, hunger and a completely open world. The second part will be released in 2019 and promises to be even cooler!

• Game website: http://tomclancy-thedivision.ubi.com/game/ru-RU/home/

3. Total War Arena – epic battles in antiquity

“” is an excellent strategy for 2018 without the tedious development of cities. Only large-scale clashes between armies under the control of legendary commanders.

Video games Total War Arena

Use the features of the terrain, the personal qualities of the commander and the strengths of the units, but remember - in the end it’s all about teamwork.

• Game website: https://totalwararena.com/ru/

4. Warface – harsh shootouts in modern times

"" - the near future, world war and special forces soldiers using the best weapons from around the world. This is a classic shooter with an emphasis on speed and cooperative action.

Warface video games

Nothing extra, just a high-quality shooter that we deserve.

• Game website: https://wf.mail.ru/

5. Rust – realistic survival on a wild island

"" is a simulator of naked men dying from hunger, cold, thirst, aggressive bears and a patrol helicopter.

Video games Rust

There is a lot of crafting in the game, interesting construction, regular updates. This is a rare example of how they promised to bring a project to fruition and did so!

• Game website: https://rust.facepunch.com/

6. Counter Strike: Global Offensive - that legendary shooter

« Counter Strike: Global Offensive” is the revival of the very game for which people skipped classes and spent their last savings in gaming clubs. Need I say anything more?

Video games Counter Strike: Global Offensive

The game also now has a version for consoles. Be careful, it can still drag on for a long time.

• Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/81958

7. Stronghold Kingdoms – cozy medieval strategy

“ ” – simple graphics, minimum system requirements, free-to-play and familiar gameplay of the famous series.

Video games Stronghold Kingdoms

It can be argued that the graphics have long been outdated, but the hardcore gameplay still leaves a positive impression of the game. And no, donation doesn’t solve anything here at all.

• Game website: https://www.strongholdkingdoms.com/

8. Find & Destroy Tank Strategy – an interesting mixture of genres with tanks

“Find & Destroy Tank Strategy” is new for 2018, a mixture of turn-based strategy with fast, dynamic real-time battles on tanks.

Video games Find & Destroy Tank Strategy

It takes longer to describe controls than to understand them. This is a simple, fun casual game that can be played on mobile devices. There is an internal chat.

• Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/838510/

9. Raft – an unusual survival game on a raft

“Raft” is a cooperative survival game on a raft floating without any particular purpose across the endless ocean.

Raft video games

The game is fully available for solo play or co-survival with a friend. No PvP, only collaboration for a common cause!

• Game website: http://www.raft-game.com/

10. Tactical Monsters Rumble Arena – a vigorous strategy with monsters

" " – fast turn-based strategy with maps divided into hexagons. Yes, like in the good old “Heroes”.

Video games Tactical Monsters Rumble Arena

Chats, clans, challenge fields and boss battles. That case when you download a free toy to kill 10 minutes, and it suddenly becomes one of your favorites.

• Game website: http://www.tacticalmonsters.com/

This collection contains the most interesting projects to play with friends online on PC. But that’s not all; you will find more interesting games in other articles on the site.

There are quite a lot of ratings of old games. Our TOP 10 is dedicated to the best strategies that gamers from all over the world still play. This is the same classic that can cause a culture shock among the younger generation with its angular picture. And at the same time, make any adult gamer burst into tears with emotion. This rating is based on the GameRanger network game client: based on the number of hosts involved in a particular game, we will choose the most popular strategies for playing with friends. To some extent, game ratings on Kanobu and other popular resources were also taken into account.

10 Strategies for Online Play on PC

Year of manufacture: 2009

It’s a crime to make a rating of old strategies, but not remember StarCraft. But, alas: nowadays only the most devoted fans play it. Therefore, for the sake of memory, let’s turn on the new product of 2009, StarCraft: Brood War. In GameRanger there are always several dozen people who want to play it. And we can only honor the former greatness of the star battles of the very first StarCraft, which was released in 1998, with a minute of silence.

9. Cossacks: Back to War

Year of manufacture: 2002

Who's in school years didn’t spend hours of your life on “Cossacks”, going through campaigns again or smashing opponents on a variety of maps? There were several reasons for the popularity of this strategy. First of all, she was really good. A variety of units, thoughtful battles, an interesting novelty (as for 2002) with the burning of buildings and quite colorful graphics - all this could not help but please.

Secondly, there are few strategies with a similar economic component: where resources are still needed for each shot; In which game do you need to constantly think about provisions and salaries for your troops so that they don’t mutiny and turn against you? And thirdly, there were such familiar civilizations there, familiar from the school history course: there are few strategies where you can play for the Ukrainian Cossacks.

8. Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriot

Year of manufacture: 2003

A special feature of this game is its fairly rapid development from the Stone Age to the present day. Thus, by showing good tactical skill, it is quite possible to get ahead of your opponent by one or even two eras and meet his cavalry with aviation. This is a kind of “Civilization” in real time. It's probably futuristic combat like this, as well as dynamic gameplay, that made Rise of Nations a popular and, I think, somewhat underrated game among fans. Because the campaigns of this game are well thought out and no less interesting than the online game.

7. Empire Earth

Year of manufacture: 2001

Honestly, if the rating was mine, and not GameRanger users, then this game would be in the top three. Empire provides the player with the opportunity to develop from the Stone Age to the technologies of the future, which are not yet in sight. To be honest, this development is happening much slower than in the same “Age of Empires” or “Rise of Nations”. Therefore, those who want to go through all the milestones of human history in one game will inevitably be disappointed and abandon this idea. But, if you choose certain eras for the game, ideally one or two, then everything will become much more interesting. The main thing is to know what to choose.

The most successful era, in my opinion, is the industrial one. However, subsequent eras also use in great demand: up to the present day (modern times). But delving further into the nano-era and other wilds is a dubious pleasure.

Also, the feel of the game differs significantly depending on the type of map chosen. The undisputed leader in this regard is the Mediterranean map.

Remembering these simple secrets, you can truly appreciate Empire Earth. By the way, the gameplay is quite similar to “Epoch”, but in a somewhat simplified form - less technology: only horses, only hardcore!

6. The Battle for Middle-Earth II

Year of manufacture: 2006

The first part of The Battle for Middle-Earth (2004) was remembered not only for its interesting characters, but also for its large-scale battles during the siege of Minas Tirith and other fortresses. Having gathered a sufficient number of fans, the first part was still inferior in popularity to its successor, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II.

Unlike the first part, now buildings could be erected anywhere, and not in specially designated cells. In addition, units can no longer be placed on the walls of fortresses. There were also other changes, such as new unique units available for hire in the tavern. Despite the fact that not everyone liked such innovations, many did, which allowed TLoTR-2 to take a fairly high place in our rating.

There are also many fans of the addon of this strategy: The Rise of the Witch-king, which was released six months later, in November 2006. It added a new faction, new units and improved the AI.

5. Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour

Year of manufacture: 2003

Zero Hour would never have happened if Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 had not gained enormous popularity at the time. The game was about the confrontation between the USA and the USSR. Well, the confrontation: after the allies were able to put Stalin in his place in the first Red Alert (or rather, bury him in the ruins of Moscow), a certain Alexander Romanov from Ukraine was put in charge of the country. He was ordered to build democracy, but not to build troops. But Romanov turned out to be a true communist: he nodded and began to revive the former power of the Soviets. And to get around post-war restrictions, instead of aviation, he stamped airships. And so this whole company in 1972 begins the occupation of the United States.

In 2003, the game Command & Conquer: Generals was released, and six months later, in September, its add-on: Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour. Many fans of the “Red Menace” were critical of the release of the new product: the gameplay began to look too much like StarCrast and Warcraft-3. Plus, there were no video inserts that would create at least some kind of plot in the game. Therefore, the new toy was included in the “not cake” category and hardcore connoisseurs remained faithful to Red Allert-2.

For those who were not bothered by the above (and there were enough of them) new strategy I liked it. Especially with the release of Zero Haur. They added a lot of different goodies: upgrades, unique buildings and units for each game faction, and also returned video inserts before each mission. This is probably why Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour most appealed to fans of multiplayer C&C games.

4. Stronghold: Crusader

Year of manufacture: 2002

The first part of the game Stronghold, in my personal opinion, is the best game on the theme of a castle siege. Stronghold Crusader surpassed its predecessor with expanded gameplay features: new buildings and units made the gameplay even more fun. Stronghold is perhaps one of the best games regarding the implementation of fortifications: it is difficult to remember a similar strategy where it would be possible to invent and develop defensive redoubts that are so difficult to take.

By the way, a few years ago Stronghold: Crusader was re-released in HD. So let’s search on torrents and enjoy 😉

3. Heroes of Might & Magic III

Year of manufacture: 1999

You can love the third Heroes, you can not love them, but it is impossible not to know about them. You can't argue with the fact that this is a classic of the gaming industry that has found its place. And so far it does not seem that the new games in the series will be able to supplant the third part, which has firmly secured the title of “the most correct heroes.” And this despite the fact that Heroes of Might & Magic III has a significant number of various bugs and errors.

Why was this version fundamentally better than the second part? A little bit of everything. Improved graphics, a larger number of units, buildings and artifacts, the idea of ​​“hanging” artifacts on different parts of the hero’s body, improving units hired in cities... By the way, it was in the third part that the underground level of the map appeared. All this made the third heroes real favorites of the public. Therefore, it is not surprising that HOMM-III took third place in our hit parade of old games.

Also in online play, the first add-on for this game, Heroes of Might & Magic III: Armageddon’s Blade, has earned some recognition. In addition to new units and artifacts, a ninth city has appeared in the game - Conjugation, a haven for various elementals. Of course, there are those who want to play 4, 5, and 6 Heroes, but none of them can compare with the popularity of the third series.

2. Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

Year of manufacture: 2003

I don't like Warcraft. But this will not change the fact that many others love. This is a game that had a strong influence on the gaming industry, found crowds of its fans around the world and remains popular to this day, despite the years behind it. Frozen Throne had its own features, which over time became a classic of the genre: a tavern in which you can hire heroes unique to each race and purchase unique items.

Now it’s hard to imagine Warcraft without this feature, but it all started with Frozen Throne. Therefore, let us pay tribute to the heroic confrontation of the orcs, elves and other comrades, congratulating them on their well-deserved second place in our top list of the best strategy games of all time.

1. Age of Empires II: The Conquerors

Year of manufacture: 2000

Age of Empires is perhaps one of the most classic strategy games. Due to its wide popularity, the game has many addons and series. The most popular of them, Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, became the apotheosis of the second series, incorporating all the best. It added new civilizations, buildings and units, including quite exotic ones, as well as maps and missions. However, other add-ons, such as Age of Empires II: Forgotten Empires and Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, also find their fans. "Forgotten Empires", by the way, is an add-on from 2012 - 13 years after the release of the original "Age of Empires II". Which makes obvious the popularity that “Epoch” has not lost over time.

What is the secret of her success? Probably in a large number of original civilizations with unique units and excellent game balance: each nation has its own bonuses, expressed in the improved fighting qualities of some unique horses, ships, men with swords, or in various economic bonuses. It was also one of the first, if not the first, strategy to offer gradual development across different eras.

“Age of Mythology” can easily be classified as a game in this series. It was published back in 2002, but in the CIS it was published only in 2008, included in the “Golden Edition” collection. Along with it, the add-on “Age of Mythology: The Titans Expansion” could be found on the disc. The game, in fact, took all the previously accepted features of the game mechanics and gameplay of “Ages”. As the name suggests, this strategy focuses on the myths and legends of Egypt, Greece and Scandinavia, rather than historical events and facts. Age of Myth and its addon are also popular on GameRanger.

Not everyone will agree to the “golden mean”. There are real old-school fans, and quite a few, who are still ready to play “Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome” (released in 1998). The new, third series of the Age has an even greater number of fans: “Age of Empires III” (2005) and “Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties” (2007).

It is precisely due to the fact that “Age of Empires” has not 2-3 popular add-ons, but as many as 8 games in the series, each of which is played by a huge number of people every day, that we decided to give it the championship branch. Moreover, in comparison with Warcraft or Heroes, Age of Empires is the most classic representative of the genre. In 2013, the world saw (more precisely, Steam saw) “Age of Empires II” HD Edition, which had not only improved textures, but also improved multiplayer.

P.S. Besides the above-mentioned games, only one more recent strategy game is popular in the GameRanger client: Terraria. This is a two-dimensional version of Minecraft with more things and, according to fans, more varied (although in taste and color...) This strategy was released in 2012 .

From the early 90s to the mid-00s, strategies dominated the minds of players, receiving well-deserved honor and respect. Alas, their golden age is over: RTS (real-time strategy) cannot compete in entertainment with the next Battlefield, with the dynamics of Overwatch or the plot of Witcher 3. So we have to be content with another replay of the good old classics or wait for the release of the new “Civilization”.

However, not everything is so pessimistic. Our rating of the best strategies will allow us to identify the most worthy representatives of the genre, as well as learn about the latest releases that have given some classic strategies a second life. We hope this TOP 10 will be informative. If not: comments and voting at the bottom of the article will help.

10. Stronghold

Stronghold was released during the golden era of RTS - in 2001. At the time, most strategy games tried to emulate either C&C or Warcraft, but Stronghold had other plans. Although critics try to claim that this strategy did not bring anything significantly new to its genre, its fans will argue with this and, in my opinion, they will be right.

Stronghold had a fairly developed and extensive economic component. Although the quantity available resources not far from the standard “wood/iron/gold/stone/food”, the game introduced such an unusual parameter as “Popularity”. It provided an influx of new residents to the city and depended on many factors: taxation, variety of available food, entertainment (taverns with ale) and other things.

To hire soldiers, it was not enough to build a barracks. It was necessary to erect buildings that produced weapons. Provide the gunsmiths with the necessary building material, wait until the limping grandfather with an imposing gait delivers a hand-planed bow to the arsenal, and only after that can you hire... as much as one archer. And so with all types of troops! It was impossible to simply set up a barracks and “click” any units - this was preceded by the organization of a full cycle of production of weapons and ammunition. It is not surprising that the game had a number of economic missions that were not inferior in complexity to military ones.

