5 Classic Strategy Games You Can Play For 100 Hours or More

Strategy games are well known for how easy it is to dip back into for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours. That said, the genre has come a very long way over the last few decades. Sometimes, it can be difficult to go back to the classics, given all of the advances developers have made. However, a few all-time greats still hold up, making them well worth diving into these days. Here are five classic strategy games that you can easily sink 100 hours or more into. And for the sake of this list, I’m defining classic as pre-2000. Sure, Warcraft 3 is getting long in the tooth, but this list is going to focus on games that are even older to give you a few more underrated gems.

5) Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri

Spoiler alert: You will not find a core Civilization game on this list. Don’t get me wrong, every Civ game will easily suck up weeks of your life, but the series has come so far over the decades that going back to the early games can be difficult. Granted, if you were around in the ’90s, the early Civs are probably your favorite. After all, there’s a good reason that most people agree their favorite Civ is the first one they played.

Alpha Centauri does not have that problem. While the sci-fi spiritual sequel to Civ was wildly successful, it’s never gotten a follow-up. Instead, Sid Meier and the team at Firaxis focused on its bread-and-butter, leaving Alpha Centauri fans begging for a sequel. Thankfully, it is phenomenal. Alpha Centauri is easily one of the best space-based strategy games of all time, using Civ 2‘s engine to create something special. It also totally holds up. There are obviously several great space-based strategy games these days, but nothing has completely overtaken Alpha Centauri.

4) Command & Conquer: Red Alert

The Red Alert spin-offs of Command & Conquer are by far the best versions of the iconic franchise. It tosses players into an alternate history of the main Command & Conquer series, pitting Allied Forces against the Soviet Union. Granted, future games really pushed the envelope for campy storytelling, but this effort set the stage for the fan-favorite series. Throw in a couple of great expansions, and you have one of the best gaming packages of the ’90s.

Red Alert really shines as a multiplayer game. Yes, the story is incredible, giving you two endings based on which faction you’re playing as. However, it’s the multiplayer balance that’s truly impressive. With that in mind, you might worry that it’s hard to go back to, but a Remastered Collection dropped in 2020. That means you can relatively easily find somebody playing Red Alert, which means hundreds of hours mastering the various factions. Whether you play online or stick to single-player, you’re going to find yourself glancing at the clock, wondering how it’s already three in the morning.

3) Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

Like Red Alert, Age of Empires II got an updated re-release in 2019, making it relatively easy to get into multiplayer matches. That’s where the bulk of your playtime is going to come from; though, it’s important that you don’t forget the lengthy single-player campaigns. In fact, there are five different campaigns to dive into, taking you through history to show you everyone from William Wallace to Genghis Khan.

Age of Empires II was such an innovative RTS at the time, adding all kinds of features, including customizable hotkeys and making your villagers actually useful. If you go back to this one, you’ll quickly see everything it has influenced, which is a neat addition to the legendary gameplay, assuming you’re in for a history lesson on the genre. Even if you don’t notice everything AOE II invented, you’ll love the updated version and its improved visuals. If you’re a fan of RTS games, Age of Empires II is a must-play.

2) StarCraft

You had to be expecting this one. StarCraft is still widely played in tournaments in South Korea, so if you want, you can spend tens of thousands of hours trying to become the best and win some money. The chances of that happening are low, but it speaks to StarCraft‘s diverse, almost-impossible-to-master strategy. There might only be three factions to learn, but the way Blizzard made each faction unique means you’re always discovering new interactions and tricks, improving your tactics every game.

Of course, the real reason it will take so long to compete at a high level has nothing to do with strategy. Simply put, pro players move and process at an inhuman rate, and getting to their level of actions per minute is almost impossible. Still, even if you’re just a mere mortal, StarCraft has a captivating single-player campaign, a robust amateur scene, and thousands of custom maps to keep the action fresh. There’s so much to do in StarCraft that you might not need another game for a year or two.

1) Total Annihilation

You don’t hear about Total Annihilation like you do StarCraft, Warcraft, and Command & Conquer, but for many in the ’90s, it was the superior strategy game. In fact, it still routinely wins fan votes for the best RTS of all time, so if you know ball, you know that Total Annihilation has the chops for the top spot.

One of the main reasons fans love Total Annihilation so much is its innovations. Additions like line-of-sight based on elevation and unit waypoints gave it that extra bit of depth to keep players coming back. That’s also important for playing it these days. Total Annihilation will obviously show its age visually, but we’re still using many of its biggest additions today. Granted, the engine is open source, so you can find updated versions if you know where to look, but if you’re playing the original, you’ll still have an absolute blast.

5 Best Strategy Games to Play for Fans of Total War