What are the best strategy games on PS5? If you’re more of a thinker than a doer, strategy games are probably more your speed. Fortunately, there are lots of options for tactical play on PS5.
Strategy games have been around for a long time, and have evolved into two main camps. You have turn-based strategy games, in which you and the enemy take turns to make your moves, and then there’s real-time strategy games, which have you and your opponents all advancing at once. While these are two fairly different flavours of strategy, they can both be deliciously rewarding when things work out in your favour.
On PS5, there are good examples of both these sub-genres. Possibly the highest profile turn-based strategy games on the console are Marvel’s Midnight Suns, developed by XCOM studio Firaxis, and Tactics Ogre Reborn. Meanwhile, some major real-time strategy titles include Tropico 6 and Anno 1800.
Whatever strategy games you enjoy, there are various options on PS5, and we need your help in picking the best of the best. As with all our other lists, this feature is based on your input. The games that appear here are ordered to align with your user ratings, meaning this is more your list than ours. If you want to see changes, you can cast your own ratings on any game, either by clicking the star on its page, or by using the below search bar to find strategy games you want to rate.
It’s worth noting that a game will need at least 10 ratings before it appears on this page. If your personal favourite tactical title is missing, it could be that it just hasn’t been rated enough times yet, so make your voices heard!
With all that said, let’s get to our list of best strategy games on PS5, as determined by you.
Publisher: Frontier / Developer: Frontier Developments
If you’re into Formula One’s more strategic aspects of stats and figures, there’s a game for you. F1 Manager 2022 makes you a team principal, putting you in charge of all the important decisions that go into ensuring a successful race for your drivers. With all the official teams and drivers from the 2022 season, you’ll manage changes to the car, tactics out on the track, finances, staff, and more. It’s an in-depth and satisfying game that’ll make you obsess over the details.
Publisher: Square Enix / Developer: Square Enix
The awkwardly named The DioField Chronicle is an intriguing strategy title topped off with some gorgeous artwork. It can be a little stunted in terms of gameplay design, but there’s quite a lot to like about its character progression systems once you’re familiar with its mission-based structure. And if you’re really into posh English accents, you’ve come to the right place.
Publisher: Konami / Developer: Konami
If you enjoy the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game, odds are you’ll love Master Duel. This is a nicely presented digital version of the card game you know and love, letting you battle it out against rival duelists in free-to-play online bouts. It also supports cross-play and cross-progression, meaning you can play against others on any platform, and carry your progress over to other machines. With over 10,000 cards included, you’re able to rebuild your real-life decks and put them to the test in numerous tournaments. It’s obviously a game for fans, but it also includes tutorials for beginners if you want to try Yu-Gi-Oh for the first time.
Publisher: Frontier / Developer: Frontier
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Who wouldn’t want to build their very own dinosaur theme park? Jurassic World Evolution 2 follows in the footsteps of its relatively recent tycoon predecessor, putting you in charge of your very own prehistoric resort. In addition to installing commercial enterprises like shops and hotels, you’ll also need to ensure the safety of your visitors, while simultaneously breeding reptiles that will attract the attention of your punters. There’s a lot to like about this park builder, which features a full campaign as well an open-ended sandbox option.
Publisher: SEGA / Developer: Two Point Studios
While predecessor Two Point Hospital went straight for the nostalgia of PS1 classic Theme Hospital, its successor has a little more identity of its own. Two Point Campus is all about setting up your own award-winning academic institution – except in typical tycoon style, some of the career choices are a little less common than what you may find at your local college or university. Adapting that classic park builder spirit into an all-new scenario, this is practically essential for fans of the genre.
Publisher: Devolver Digital / Developer: Massive Monster
Cult of the Lamb is an ingenious blend of rogue-lite action and life sim that’s devilishly addictive. Indebted to an imprisoned, malevolent god, you spend half the game vanquishing foes, gathering resources, and rescuing animals. Then, things flip, and your time turns to building up a cult with various buildings and structures. There’s an element of strategy to this half of the game, but it’s generally pretty breezy, while the action is nice and snappy. Both sides of Cult of the Lamb feed wonderfully into each other, and combined with the cute cartoon visuals, it’s an incredibly fun, dangerously moreish treat.
Publisher: Paradox Interactive / Developer: Paradox Development Studio
Crusader Kings III is a truly excellent strategy game on PC, and the PS5 console edition is a great alternative way to play. With totally reimagined controls and a new interface, this deep, complex, and rewarding game is catered to the DualSense controller, and it works remarkably well overall. There’s an entire world to get lost in here as you aim to establish yourself in an alternate history. If you’re willing to learn all its intricacies, you’re in for an extremely rich adventure.
Publisher: Ubisoft / Developer: Blue Byte
With an emphasis on city building, Anno 1800 is a slightly different take on real-time strategy. You’ll be tasked mainly with managing resources as you gradually build up a town from nothing. It’s all about investing in new buildings, trading goods, and keeping your citizens happy. It’s a deep and complicated game, but a more laid-back one than others on this list, if you’re after something a bit lighter.
Publisher: 2K Games / Developer: Firaxis Games
Someone at developer Firaxis fell in love with Fire Emblem: Three Houses, because Marvel’s Midnight Suns adapts a very similar gameplay style to Disney’s iconic superhero universe. The twist here is that instead of befriending tropey anime schoolchildren, you’re shooting the breeze with Peter Parker and Tony Stark between missions. The gameplay revolves around a deck-based system where you use cards to perform actions, and while it’s an overall unusual concoction, it all comes together to create one of the more engaging strategy games on PS5 by some distance.
Publisher: Square Enix / Developer: Square Enix
Tactics Ogre: Reborn revives a stone cold strategy RPG classic, and even packs some welcome quality of life improvements into the deal. This fantasy-driven adventure’s methodical pacing won’t be for everyone, but once you’re in, you can absolutely lose yourself to the game’s party-building mechanics, intricate storytelling, and engrossing tactical combat.
And that about does it for our list of best strategy games on PS5, as determined by you. As always, this list represents the views of our readers, and thus is ranked specifically based on your ratings. If you disagree with a game’s position, don’t forget you can submit your own ratings using the search box at the start of this article, or by clicking the star next to a game’s name. If you feel a game is missing from our PlayStation Games Database, then let us know and we’ll investigate.
In the meantime, we want to hear your views and opinions, so let us know which of the best strategy games on PS5 are your favourites and why in the comments section below.
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