A typical, serene morning in Stronghold Crusader

However, it was not the first part that gained particular popularity, but its sequel: Stronghold Crusaders, which was released the following year, 2002. As the name suggests, the game was dedicated to the confrontation between the Arabs and the Crusaders. Unfortunately, the castle attack/defense mode disappeared (the only thing worth paying attention to in the first part), but more units appeared, some of which could be hired for gold without producing weapons. Only desert warriors were hired for money, while European soldiers had to continue to be equipped exclusively with weapons of their own production.

The game remains popular to this day thanks to multiplayer and the release of various add-ons (for example, Crusaders Extreme in 2008). This is also facilitated by a simple but quite diverse system for constructing fortifications: Stronghold allows you to surround the castle with high battlements and high towers, equip them with defensive weapons and archers, install additional traps or dig a moat with water around the perimeter.

Of course, there is an equally large arsenal of siege weapons, from rams and ladders to catapults and trebuchets, which can fire at enemy fortifications not only with stones, but also... with cows. Add to this the ability to start a fire in the enemy’s city or undermine its economy with the help of hunger: the choice of combat strategy is quite extensive, as for an RTS. This variety made the game quite interesting for online play.

The first part of Command & Conquer was released in 1995, becoming a real breakthrough in the genre at that time and posing serious competition to Warcraft and Dune. Many now familiar gameplay features looked revolutionary at that time:

• Players could select an entire group of units and command them with just one click;
• There were neutral units, buildings and other objects on the map that could be interacted with (read “smashed into trash”);
• It was in C&C that the system of dividing units into classes, such as “rock, paper, scissors”, first appeared - the first type of unit is effective against the second, but vulnerable to the third, etc.;
• The game began to use videos and animated screensavers, paired with a cool soundtrack, allowing players to “get into” the history of the C&C universe, and not perceive it as just another nameless chessboard to hone your tactical abilities;
• Another signature feature of Command & Conquer is the presence of only one resource, Tiberium - it is for this that all wars in the universe of this game are fought.

C&C turned out to be incredibly popular with all that it implies: many gameplay elements were spread across other games, becoming familiar elements of most strategies. In addition to the classic C&C series, which still delights its fans with new releases, two “alternative” versions of the C&C universe have appeared over time. These are Command & Conquer: Generals (2003) and the Red Allert line of games that have become very popular.

• Red Allert

The Soviets, as it were, convey ardent greetings to old man Einstein

Red Allert deserves its own article. This game has absorbed an incredible amount of madness and cranberries on the theme of the Cold War and the confrontation between NATO and the USSR. Here is a brief description of the backstory of the universe of this game: after seeing enough of the horrors of World War II, old man Einstein in 1946 decides to build a time machine and go back in time to destroy Hitler. As a result, the scales swung in the other direction: Comrade Stalin decides to build his own, communist Reich, and Europe, together with its allies, still has to fight.

Judge for yourself how successful the game was: 35 million copies were sold worldwide, and an entry appeared in the Guinness Book of Records stating that Red Allert is the best-selling RTS in the world. Red Allert 2 and Red Allert 2 were released in 2000 and 2001: Yuri’s Revenge, which are still a classic choice for oldfags. However, for fans of more modern graphics, there is a third part of RA.

Warhammer is a vast fictional universe on which many books, comics, films, computer and board games are based. However, there are two versions of this universe: Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. In the first case, as the name suggests, Warhammer is faithful to the canons of fantasy and pleases fans of Tolkien and other “elves.” And Warhammer 40,000 creates a mix of fantasy and science fiction, pushing the confrontation closer to the stars.

There are about 20 games related to Warhammer 40,000. But only one of them is always associated with the word “Warhammer” by any strategy fan: this is the one and only Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, released in 2004.

Strategy, in the usual sense of the word, is not given much space: the focus is on tactics. Buildings are built quickly, and there are only 2 resources: energy, for which you need to build generators, and special points that you can get by holding checkpoints under enemy pressure.

The creators of the game clearly state from the very first minutes: leave all this fuss with base construction and economic development for the nerds. The WH40K universe was created solely for the purpose of forcing armored paratroopers to fight various monsters (from orcs to more exotic creatures). So no long-term economic development is expected in it: only battles from the first to the last minute.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 looks like it was created for Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear: with a cry of “Power!!!”, the player will scatter all the enemies in his path. Tactics? No, I haven't heard.

In 2009, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 was released, which received high ratings from players, was thoroughly praised by many gaming publications, but... suddenly turned out to be not a strategy. Loyal fans of the first part were horrified to discover that the long-awaited Dawn of War 2 began to resemble a Diablo-type RPG more than it did 5 years ago. True, this did not prevent the game from finding its fans, who claim that the multiplayer has retained all the necessary elements of an RTS and is quite satisfactory.

7. Total War

It's funny that Total War and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War are located next door in the ranking of the best strategies, because just in May of this year Total War: Warhammer was released - the first TW dedicated to the Warhammer universe. True, it’s not Warhammer 40,000, but Warhammer Fantasy - so it will, first of all, appeal to fans of fantasy worlds. However, let's talk about everything in order - after all, the release of this game was preceded by 9 other parts, which brought TW worldwide fame.

The main distinguishing feature of Total War is the successful combination of turn-based mode and RTS: the level of each of them is selected separately. The main action takes place on a global map of the world, in which everything happens step by step. But battles are loaded separately and rapidly develop in real time. Players will have to wisely use the terrain and different types of units, which allows them to gain an advantage even over superior enemy forces.

The first TW came out in 2000. But the series became famous worldwide thanks to its third part, Rome: Total War, which used a 3D engine. As the title suggests, the story took place during the Roman Empire. In addition to the “classic” European nations, Arab empires (Egypt) and even barbarians were available in the game. Depending on the side chosen, not only the units, but also the architecture of the cities differed. Subsequent TWs were never able to surpass the popularity of this part.

In 2013, Rome: Total War II was released - initially buggy, but later brought to mind with the help of numerous patches. Perhaps inspired by Civilization, the developers of Rome 2 added the ability to win not only through conquest, but also through culture and trade. However, this is not the only part worthy of attention: Napoleon, Attila, Shogun 2 and the previously mentioned Warhammer are also interesting in their own way.

If I had managed to create a product as successful as Warcraft, I would have rested on my laurels for 20 years, wasting all my money in some completely senseless way. But the guys from Blizzard are not like that: having received a well-deserved ovation after the release of Warcraft 2, Blizzard got to work on a space RTS. True, as a result, they still ended up with Warcraft: the beta version was mercilessly criticized and perceived as “orcs in space.” Fortunately, the developers listened to the criticism and completely redesigned the graphics engine and setting. Thus, in 1998, the legendary StarCraft was born.

The game features 3 races: Zerg, Protoss and Terrans, which are borrowed from the Warhammer 40,000 universe (Tyranids, Eldar, Imperial Guard). However, the similarity is extremely superficial: when StarCraft was born, it followed its own path of development - the universe of this game acquired its own characteristics and now has little in common with Warhammer.

