Summary
- RTS genre has seen fluctuating demand, with RTS games evolving and radiating over the years.
- Conquest mode is a core feature in most RTS games, allowing players to pit their settlements against the world.
- The best RTS games, like Empire: Total War and Sid Meier's Civilization V, offer unique conquest experiences.
The real-time strategy (RTS) genre has had an unusual journey these past few decades. Unlike evergreen genres like RPGs and shooters, RTS games have gone through tremendous dips and rises in terms of demand, production, and quality. While some consider their golden age to be in the ‘90s and ‘00s, others embrace how the genre has evolved and radiated since.
Regardless of preference, there’s one feature that stands at the core of most RTS games, and that is players pitting their settlements against the world in a massive conquest. Whether it’s a lone Medieval village, a sovereign nation, or an alien civilization in the stars, putting it to the test in conquest mode is often the highlight of an RTS experience. Some of the best are here, ranked by the playability and replayability of their conquest mode.
10 Universe At War: Earth Assault
Claim Earth for the Alien Faction Of Your Choice
Universe at War: Earth Assault
- Released
- December 11, 2007
- Developer(s)
- Petroglyph Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sega
Since its 2007 release, Universe at War: Earth Assault has become somewhat of a cult favorite for its unique melding of Eastern-style mecha units and more Western-style alien invaders, a la War of the Worlds. Its conquest mode lets players attempt to conquer the entire world via a Risk-like map, and uniquely, it only does so after Earth has fallen to its alien invaders.
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The conquest mode in Earth Assault is not a way to retake Earth for humanity, but instead a way for whatever competing alien faction is strongest to win a monopoly on Earth. The Conquer the World mode requires the chosen faction to conquer each of Earth's many territories, and each faction does so almost entirely uniquely. The Hierarchy, for example, are unique in that they eschew the building of settlements entirely, instead producing units from their own mobile mechs, ensuring an aggressive, nomadic conquest.
9 Star Wars: Empire At War
Conquer Planet By Planet, Land And Space
Star Wars: Empire at War
- Released
- February 16, 2006
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Petroglyph Games
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
The Star Wars franchise is a natural fit for the RTS genre, with all its iconic vehicles and creatures. Like its predecessor, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, Star Wars: Empire At War takes full advantage of the settings and iconography, using it all to craft a thoroughly enjoyable RTS experience.
The game’s conquest mode is just what players would hope for, encouraging them to amass fleets and capture the galaxy, planet by planet. Each planet is conquered by defeating the resident army in space and on land, ensuring no starfighter or walker goes unutilized.
8 The Settlers 7: Paths To A Kingdom
Old-School RTS Combat Meets 4X Management
The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom
- Released
- March 24, 2010
- ESRB
- everyone 10+
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft Blue Byte
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- City Builder, Real-Time Strategy
After a few hiccups in previous entries, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom finally recaptured the magic of gems like The Settlers II, offering a rewarding and surprisingly customizable RTS. Its conquest mode is similarly rewarding, never playing out the same way twice.
The game heavily emphasizes economy management but allows players to choose to win by military might if they wish. The battles play out pretty typically for a conventional RTS, although the cinematic music and storyteller narrator help make them feel fun and even exciting.
7 The Lord Of The Rings: The Battle For Middle-Earth
Every Unit Can Become The Next Hero
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
- Released
- December 6, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
It is possible to get lost for hours in the conquest mode of The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth. It takes players on a sweeping adventure through all the iconic locations from the films, showcasing all of its major characters and creatures, and even keeps track of individual units across campaigns.
It’s that last feature that helps make the conquest feel worthwhile throughout its duration. One Elven archer or Gondorian ranger might have been at the player’s side from the very first mission to the very last, which is true for unique hero units as well, and it makes any extended game in Battle for Middle-Earth engaging.
