7 – Civilization: Beyond Earth
Let me shake the waters here for a bit with the introduction of Civilization: Beyond Earth, a game that I really love, but a lot of people seem to dislike. It’s Civilization, but in a new planet, where most of the game is spent fighting against the nature of the planet itself, including natural threats, the alien wildlife, and sometimes even against other competing factions. I think I enjoy this one more based on the premise itself, instead of the quality of its gameplay, but if you give it a choice and ignore the negativity around it, you might find yourself having a lot of time exploring hundreds of new planets, and having a blast doing it. If you want a basic description, here it is: It’s Civilization 5, but with a sci-fi setting.
6 – Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2
I’m sure there are plenty of Warhammer fans who come to Strategy and Wargaming, so I needed to throw you a game to satisfy your thirst for never-ending war. Enter Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2, one of the most thrilling real-time space strategy games you can pick up during the Steam Winter Sale 202,5 because it captures the epic scale and ferocious combat of the Warhammer 40,000 universe with meticulous ship detail and strategic depth. In Armada 2 players command massive battlefleets of cruisers, battleships, and carriers across dynamic tactical maps where positioning, firing arcs, and fleet composition determine victory against iconic enemies like Chaos, Orks, and Eldar. It’s cheap, it’s gorgeous, it’s set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and it has single-player content. What more do you need?
5 – Rimworld
Last time I wrote about space games, someone said that I should have included Rimworld, because this one not only earns its place among the best space strategy games to play in 2025, but also delivers one of the most compelling colony management and emergent storytelling experiences set on the fringes of a sci-fi universe. While it focuses less on the aspect of space itself and more on survival on distant planets, RimWorld drops you into the role of managing a small group of crash-landed colonists struggling against hostile environments, alien wildlife, rival factions, and unpredictable narrative events driven by an advanced AI storyteller system.