In most strategies, in order to maintain a fragile balance, all nations have the same set of units and buildings + several unique buildings/soldiers, which add some variety, but do not fundamentally affect the tactics of the game. StarCraft doesn't care about these canons. All 3 races are completely different:

• Zerg far from technology and science, they achieve superiority solely in quantity.
• Highly spiritual protoss are the complete opposite of the zerg: every protoss fancies himself important person with a rich inner world, therefore it costs a lot of resources, but it also hits, respectively, painfully and strongly.
• Terrans(from the word “terra”) represent people in the game. They are the “golden mean” between zerg and protoss.

The beautiful lights of Star Craft 2 lure gullible schoolchildren and cause a skeptical smile from oldfags

Such striking differences between the races gave the game a solid advantage over other RTS, earning it a reputation as a “smart” strategy, in which you not only need to “generate” as large an army as possible, but to think through your actions in advance, demonstrating strategic and tactical skills. Microcontrol also plays an important role: if the Protoss are not particularly demanding in terms of precision control, then success offensive operations other races, especially the zerg, directly depends on the speed and accuracy of the player's reaction.

StarCraft II was released in 2010. Modern graphics and excellent multiplayer allowed the game to return to its former glory and take its rightful place in e-sports. Although the oldfags claim that the unique balance of the first SC has been partially lost, StarCraft 2 received high ratings from a variety of gaming publications (an average of 9 out of 10) and gave it a second life.

5.Age of Empires

In 1997, the first part of Age of Empires was released: the same Warcraft, only in profile. Instead of fantasy races, the game featured 12 human nations that could develop from the Stone Age to antiquity. This game did not make a splash in the gaming world, but overall it was received favorably, which inspired its creators to start working on the second part.

2 years later, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings was released, which became truly legendary. It eclipsed not only the first part, but also many of the then “whales” of this genre, winning over a decent army of fans. In 2000, the add-on Age of Empires II: The Conquerors appeared, which added 5 new nations with unique units, as well as additional missions and technologies to the game. It was this part of the game that became the most popular in the Age of Empires series. What is the reason for its success?

• Diversity of nations. There were 18 nations in The Conquerors, many of which were quite exotic: Huns, Teutons, Saracens, Celts, Persians, Aztecs, Mayans, etc. In fact, it was this game that started the fashion for strategies with many different civilizations.
• Opportunity for development. The second “feature”, which was implemented for the first time among strategies in AoE 2, is the transition from one historical era to another. All this was accompanied by a fairly extensive tree of technologies, for the research of which it was necessary to build various buildings and spend resources.
• Balance. Of course, the nations differed not only in color and different design of buildings. Each of them had its own bonuses and unique units. Some had an economic advantage, others had stronger cavalry, others had great siege weapons, others had long-range fleets, etc. All this variety was fairly balanced with no clear favorites. As a result, Age of Empires 2 attracted many fans of online battles.

As it turned out, a beautiful picture cannot replace interesting gameplay

Age of Empires III was released in 2005. She wasn't bad, but she didn't come close to the success of her predecessor. As a result, after several addons, Microsoft gave up and, to the delight of fans, returned to Age of Empires 2. In 2013, they released Age of Empires 2: HD edition, and then 2 more addons: The Forgotten (5 new nations, including the Slavs) and The African Kingdoms (4 more nations and “African” campaigns). So today, AoE 2 continues to develop and delight fans with new additions.

4. Cossacks

The success of Age of Empires attracted the attention of many game makers: they stopped trying to create their own "Warcraft" and switched to "Age of Empires" (which was undoubtedly inspired by Warcraft). So the guys from the Ukrainian company GSC Game World created an RTS, which conceptually has a lot in common with AoE.

The game "Cossacks", released in 2001, turned out to be so successful that in the eyes of many domestic strategists it overshadowed "Epoch" for a long time. If you believe "Gaming Mania", then at one time "Cossacks" became the best-selling domestic game (more than 1 million copies).

"Cossacks" continued the idea of ​​numerous gaming nations. In the second addon of the first part, which was called “War Again,” 20 different countries were available. And if in “Epoch” there was not a single Slavic nation, then in “Cossacks” not only Russia, but also Ukraine was available (which is logical, following from the name and geographical location of the developers). There were also more sophisticated nations, like Piedmont and Saxony.

Unlike other strategies, in “Cossacks” resources were spent not only on acquiring units, but also on their maintenance. Without food, famine began, and mercenaries, purchased for gold, rebelled as soon as the treasury was empty. To use firearms, iron and coal were needed - without them, riflemen and artillery were defenseless.

Also in the game it was possible to capture some enemy buildings, artillery and peasants (except for Ukrainian ones, with them as usual: will or death). Compared to “Age of Empires,” “Cossacks” seemed more dynamic, allowing you to create an incredible number of some crazy and fearless units - in a network game, the battles of such hordes looked epic and exciting.

• Cossacks 2

In 2005, “Cossacks 2” was released: despite the high ratings of many gaming publications, the game did not evoke the same enthusiasm as the first part. Absolutely everything in it has been redesigned: it has become more realistic and thoughtful. No “disputed” nations, raids by hordes of fearless madmen and upgrades of ancient guns to such a degree of efficiency that even Kalashnikov becomes envious.

The battles in “Cossacks II” forced you to take into account the terrain, reload your guns for a long time and monitor the morale of the soldiers, who could become cowardly and rush into chaos. It sounds like a good idea, but in the online game there is no trace of the former fun left.

• Cossacks 3

And on September 21, 2016, the long-awaited “Cossacks 3” was released, which no one had even dreamed of. And everything would be fine if it weren’t for the number 3 in the title - everyone was expecting a continuation of the series, but they received a remastering of the first part. The old game was transferred to a new graphics engine, the gameplay was completely taken from the original “Cossacks”. Add to this a decent number of bugs that GSC Game World actively corrected after release using various patches, and you can understand why many gamers felt deceived. Still, GSC should have announced that the game is a remastering of the first part to release, not after him.

3.Heroes of Might and Magic

The first part of the turn-based strategy Heroes of Might and Magic was released back in 1995. Its predecessor was King's Bounty, which appeared back in 1991. But universal love and recognition for HoMM came gradually, covering Heroes of Might and Magic III somewhere closer to 1999.

The action of all “Heroes” takes place in a certain fantasy universe. There are races, but the player is not tied to them: the hero can conquer castles of any factions and hire any available units. So the most diverse and wild brethren can gather under the same banners: elves and skeletons, centaurs and dragons, people and elementals.

Battles take place on a field divided into tiles (hexagons). Units of the same type occupy one cell, regardless of their number. The moves are carried out in turns, while the hero looks at this action from the outside, from time to time trying to help his army by casting various spells. Gradually, the hero gains experience, learns new skills and collects various artifacts that make him better and higher.

HoMM IV came out in 2004 and was received, to put it mildly, ambiguously: there were too many innovations. The main and key innovation concerned the heroes: from passive observers, they turned into active participants in battles who could move, cause damage and be attacked like other units. Heroes could travel without troops at all: alone or in a gang of 7 characters. Having pumped up properly, a lone hero could independently take out a large army.

There was also the other side of the coin: if you managed to kill the enemy hero at the beginning of the battle, you could get a solid advantage. For example, it made sense to organize a sabotage attack on the enemy, kill the leader of the army and retreat - the headless army lost the opportunity to capture mines and castles, which forced it to retreat and drag the lifeless carcass of the commander home.

