Best Real-Time with Pause Games on Steam
Unlike generic lists, our strategy game recommendations use a rigorous analysis of Steam user reviews to identify and feature only the best, community-validated real-time with pause games.
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Phantom Brigade
Phantom Brigade 2.0 is a cinematic, tactical mech strategy game with a revolutionary timeline-based command system. See the future, predict enemy actions, and plot your counterattack on the timeline! Recruit and level up your squad of rebels to retake war-torn Fyrland from the Kaskad occupation.
Industries of Titan
Create a sprawling industrial city. Compete with other rival corporations on Titan for resources, territory, and power. Seek victory via technology, influence, warfare, or the wealth extracted from your citizens. Stake your claim to the Industries of Titan in this innovative sim/strategy game!
Victoria 3
Paradox Development Studio invites you to build your ideal society in the tumult of the exciting and transformative 19th century. Balance the competing interests in your society and earn your place in the sun in Victoria 3, one of the most anticipated games in Paradox’s history.
Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander
Design and simulate the starships of your dreams! Command your ship or fleet in epic battles and manage your crew while exploring a dangerous galaxy. Play alone or with friends, test your ships in online PvP, and let your imagination reach for the stars!
Fire Commander
See what it means to face the fire. Command a firefighting unit in an exciting tactical RTS. Save lives, manage your water supplies and care for your team in 30+ missions. Be a real hero!
Clanfolk
Clanfolk is a colony sim set in the Scottish Highlands. Harness your environment to survive - fish, gather, hunt, and farm as you prepare for the winter. Build an inn, trade with other clans, have children and marry them off - live life and prosper across the generations.
Trigon: Space Story
Trigon: Space Story sees you take command of your very own spaceship. Carry out tactical battles, defend your vessel against space pirates, and escape from enemy territory. On your voyages, you’ll face a slew of tricky decisions in your quest to uncover the mystery of the galaxy.
Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness
Black Geyser is an isometric, party-based fantasy RPG inspired by genre classics. Recruit characters with unique personalities and explore a land ravaged by civil war and a mysterious curse of greed. Your choices, good or evil, will decide the fate of the Kingdom of Isilmerald.
Distant Worlds 2
Distant Worlds 2 is a vast, pausable real-time 4X space strategy game.
Airborne Kingdom
The sky city builder awaits. Create your own flying kingdom and lead it on a quest across an expansive world. Explore the varied landscape, build up a floating metropolis, aid struggling people below, uncover lost secrets and, ultimately, bring back the Airborne Kingdom legend.
NEBULOUS: Fleet Command
Take command of your hand-tailored fleet of space warships and use realistic radar, electronic warfare, advanced movement controls in 3D space, and precision targeting to outmaneuver and outwit your opponents in a simulation-heavy tactical space game like no other.
Power to the People
Build and maintain a power grid for a constantly growing population, while fighting off all kinds of disasters in this thrilling resource management experience. It's time for you to give "Power to the People"! Do you have what it takes to keep the lights on?
Rebel Inc: Escalation
A unique and deeply engaging political/military strategic simulation from the creator of Plague Inc. Balance competing civilian and military priorities and deal with a deadly insurgency in order to stabilise a war-torn country.
Lost in Random™
Play the odds in Lost in Random™, a gothic-fairy-tale-inspired action-adventure where every citizen’s fate is determined by a roll of the dice.
A Total War Saga: TROY
Inspired by The Iliad and brought to life through the award-winning strategy game series, A Total War Saga: TROY brings a blend of grand, turn-based empire management and spectacular real-time battles to the heart of the Trojan War.
Crusader Kings III
Love, fight, scheme, and claim greatness. Determine your noble house’s legacy in the sprawling grand strategy of Crusader Kings III. Death is only the beginning as you guide your dynasty’s bloodline in the rich and larger-than-life simulation of the Middle Ages.
Mass Effect™ 3 N7 Digital Deluxe Edition (2012)
Earth is burning. The Reapers have taken over and other civilizations are falling like dominoes. Lead the final fight to save humanity and take back Earth from these terrifying machines, Commander Shepard.
Another Brick in The Mall
Design, build and manage a giant shopping center. Open shops, supermarkets, restaurants, movie theaters, bowling alleys and more. Hire and manage the best staff for the job and milk your customers for all they're worth!
STATIONflow
STATIONflow is a game about controlling the flow of thousands of passengers by building and managing an efficient underground train station.
Startup Company
Startup Company is a business simulation sandbox game where you’re the CEO of a new company. Your job is to build your very own website and compete against the largest tech giants on the planet!
Automation Empire
Build and manage a massive industrial network of factories, mines, and farms. Employ a fleet of trains, trucks, and robotic drones. In the age of automation, efficiency is survival!
Railroad Corporation
Relive the pioneering spirit of the Golden Age of Steam by establishing your own railroad empire across 19th century North America. Bring settlements together, produce and trade goods and develop new technologies to stay ahead of the competition. Want more? RAILROAD CORPORATION 2 Out Now!
Dredgers
Based on traditional rogue-likes, Dredgers is a real-time dungeon crawler where you can play as 30 different races, each having their own stats and skills. With the unique class system you can mix and match classes as you desire, anything from an Archer-Knight to a Berserker-Summoner-Priest is possible!