Summary
Understandably, RTS games have a reputation for being difficult for beginners to pick up. After all, the nature of the real-time element means that players are usually thrown into the deep end where familiar players thrive, but newbies have a really rough time.
Luckily, not all RTS games are like that. In fact, in modernity, even the more complex RTS games have refined their formula to be simple even for beginners, with depth waiting for more experienced players if they want it. This list is ranked not just by the quality of the game, but by how it blends its simplicity to make a great experience for a beginner.
One of the best ways to get into the RTS genre is to do away with complicated unit names and just work with what’s familiar. In the early 2000s, there were a lot ofAge of Empiresclones, andStar Wars: Galactic Battlegroundswas one of the best, using familiar units to take the edge off the RTS experience for newcomers.
With a hefty roster of lore-accurate campaigns, playing from every side of the galactic conflict,Star Wars: Galactic Battlegroundsstrikes a balance between engaging RTS gameplay and keeping things simple enough for newcomers to the genre who want to get a dose ofStar Warsgoodness.
Age of Empires 2has a claim to be the most legendary RTS game ever made, introducing legions of new fans to the genre, and remaining popular to this day, over 20 years since it was first released. That’s largely because the game has a lot of mechanical depth beneath the surface, but crucially, its simple gameplay loopis very beginner-friendly.
That means the game manages to negotiate the very tricky territory between easy entry, but a massive skill ceiling to expand to. This game is a stone-cold classic for good reason, and it’s not going to leave the rotation of experienced RTS gamers anytime soon.
Though it might sound impossible for some, these days there are generations of gamers who know the world of Azeroth not through the originalWarcraftgames, but throughWorld of Warcraftalone. That’s a shame because not only do the originalWarcraftgames have some great fantasy stories to tell, but they’re also excellent entry points into the RTS genre.
Warcraft 3is pretty handily the best jumping-in point, and it’s not really close. The game has a masterful difficulty curve, keeping things simple at the start and ramping up over an epic campaign that tells one of fantasy gaming’s best stories ever.
Trying to dethrone the indomitable reputation ofAge of Empires 2has proven to be a near fruitless task since release, butAge of Mythologytook a smart approach and decided to not even compete in the same area, leaning hard into the supernatural and the mythological to stand out from the crowd.
What results may not be the deepest RTS ever made, but it’s a brilliant entryway into the genre for new players. With a series of fantastically powerful mythological units,Age of Mythologylets beginners revel in the power fantasy elements, while retaining enough depth to challenge experienced players too.
TheCommand & Conquerfranchise has always been, well, absolutely insane. That’s all part of the charm, and no game in the franchise introduced more to the series than the criminally underratedCommand & Conquer: Red Alert 3, the franchise’s big push into the mainstream gaming world by tackling the console world.
Telling the story of a time-travelling Soviet Union and alternate history hijinks, the game was clearly designed from the ground up to welcome in new players to the RTS world. For beginners, it’s an easy and fun place to begin, while still catering to the veteran fans of the franchise, too.
Let’s not pretend thatStarcraft 2doesn’t have some truly insane difficulty and depth to it. It absolutely does, and that’s what the game is mostly known for these days, but that’s not entirely a fair representation of the game and its great campaign that was made to introduce a whole new crop of players not just to theStarcraftworld, but the RTS genre as a whole.
Drawing upon the narrative focus of theWarcraftgames,Starcraft 2’s campaign doubles up as an effective tutorial to the more complex mechanics of the RTS genre while also delivering a killer storyline. It’s simple enough for almost any gamer to pick up and play, fun enough that it doesn’t require esports-level play to have a bit of fun, and a gateway drug into the world ofbrilliant custom campaigns.
First-person shooters are known for their intense, immediate, and visceral action, putting the players right amid the action, which makes turning the FPSHaloseries into an RTS game throughHalo Wars a strange choice. However, Ensemble Studios absolutely nailed it, andHalo Warsremains both a crucial part ofHalolore and a beloved rogue entry into the franchise.
Players are tasked with commandinga team of kick-ass unitsthrough a campaign tailor-made for fans of the franchise. Unlike the main games, players get a bird’s eye view of how the wars in Halo’s world function, and its simple but fun gameplay loop was tailor-made to introduce a whole new section of the gaming world to the fun of the RTS genre.
Nothing can compete withPlants vs Zombiesregarding fun but straightforward gameplay. Ever since its release in 2009, the game has become legendary in the RTS genre, not due to its inherent depth, but by showing the genre is open to anyone if they’re invited to enjoy it.
While the franchise has ballooned into many other genres, the simple lane-based tower defence mixed with real-time strategy gameplay of the originalPlants vs Zombiesstill holds up to this day,being one of the best games in the franchise. It introduced some core mechanics like currency generation and effective unit formations to gamers who may not have even heard of what an RTS was before they picked up the game. It’s simple, fun, addictive, and a worthy entrant for the top of this list.