All these innovations have given rise to countless opportunities for controversy and hollivars: since 6 years have passed since the release of the third part, a new generation of gamers has appeared who have never seen “Heroes” before - they liked HoMM4. But those who grew up on the previous parts experienced mixed feelings.

• Heroes of Might and Magic V

The debate between supporters and opponents of the fourth part was stopped by the release of Heroes of Might and Magic V, which took place in 2006: yesterday's opponents joined forces in a common impulse to express complaints about cartoon graphics for anime fans. If you close your eyes to the picture, the gameplay of “Heroes 5” was a modernized copy of the third part - obviously, the developers did not experiment in order to make money on the nostalgia of fans of the series.

This is where the classic “Heroes” ends and something completely incomprehensible begins. HoMM 6 and 7 have turned into some kind of alternative product, so far from the original that even “Heroes 4” looks like a standard of kosher against their background. Therefore, most fans of “Heroes” prefer to play the earlier versions, from 3 to 5. But the Third HoMMs remain the most popular. Moreover, the HD version of this game was released in 2015.

2. Civilization

The first “Civilization” appeared in the shaggy year of 1991 and, as they say, was a digital version of the same name board game early 80s. Since in those days ordinary mortals did not have computers, few people suspected the new strategic toy: mainly employees of research institutes and other interesting enterprises.

Nevertheless, the game turned out to be quite successful: what engineer could resist the temptation to try on the role of Stalin or Gandhi after a busy work shift? The presence of the Civilopedia, a detailed gaming encyclopedia, distinguished Civilization from other strategies of that time.

• Civilization II

In 1996, Sid Meier and company released the second part of Ziva, which, thanks to the increased prevalence of computers, became a completely successful commercial product. Despite the mediocre graphics, the game had cool moments: for example, during the construction of a wonder of the world, a video clip of a real newsreel was played. You could see the launch of Apollo or nuclear missile, filming the Sistine Chapel or Notre Dame de Paris. In subsequent parts, cinema was replaced by regular animation.

• Civilization III

2001 was marked by the release of Civilization III: the first Civ with nice graphics. Even now she looks quite attractive, but in 2001 this picture caused real delight. The gameplay has also undergone certain changes. In Civ 2, players tried not to collect many units on one cell, because... in the event of an enemy attack and the death of one of them, everyone who stood on the cell died. In Civ 3, nothing like this happened: in order to clear the cell of enemies, it was necessary to destroy them all.

Therefore, the obvious and only tactic of waging war in the third Civ: creating a so-called stack - a crowd of motley units on one cell. From time to time a leader would appear who could unite 3 units under his banner. This formation was called an army and was a kind of thick unit with 20 HP. With the help of the army it was possible to cut out almost anything.

City Window - the best thing in Civilization III

The signature feature of the second and third Civs was the situation in which a technologically backward unit, having more combat experience, could easily destroy some miracle weapon of the future. For example, it was normal for a spearman to tear an enemy tank to shreds with a precise blow, or for an archer to shoot down an enemy bomber with a properly drawn bow. Particularly amusing was the fact that the plane was shot down equally successfully not only by an archer, but also by a swordsman. In subsequent parts this problem was partly solved, but in the first Civs such events gave rise to many attacks of hysteria.

Civilization III had a number of innovations that migrated to all subsequent games in the series: various resources on the map, the Golden Age, cultural influence on neighboring cities, with the help of which it was possible to assimilate a neighboring settlement, a technology tree (in previous parts you had to memorize or write down the sequence discoveries of various sciences).

• Civilization IV

Civilization IV, released in 2005, acquired a three-dimensional image. Players who were accustomed to the third Civa were wary of the unusual graphics, which were so different from the previous part. Religion and espionage appeared in the game (the Beyond the Sword addon), and aviation actions became more realistic: planes carried out raids from the city and could not be shot down by some harsh spearman. Congestion problem large quantity units on one cell was partly decided by aviation or artillery: damage from their attack was received by all units in the stack.

Another cool innovation that appeared in the Warlords addon is vassal states. Now, instead of completely conquering negligent neighbors, it was enough to defeat the bulk of the troops and capture several key cities. After this, the enemy agreed to capitulate and became a vassal. Also, vassal status could be granted to a group of its cities on another continent or islands, turning them into a kind of autonomous republic.

2010 came and Civilization V was released. Square cells were replaced by more convenient and practical hexes: with them, state borders got rid of the strange linear angularity and became more believable. The system of accumulating a huge number of units on one cell was completely demolished: now only one military unit could be placed on one hexagon. At the same time, they were made more efficient and stronger.

The maintenance of certain units required the expenditure of strategic resources: horses, iron, oil, coal or uranium. Without them at hand, the state risked being left without cavalry, battleships, nuclear weapons and aviation, which not only added realism, but also forced players to carefully manage resources instead of riveting in incredible quantities whatever they wanted.

Construction tactics as much as possible more cities also had its day: large empires received fines for culture and science, and the population began to show dissatisfaction. So several different tactics emerged: developing through 4-5 cities with more population, or building more settlements, but with fewer inhabitants in the cities. Victory became possible with just one city (greetings from Venice).

Another innovation: the emergence of city-states that do not claim world domination. Friendship with them brought various bonuses: resources, science, culture or religion points, units and additional votes in Congress.

It is worth noting that many of the functions, as in previous Civs, were added in addons: religion and espionage, caravans, the ability to pass various resolutions in Congress and the UN - all this was not present in the initial version without addons. Therefore, reading reviews of the game, it is not difficult to see how the anger of fans of the series gradually gave way to mercy.

Civilization VI was released on October 21, 2016. Among the notable innovations: 2 technology trees, cultural and scientific, which open independently of each other. Cells around cities must be built up with special areas: scientific, cultural, military, religious, industrial, etc. It’s definitely not possible to build everything - there won’t be enough cells. Moreover, each wonder of the world also requires a separate tile.

It is difficult to describe all the innovations and features of the sixth Civa due to its freshness. But the game has already received the highest ratings from various gaming publications, and reviews on Steam are, by and large, very positive. And this despite the fact that usually the first version of Civilization turns out to be somewhat damp and only over time, with the help of several add-ons, it turns into a masterpiece. But, apparently, the sixth Civilization may become the first representative of the series that is good from the very beginning.

1.Warcraft

By a large margin, Warcraft, one of the founders of the RTS genre, whose achievements became the standard for dozens and hundreds of subsequent games, climbs to the first place in the ranking of the best strategies. It should not be surprising that C&C and StarCraft could not get close to Varych: his influence on the gaming industry cannot be overestimated. Dota, World of Warcraft, board and card games, and now a full-length film - all this was born only thanks to the game from Blizzard, which was released back in 1994.

The plot of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans is tied to the confrontation between humans and orcs. As in the film, orcs fall out of a portal into the human world and a struggle begins between them for a place in the sun. However, the first part did not attract much attention - all the glory went to its sequel, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, which was released just a year later. But just look at the changes in the schedule that have occurred in this short period! Add interesting videos and a good plot to a pleasant picture, and that’s it - a masterpiece is ready.

