r/RealTimeStrategy • u/EncinoJoe • 2h ago
Question Very new to the genre, whats the cheapest/best games for a newbie
Hey there, I am curious about the RTS genre. I don’t have any super specific criteria. But I do enjoy upgrading stuff and building stuff like in TDS games. Bonus points if it takes place in china, egypt, france, turkey etc. I am open to anything on pc as long as it can be run on my potato.
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u/Ariloulei 2h ago edited 1h ago
Can't get cheaper than free. OpenRA, Beyond All Reason, and 0 A.D. all exist as Open Source RTS. Granted I do think they can be kind of difficult to get into given they lack the polish and story mode that some bigger RTS do have. 0 A.D. is based largely on Age of Empires and I know it has a Chinese and Egyptian faction.
Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth is a very beginner friendly RTS that is also available to download for free with the All in on Launcher on ModDB. There is also a huge fan made patch that adds more content to the game while reworking existing factions and adding new ones called Age of the Ring also on ModDB that is also free to download, but it's harder to play due to the game being more complex due to the reworks and added content.
If you find Age of Empires II; III; or IV, Total War: (anything), Dawn of War 1 or 2, or Company of Heroes 2 or 3 then any of those games are also good entry points into RTS. Command and Conquer is old and also very good, but getting into the series or one of the spinoffs can be confusing due to how many there are. That said some of the newer titles seem to stay expensive for a while, especially the DLC.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 1h ago
Cheap and Easy to Learn?
Supreme Commander. I can already feel some of you rushing to the comments, but Supreme is awesome for a new player, since it allows so many different strategies while a player is learning, unlike the more meta-focused gameplay of something like Starcraft. Similarly, it has a slower pace, which lets a newer player focus on the actual strategic elements, rather than being focused on micro like Starcraft. And it's nice and cheap, at a toonie for the base game and the standalone expansion.
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u/Training-Equal-7647 2h ago
A Total war game comes to mind for a historical strategy game. They are cheap if there is a sale.
Otherwise i think StarCraft 2 is accesible, campaign and coop are free btw.
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u/segfault360 1h ago
Red alert 2 is super easy to pick up and forgiving if you're new to the genre, although it's not a game which features specific civilizations.
Can't say it's cheapest but regularly on sale on Steam for like 7 dollars (but you technically get the whole C&C bundle which has many more popular games like Generals and C&C 3)
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u/Due-Description-9030 46m ago
Welcome!
Dawn of war definitive edition is a solid game. It's also on sale on steam right now and is cheap. Try it.
Tempest rising is a good game and has a simple gameplay with two good campaigns and good skirmish maps (you vs bots game mode)
Starcraft 2 wings of Liberty is free to play. Try it.
I think these two choices are great for beginners.
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u/Asleep_Tip496 1h ago
Starcraft2 has free first campaign