Winner: Crusader Kings 3
A lot of strategy games are mostly about numbers, which can lead them to feel sterile, mathematical, and bland. While Crusader Kings 3 has a lot of numbers both above and under the hood, it's fundamentally a game about characters. It has a lot more in common with The Sims than Command & Conquer. And that's what makes it really special and unique. Wars that engulf an entire continent can kick off due to one monarch being caught sleeping with another's wife.And that feels authentic: in the historical era it portrays, blood was often spilled over even less. The strategy aspect has a lot to do with knowing the personalities and social webs of the opponents you seek to conquer, and befriending someone close enough to them to slide a dagger into their heart at a feast can be even more powerful than having a larger army.For more, check out our full Crusader King's 3 review here!
See Crusader Kings 3 on SteamCheck out the rest of our favorite strategy games below.
Desperados 3
Not since Emilio Estevez saddled up with Kiefer Sutherland to transform the Brat Pack into the Young Guns has there been a group of outlaws with as much chemistry as the stars of Desperados 3. This real-time tactical stealth game features a core cast of bandits with unique and complementary strengths; a dual-wielding gunslinger who can take two enemies out at once, a doctor who can snipe from long distances, a burly trapper who can carry and hide two enemy corpses at the same time, a femme fatale who can disguise herself to infiltrate enemy areas, and a deadly voodoo practitioner who can mind-control humans and animals alike.Progress through Desperados 3’s dust-swept dioramas is unashamedly trial and error-based by design, but finding the right combination of these broad sets of skills for any given scenario presents a consistently satisfying series of puzzles to solve across its 16 sprawling levels. And while there’s no doubt that their play styles pair nicely, it’s the playful context-sensitive banter between the group that gives larger than life personalities to these tiny toy soldiers, keeping you engrossed in each and every enemy encounter despite your viewpoint being so distant.For more, check out our full Desperados 3 review here!
See Desperados 3 at Amazon
Gears Tactics
We’ve seen a lot of different takes on XCOM-style turn-based tactics since Friaxis brought it back to the fore in 2012 and a lot of them have had some great ideas, but few have had the level of visual flair and polish that Splash Damage and The Coalition brought when adapting the traditionally action-based universe of Gears to tactical gameplay.The unexpectedly excellent Gears Tactics lets you load your squad up on high-powered loot and chainsaw Locusts in half to chain together your movement options, rewarding your carefully planned moves with spectacular and bloody results.For more, check out our full Gears Tactics review here!
See Gears Tactics at Amazon
Monster Train
Building on the awesome roguelike deck-building concept of Slay The Spire, Monster Train’s wide selection of dramatically different deck combinations make its four-layered tactics shine. There’s a huge amount of nuance to learn in how everything interacts, from the order in which attacks happen on which enemy in a row to how feeding a cute Morsel creature to a plant monster will boost its stats, and a stellar battle soundtrack to carry it along the way.See Monster Train on Steam
Othercide
There are plenty of strategy games in which I adore the aesthetics or the mechanics, but rarely both. Othercide's Lovecraftian, Sin City-inspired vibes present a bleak, black-and-white world where the splashes of red on your daring army of Daughters stand out like a flame in the night to represent hope, defiance, and sacrifice.Add on a deep, engaging, almost puzzle-like turn-based combat system with some memorable and tricky bosses, and this bleak but not nihilistic journey exploring trauma and memory is high on the list of strategy game experiences that will stick with me long beyond the end of the year.For more, check out our full Othercide review here!
See Othercide on Steam
Those are our picks for the best strategy and tactics game of 2020 - let us know in the comments what's on your list that didn't make ours.
More Game of the Year Awards
Check out all our platform, genre, and design award winners - and, of course, our pick for this year’s GotY - below!