As if “before” and “after” - the year was not in vain

• Warcraft III

But we had to wait a long time for the continuation of the banquet - seven whole years. And the first reaction of the gaming community was ambiguous: too many suspicious innovations appeared in the game:

• 3D engine;
• 2 races grew into 4 (night elves and undead were added);
• Quite a lot of neutral units and monsters appeared on the maps;
• Heroes were added to the game, who accumulated experience, upgraded skills and cast all sorts of things (why not RPG?);
• The videos have become even brighter and more beautiful;
• The plot is even more twisted and pathetic.

The pinnacle of the evolution of the third part was the release of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne in 2003, which gave birth to the memorable DotA game (I’m unlikely to discover America if I remind you that DotA was created in the regular map editor of Warcraft 3 and was not considered as a full-fledged independent game).

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Top best strategies that can be played online or online with friends and random opponents, description of ways to play

Strategies are games in which you can feel like a king, ruler, and even God. They do not feature dynamic gameplay (as in shooters), but they force the player to think logically, develop tactics, and make various decisions. Victory in them depends on the user’s ability to foresee the future actions of the opponent, coordinate the actions of his army and calculate his strength.

At other times, strategies are not only battles between thousands of troops. Behind the entertainment lies a complex economic system, the development of which will also bring you victory in the game. And sometimes there are no battles at all - some developers release exclusively economic strategies based on some kind of business (or in other areas).

In any case, the strategies can keep you glued to the screen for a long time. In this article, we have presented the TOP best strategies on PC of all time, in which you will find decent games. They can be played with friends, teaming up against AI, alone, or against other users. For convenience, the strategies are presented in the form of a list that describes their main advantages.

Of course, you can express your opinion in the comments on the articles, and those who don’t have time to download strategies on a PC can look at the list of the best rated online browser strategies that you can start playing right now.

Warcraft III - online

Out: 03.06.2002

Genre: real-time strategy with RPG elements

The essence of the game lies in the uniform construction of a base, pumping up heroes and recruiting an army. For each game stage and situation, different actions are prioritized, of which there are an inexorable variety, which in itself determined the incredible success of the game among gamers. It is worth noting that different races have different priorities, which creates a certain abstract balance.

Of course, the game achieved success primarily because the history of Warcraft is quite old, and the first game in the series was released back in 1994 on DOS, which allowed it to win crowds of fans at the dawn of the gaming industry. The entire Warcraft series has a deep and thoughtful history, on which the plot of Warcraft III is based, although it is not important here, it is necessary for the full perception of the game.

For the most part, the game received recognition for its good balance of races and atypical gameplay for those years, which marked the beginning of a new era of strategies.

• Balanced hero leveling system;
• Balanced economic system;
• Interesting solo company;
• Balan races;
• You can play online;
• The graphics are outdated.

You can play Warcraft online on servers: Tangle, Garena, iCCup.

Heroes of Might and Magic III - online

Out: 28.02.1999

Genre: Turn-based strategy with RPG elements

Although the series of “heroes” is quite old, it has never acquired a significant plot. First of all, in the games of the series, the gameplay and gaming component are valued, and the plot is not at all important.

The gameplay itself boils down to the fact that the player needs to destroy all opponents on the map. Initially, the player has an undeveloped castle and one hero under his command. The castle is gradually upgraded by constructing new buildings, which opens up access to hiring new creatures. The hero can be upgraded in battle, or by distributing gold from chests to your troops. To win, it is enough to destroy all enemy heroes and capture all castles.

There are a total of 9 races in the game (specifically in the third part), including:

• Castle – people;
• Stronghold - elves;
• The tower is the residence of magicians;
• The fortress is a swamp;
• Citadel - barbarians;
• Inferno - demons;
• Necropolis - undead;
• Dungeon - command underground creatures;
• Conjugation - command the elements of the elements.

Each race has its own orientations, advantages, and special skills. For example, necropolis can raise the dead, inferno can turn its defeated fighters into demons, and so on.

Only the 3rd and 5th parts of the game are in demand among players, while the rest either fall short in gameplay or have too good graphics that make your eyes bleed out. It's about about the excessive detailing of the 6th and 7th parts of the game, which played a disservice. The players did not like the fourth part because of the terrible models and textures.

It is the third part of the heroes that is considered the genius of the series, which is why large tournaments are still held for it and there is a significant gaming community. The problem with playing Heroes 3 online is the length of the matches, as some games lasted up to a month in real time.

If you want to try your hand at online play, we recommend visiting the heroesworld portal, which contains all the useful information.

• Expanded economic system;
• Developed leveling of heroes;
• Balance of gaming needs (in leveling, construction, hiring creatures, etc.)
• You can play online;
• Balanced combat;
• The presence of an unofficial team that is constantly improving the game.

Civilization Series

Out: 1991-2016

Genre: global turn-based strategy

Initially, the game captured the minds of players with its interesting gameplay, which boils down to balancing the army, economy and development (and later culture) of the nation. The game also has a certain historicity, because all nations actually existed.

To win this game you need to skillfully create cities, build trade networks between them, enter into alliances and betray allies, create an army balance that matches your economic development and wisely develop technology.

A simple example: if you only invest in the army, there may come a time when your soldiers will fight with sticks, and the enemy will already have tanks. You can also invest only in development, but then your civilization can be destroyed by ordinary barbarians, and you will never have time to develop.

It is precisely because of the diversity of the gameplay and the variability of development that many call Civilization the best strategy of all time.

At the moment, an online game with random participants is available on Steam, allowing you to test your strengths and skills.

• Unique economic system;
• Unique research system;
• Balance of nations and play styles;
• Advanced multiplayer;
• Expanded political system.

In 2016, a continuation of the legendary series was released, Civilization 6 became the best turn-based strategy of the year on PC.

XCOM series

Out: 1993-2016

Genre: turn-based strategy

The famous strategy about protecting the earth from the invasion of alien invaders. You are a special squad of professionals, the only stronghold of humanity in the struggle for survival. Study alien technologies, take them into your arsenal and destroy your enemies!

The gameplay of the game is tied to the tactical and economic components. Tactical includes battles with opponents, flights to the landing site or landing site of alien ships, development of fighters, choosing the right perks for them, and so on. Economic - development of the base, the right choice of technology, additional rooms, waste of resources and other things. Also, after the battle, the player receives trophies from the dead, which can then be sold on the black market or used independently in battle.

Many highlight XCOM as one of the best strategy games on PC.

• An interesting system for leveling up fighters;
• A variety of game cards;
• Many battle strategies;
• An interesting system of research and leveling up the base;
• Extraordinary endings.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Out: 1996-2008

Genre: real time strategy

The so-called “cranberry” strategy. For reference, cranberry is considered an unrealistic presentation of the inhabitants and ideology of the USSR, including its territory after the collapse. The game is built on this non-existent ideology. The action takes place in a parallel universe where there was no World War II, so all nations, including the USSR, were able to develop and become incredibly strong.

Later, a time machine was invented that allowed one to change the course of history. For example, the third part of the game takes place when the Russians decide to kill Albert Einstein in the past. Sending to the past was successful, the USSR captured almost all of Europe, but the war did not end - it was just the beginning.

