The Best Strategy Games Without Micromanagement

Key Takeaways

• Some strategy games focus more on macro-level decisions, eliminating the need for micromanagement.
• Titles like Mechabellum prioritize adaptive strategy over fine-tuning units, making gameplay more engaging.
• Games such as Kingdoms and Castles offer a simple yet deep experience by focusing on managing a single settlement.

Strategy games cover some of the broadest swathes of the gaming industry – with titles in this umbrella gaining followings from tactical purists who want to tweak colossal armies and narrative lovers who want emergent storytelling and drama among rulers. Whether a grand strategy fan or someone far more focused on the minutiae of battle, there’s sure to be – beyond a single strategy game – an entire genre dedicated to that kind of game.

But a lot of strategy games can start to feel exhausting at times. Having to comb through an army after an unsuccessful battle to see who hasn’t got optimized gear, or having to look at the entire GDP of your kingdom or nation across the last decade and consult a tax accountant to find out why the happiness meter in a particular settlement keeps dropping down, or whatever else a strategy game’s gimmick might be, sometimes players want to focus on the macro, the big picture. These strategy titles don’t have much in the way of individual unit management, instead focusing on broader army and building composition.

8 Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

Units Come Optimized Out Of The Box

An absolute classic among tactical RTS games, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is a great game for people who still want a compelling strategy game with, well, strategy – but still don’t want micromanagement.

There isn’t much in the way of unit upgrades. Each unit comes out of the box as effective as it’s going to be and it’s more up to how players implement units in blocks, and how effectively they deploy them around enemies, which determines who wins and who loses each battle.

7 Mechabellum

Counter Armies With Powerful Robots

This online mech RTS has recently been taking gaming communities by storm. It’s a simple-to-learn but hard-to-master title that blanket upgrades units to cut down on micromanagement and is really more about adaptive strategy than fine-tuning an army.

Units are all powerful in their own right but more than micromanagement, a winning fight will come down to who can counter the opponent’s units first. Understanding unit properties is far more important than trying to tweak said unit properties.

6 Ashes Of The Singularity

Huge Scale Campaigns

With two distinct factions, Ashes of the Singularity breaks some core RTS tenets in all the right ways with its human-on-robot warfare. Battlefields are huge, and units are managed almost exclusively on the macro level, deploying them in clusters.

The Substrate, rogue A.I. bent on human extinction, is focused on cheap, expendable swarm units and shock troops that can be deployed in satisfying hordes. The Post-Human Coalition combats this with a quality-over-quantity approach and units that dwarf all others in both size and strength.

5 Northgard

Forge A Viking Settlement

With mechanics that are easy and engaging, Northgard is the perfect entry point for anyone looking to get into RTS titles that involve both army and civilization management. Forging a Viking settlement is filled with perils and opportunities.

Players really just need to make sure morale is up and the walls are high, that will keep them going at least into mid-game. Hunt often, feast often, raid for riches, and your Viking settlement will do okay.

4 Driftland

An Incredible, Procedurally Generated Strategy Title

This title seems to be under many players’ radar, which is a shame considering it has just about everything an RTS fan could ask for. Huge fantasy units, Might-and-Magic style hero management over army management, and procedural generation – a great boon for fans of emergent storytelling.

Part of what makes this game so lightweight on the micromanagement is that players are actually controlling a mage, not the mage’s armies and civilization. They can give orders, but the AI units are the ones that fulfill those orders on their own terms.

3 Crusader Kings 3

Managing Nations And Armies Is Satisfying And Lightweight

Whether building tall and managing a small duchy or aspiring to rebuild Rome, Crusader Kings 3 has something to appeal to any kind of strategy player with a love of making up their own story as they go.

There’s little in the way of micromanagement here. Big numbers are the key to victory in this game. Have armies with bigger armies than the enemy, through martial prowess, mercenaries, or alliances, and try to placate the Pope without getting embroiled in the AI’s ninth disastrous attempt to reclaim Jerusalem, and you’ll be sure to have a successful run without needing to tweak much regarding army composition or settlement modifiers.

2 Kingdoms And Castles

Managing A Single Realm Is Simple, But Deep

Part of what makes Kingdoms and Castles feel so lightweight without feeling insubstantial is that players are focusing on a single settlement most of the time. Taking this settlement from a small hamlet to a sprawling kingdom is an approachable but in-depth affair.

People can’t move in because there are no houses? Build more. Can’t build more? Collect wood. Taking issues one step at a time in this relatively peaceful title is the main way to stay successful, without really needing to worry about perfectly optimizing city planning or tweaking the output of each individual building.

1 Age Of Wonders 4

A Strategy Game Focused On Heroes And Conquest

With the release of the recent Ways of War DLC, there’s more content than ever in this game that is built upon adventure and treasure as much as it is strategy. Players can focus on roleplaying decisions and personal goals over min-maxing or micromanagement.

Age of Wonders 4 is one of the best strategy titles for those looking to experience emergent storytelling, or indeed just regular storytelling, with some truly fascinating campaigns and an utterly fantastic system for procedurally generated worlds.