6 Endless Legend
A Different Conquest Experience For Every Faction
Endless Legend
- Released
- September 18, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Amplitude Studios
- Platform(s)
- Microsoft Windows, macOS, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- 4X, Strategy
In many ways, Endless Legend is a standard 4X game with a hexagonal tile map and the usual blend of turn-based exploration to reveal enemies and resources. Where it stands apart, however, is its eye-candy fantasy setting and large rosters of unique playable heroes and creatures.
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Every faction truly is its own animal in Endless Legend, with units ranging from hydras to merfolk to dragon-men to crystal constructs. Because battles drop players into separate mini-maps each time, the constrained space and wide variety of units make each fight feel like every move matters. In addition, the colorful maps and sparsity of resources help to push players to always push for one more battle and therefore one more territory.
5 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War
Constant Expansion or Utter Defeat
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War
- Released
- September 20, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Relic Entertainment
- Platform(s)
- Microsoft Windows
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
As the premiere tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40K is built to simulate conquest. Naturally, its PC RTS Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is also almost entirely one big conquest, and it does the format justice.
Unlike most other RTS games, which emphasize building central settlements and creating units from there, Dawn of War forces players to fight first and then fight later. The only way to grow armies in the game is by capturing checkpoints, upgrading, and capturing more. Combined with the almost impossibly over-the-top aesthetic, the heavily aggressive conquests capture the spirit of Warhammer 40K well.
4 Sins Of A Solar Empire
Conquer A Galaxy As Large As You Can Imagine
Sins of a Solar Empire
- Released
- February 4, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Ironclad Games
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy, Tactical
If conquest of a single planet is not enough, players can conquer an entire solar system of planets in Sins of a Solar Empire. With maps fully customizable, the size and scale of players’ conquests can even range into the hundreds of stars if they’re ambitious enough.
With a suitably powerful PC, Sins of a Solar Empire can handle multiple battles of dozens, or even hundreds, of spaceships apiece. If that sounds daunting, the game also has a remarkably useful UI to switch between any units or planets in their empire, helping keep the frantic star combat from devolving into uncontrollable chaos.
3 Rise Of Nations
Pure RTS Unit Management At Its Finest
Rise of Nations: Extended Edition
- Released
- June 12, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Big Huge Games, Westlake Interactive
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
Rise of Nations is often compared to Age of Empires, and it doesn’t just borrow the latter’s general gameplay and UI. It also delivers just as much addictive RTS gameplay and just as many endlessly entertaining military conquests.
Like Age of Empires and its many clones, Rise of Nations utilizes the philosophy that the best defense is a good offense, encouraging players to maintain vast armies of varied units in order to secure their territory and capture others. Thanks to the age system, which lets players progress from caveman to the nuclear age, the game also features a unique amount of asymmetric combat as well, adding unpredictability to each conquest.
2 Sid Meier's Civilization V
The Most Versatile Military Campaigns Available
Sid Meier's Civilization 5
- Released
- September 21, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Firaxis Games
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Strategy
While it’s worth mentioning Sid Meier's Civilization IV as a game with an excellent conquest mode, it was not until Civilization V that the series perfected the tempo and strategy of the format. By reducing every tile of the map to a single unit (except a few special units like leaders), the game forces players to analyze, prepare, and continually reorganize.
The map, civilizations involved, amount of resources, and many other facets of conquest are up to the player, but the goal remains the same: capture every enemy capital by whatever means necessary. The end result, with so many disparate AIs controlling the various civs, is a new conquest every time, always different and always deeply tactical.
1 Empire: Total War
Strategic Battles To Slow Down and Plan Tactics
Empire: Total War
- Released
- March 3, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Creative Assembly
- Genre(s)
- Strategy, Tactical
There is no conquest mode like those of the Total War franchise, and that is largely because the games take place almost entirely within the mode. As the franchise name suggests, conquest is the name of the game for all of the Total War games, none of which are as well-reviewed as Empire: Total War.
Ironically for a conquest mode, the reason Empire stands out from others in the series is its features that slow and even counter the actual combat. Its focus on musket warfare, a much slower and more methodical style of combat than traditional spear warfare, paces the gameplay out and makes every battle feel more like a chess match than a frantic game of spit.
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