The gameplay is standard for games of this genre, namely, you need to develop your base, hire soldiers, equipment to completely destroy opponents on the map.

• Fascinating plot;
• Balance of Nations;
• Unique combat units;

Space Rangers

Out: 23.12.2002

Genre:“epic game” with elements of RPG, turn-based strategy, arcade, text quest.

A game about a war in intergalactic space between intelligent races. The player can play almost all races, except for the Klisans and Dominators - hostile semi-intelligent races that receive orders from the main ships, which control their behavior. The entire plot of the game tells about the war of the peaceful races of the commonwealth against the above-mentioned invaders.

The main advantage of the game is the gameplay. As you may have noticed, the game does not have a specific genre, since it is absolutely difficult to classify it into any genre. But the game is often singled out as the best strategy game because players spend most of their time controlling their spaceship in separate systems. There are also arcade elements in the game, namely, when flying between systems, you can stumble upon hostile nodes, where the game turns into real-time battle.

RPG elements manifest themselves in leveling up the skills of your captain, playing the role of a good ranger or an evil pirate smuggler. Elements of a text quest appear in some tasks that NPCs give to the player, or, for example, during visits to prisons, where the player balances between being released as quickly as possible and not dying at the hands of fellow inmates. In the latest versions of the game there are also battles with robots on planets in real-time strategy mode.

As you can see, the potential of the game is incredibly high, and it can rightfully be called one of the best RPGs of all time, not only due to the unique gameplay, but also nice graphics, random generation of maps, planets, tasks and other things, which allows you to start the game again and again .

• A unique game world that is randomly generated in each new game;
• Developed system for playing a game role;
• A good mix of many genres;
• Exciting text tasks;
• Nice graphics.

Stronghold: Crusader

Out: 2002-2014

Genre: real time strategy

A classic strategy game in which you act as the ruler of a small city. Your task is to equally develop military and economic power. In gaming companies you can play both the role of the cruel Arab ruler Saladin and the role of the King of England Richard the Lionheart.

The gameplay, as mentioned earlier, lies in the equal development of the army and the economy. Due to its unusual gameplay, the game received recognition. Some of the game's features include:

• Your servants need to build personal houses that provide the maximum number of army;
• It is necessary to develop the food industry, because your entire military machine may perish simply because of hunger. This also creates the possibility of prolonged sieges of castles, forcing the enemy to decay from hunger;
• Almost all fighters cannot be hired just like that - they need to create weapons and armor, and for this it is necessary to collect resources.

If you play against the computer, you will notice that it creates monotonous castles, which, however, are not so easy to break through if the enemy is one of the strong ones. Still, this is one of the disadvantages that can quickly discourage the desire to play. The main potential of the game is revealed in multiplayer maps, which can be played online using Hamachi or Tangle. It is also worth noting that a clear disadvantage is that the player is tied to the starting point - it is impossible to build buildings near the enemy’s castle.

• Unique production and economic system;
• Expanded construction capabilities;
• Not a bad company;
• You can play online with friends.

Kings bounty

Out: 2008-2014

Genre: real-time strategy role-playing game with turn-based battles

The unusual combination of the genre makes the game quite interesting for beginners, and the beautiful graphics without excessive detail are pleasing to the eye. It is worth noting that in the later parts of the game it is possible to enable a 3D game mode, which must be played with appropriate glasses.

The player can choose between three classes: warrior, paladin and mage. Each of them conducts battles in their own way. For example, a warrior has an increased number of creatures, a mage attacks enemies with spells, and a paladin is something in between.

The game takes place in a fictional fantasy world, which is inhabited by fairly canonical magical creatures such as vampires, demons, and elves. The player acts as a treasure hunter, on whose shoulders rests the fate of preserving the world. First, he will have to become a great hero, recruit an army of mystical creatures in order to fight the evil henchmen.

The gameplay looks something like this: you walk around the world map in real time, and when you come across enemy units, a turn-based battle mode starts, where the hero can use a book of magic and spirits. Looks like a classic turn-based battle. As you walk around the map, you can communicate with the characters that inhabit the world, complete tasks for them, receive rewards, hire troops, buy items, and so on.

• Interesting character leveling system;
• Many artifacts and unique creatures;
• Interesting combat system;
• Not boring quests;
• Nice cartoon graphics;
• Many games in the series are made in the same style.

StarCraft II - online

Out: 26.06.2010

Genre: real time strategy

An equally exciting game from the creators of Warcraft – Blizzard. The plot of the game tells about the battle of three cosmic races: the Zerg, the Protoss and the Terrans. Unlike Warcraft, the game is more dynamic and lacks heroes, which completely changes priorities in battles.

StarCraft also has a rich story, but it is presented to players during story cutscenes, making you merely an observer rather than a maker of the story.

Each playable race has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, Protoss units have many additional abilities that must be used at the right time, otherwise the army will be quite weak. Considering that the game itself is very fast, to succeed in the game you need to have skills quick game and thinking.

StarCraft can rightfully bear the title of the best strategy game on PC of all time.

The game can be played online through the Blizzard game downloader.

• Race balance;
• Balanced economy;
• Fast pace of the game;
• You can play online;
• Regular tournaments from official developers.

Warhammer 40,000 series of games

Out: 1999 - 2009

Genre: real time strategy

Warhammer is a fairly popular game not only in computer form, but also in card games. The history of the game appeared long before the development of the computer sphere (in 1983) in America, which determined the success of the series.

The history of the world tells of bloody wars for control of the galaxy, grandiose betrayals and ascensions, and so on. The games in this series are not tied only to the strategy genre, because there are both CCG and action branches.

The most famous games in the series for the general public: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, tell the story of a war for control of one designated planet between the game races. The player chooses one of the sides in the war, which has unique units and battle tactics. In the future, your task will be to seize control of the entire planet. Some games in the series divide the gameplay into two stages: global turn-based control and real-time strategy. The first mode is simply choosing a point of attack, and the second is the actual battle. In battle, you need to rebuild your base, capture key points that bring one of two resources - influence, strengthen them and attack enemy bases. It is worth noting that the main objective of the game is to destroy all enemy buildings.

Almost all Vakha strategies can be played through hamachi.

• Deep history;
• Race balance;
• Each race has its own unique characteristics;
• Interesting system for improving units;
• Interesting company.

Company of Heroes

Out: 2006-2009

Genre: real time strategy

The plot of the game follows such films as “Saving Private Ryan”, “A Bridge Too Far” and the television series “Band of Brothers”. The action takes place during the Great Patriotic War.

The gameplay is a classic RTS with wargame elements. Many note that the game is reminiscent of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series due to the fact that the player can independently choose the weapons with which his platoons will fight. The troops also have a combat morale scale, which affects the effectiveness of the soldiers. For example, if a platoon comes under machine gun fire, its morale drops sharply, which reduces its shooting and running speed. In addition, when a squad member who was holding a weapon dies, it does not disappear, but remains on the ground where it can be picked up. The next feature of the game is the system of squad ranks, which with each increased level fighters allows you to improve their characteristics, which creates a certain convention that the units are not just meat.

Wargame elements also include the fact that the player can install defensive structures himself, increasing the effectiveness of fighters. All the ditches, sandbags, etc. can be occupied by your fighters to increase their effectiveness. Since the game can maintain a small limit, and the combat speed is quite low, the result is an entertaining combat simulator. Of course, this game is not singled out as the absolute best strategy, but it deserves to be at least a nominee.

• Interesting game missions;
• Unusual gameplay;
• The feeling of real battles is created;

Cossacks Series

Out: 2001-2016

Genre: economic strategy

The game stands out for its gameplay, which is based on the balance of economic and military power. The correct construction of the economy has a key role in the game, because even if you skillfully use military forces, skillfully withdraw them, divide them into groups, opening the horizon for a volley of guns, then sooner or later, with a weak economy, you will lose to the player who is more focused on economic component. Firstly, a player with a strong economy can simply spam units - he does not need to think about their safety, because there are always resources. Secondly, the availability of resources such as coal and iron determines the ability of shooting units to attack. If there is no coal or iron, the fighters cannot shoot. Food also plays an important role, as it is a constantly consumed resource. Therefore, if your population is growing, then your food infrastructure should grow accordingly.

The game also stands out in that each player can hire a huge number of troops, which allows the use of diverse gaming strategy. Among the types of troops you can find: cavalry, melee units, ranged units, artillery. In addition, the game has technical development that allows you to recruit stronger and more technologically advanced troops.

Many players are betting that the third part of the series will be the best strategy game of 2016!

• Dependence of military power on the economy;
• Many battle strategies;
• The need to balance economics and military strength.

Anno 1404

Out: 2009-2010

Genre: economic strategy

The plot is tied to a parallel reality, which, however, repeats real historical prototypes, such as the Crusades, dawn early forms capitalism and so on.

The gameplay is tied to economic warfare and the development of colonies and settlements. You, as an effective ruler, need to correctly calculate the distribution of resources for the development of cities and conduct diplomatic relations. The combat component of the game is divided into sea and land battles, however, the opportunity to wage war is not immediately open, but later becomes one of the elements that helps to defeat opponents.

All states are divided into two types: European and Eastern. A European country cannot fully develop without spices and quartz, produced only in the east, which naturally necessitates active trade, which is also one of the main ways to earn gold. One of the key tasks in urban planning is the construction of large cultural elements such as cathedrals or mosques.

• Developed economy;
• An interesting process of urban planning;
• Advanced diplomacy system.

Total War series

Out: 2000-2015

Genre: global strategy

Some semblance of historical strategy. Actions take place on the global world map in different periods of time - it all depends on the part of the game. The player can choose any of the presented countries and subsequently capture the entire map, depending on the established victory conditions.

But it is not for its plot and historical component that this game is singled out as the best strategy on PC, but for its gameplay. It is built on the step-by-step movement of armies, the development and capture of cities in various countries. Battles take place in real time, where the player acts as a commander, places his troops on the map and directly leads the battle. There is also a politics mode where the player makes alliances, declares wars, exchanges resources, and so on.

• Interesting policy system;
• Interesting in-game battles in real time;
• Developed system of internal events ( crusades, jihads, etc.);
• An advanced system for improving cities, depending on their location.

Disciples

Out: 1999-2010

Genre: turn-based strategy with RPG elements

The game takes place in the cruel fantasy world of Nevendaar, where dark forces constantly strive to awaken. Companies for all nations are available to the player to complete. It turns out that the player himself weaves the whole story. There are a total of five nations available in the game, including:

• Hordes of undead are servants of the ancient goddess of death Mortis;
• The Empire is a race of people under the protection of the supreme angels;
• Legions of the Damned - Betrezen's demonic minions;
• The Elven Alliance is a united army of elves led by Queen Ellumiel;
• Mountain clans are harsh foothill people led by a high king.

The gameplay is classic strategy. The player’s task is to intelligently explore the territory and upgrade the army. Oh yes, unlike other strategies, here you can only hire minions lower levels, which in the future need to be pumped up, gaining experience in battle. Overall, the combat system in Disciples is unique, which is what made the game so successful. At the beginning, the player starts with one capital and a hero. The capital is a unique city guarded by a very strong creature, so it is almost impossible to break through the capital from the very beginning. The war is being waged over sources of magic - one of the resources and separate outposts that allow you to hire troops far from the capital.

• A unique system for leveling up creatures;
• The races are not alike;
• Race balance;
• An interesting system for using magic;

Age of Empires series of games

Out: 1997-2007

Genre: real time strategy

Quite an old game that can also claim to be the best PC strategy of all time. The main advantage of this game is custom tournaments with large prize pools reaching up to 100 thousand dollars. The reason for such sums for such an old game is its fans from rich countries who can afford to spend such sums on organizing tournaments.

The gameplay itself comes down to a balance between technology, economy and army. Each nation can move between 5 eras in battle:

• Age of Exploration;
• Age of Colonization;
• The Age of Fortresses;
• Industrial Age;
• Age of Empire.

Each era opens up new research, types of troops and buildings. If you switch between eras early, without spending money on an army, then most likely you will be crushed by “homeless people”, and if you focus only on hiring troops, then most likely the enemy will crush you with a more high-tech limit.

Many players argue that to play effectively in AOE, you just need to be able to move your troops away from volleys of siege weapons and archers, which leads to low army losses and increased economic development, due to reduced resource consumption to maintain the combat limit.

Play AOE online with friends or random players via Steam, Tangle or Hamachi.

• The need for skillful balancing of all game aspects (economy, troops, research, construction);
• Balance of all races (in the latest version);
• Tournaments with large prize pools;
• Average game speed.

Age of Mythology

Out: 01.12.2002

Genre: Real-time strategy

Age of Mythology is somewhat similar to the game described above, but still has different roots and features that allow you to build a more interesting game.

The key feature of the game is the replacement of eras with the worship of gods, which bestow special powers and new mythical creatures with special characteristics and skills, such as fire or poisonous breath, freezing a key unit, etc.

Unlike AOE, where the player only has a human and siege limit, AOM also has a mythic limit, consisting of mythical creatures such as giants, dryads, rocs and others. AOM does not have such significant prize pools as AOE, but it also has its own community, among which relatively regular tournaments are held.

You can play AOM online via Steam, Tangle or Hamachi.

• It is necessary to correctly balance all game aspects (economy, troops, research, construction);
• Balance of all races and deities;
• You can play online;
• Average game speed.

Settlers 7

Out: 23.03.2010

Genre: RTS, city planning simulator

A simulator of building cities that subsequently create a vast kingdom. The main task of the game is to correctly place buildings and create transport connections between them. The player can develop his kingdom in three directions, including:

• Military production;
• Scientific approach;
• Trading perspective.

Each development path will ultimately lead the player to victory. For example, if you choose the military path, then the focus of your development will be the army, which will subsequently try to crush your enemies. The scientific path will help you defeat your opponents with technology, and the trade path will help you capture the best trade routes on the entire map, which will give you an advantage over your opponents. Each development path includes unique units.

Critics highlight good artificial intelligence, but a weak storyline.

• Good artificial intelligence;
• Expanded urban planning capability;
• Equality of development paths (economics, military development and technology).