Updated September 2026
This is the ranking of the best Turn-Based Strategy Games, sorted by NextGameLike Score: a 0-100 metric blending Steam reviews, IGDB ratings (community and critic), Metacritic, OpenCritic and the NextGameLike community votes into a single number. Unlike opinion-based editorial lists, this order is computed from real data and applies a Bayesian shrinkage adjustment so games with few reviews can't inflate the top of the chart. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Balatro and X-COM: UFO Defense lead the chart — the highest-rated titles in the genre according to our data. The top-25 average NextGameLike Score is 81/100, out of 39 games catalogued. The ranking updates continuously as new reviews and votes come in.
Top 3
Top of “The 20 Best Turn-Based Strategy Games (2026)”: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (87.4/100). Close behind: Balatro and X-COM: UFO Defense.
Ranked by NextGameLike Score · 39 games catalogued
Players and critics agree on Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, which is rarer than it sounds in Turn-Based Strategy Games. No other entry of the 20 has a higher share of positive reviews: 97%. That is why it tops the ranking.
Players and critics agree on Balatro, which is rarer than it sounds in Turn-Based Strategy Games. It is the most reviewed of the 20: 191,207 Steam reviews. Enough for the podium: number 2.
X-COM: UFO Defense is here because of its players — they are who it won over. That puts it at number 3.
Master of Orion 2 is here because of its players — they are who it won over. That gets it into the top 10, at number 4.
Critics were lukewarm on Worms Armageddon; players were not. That gets it into the top 10, at number 5.
Hearthstone earns its place on presence rather than on a score. That gets it into the top 10, at number 6.
Sid Meier's Civilization has little in the way of ratings and a great deal of standing. It is the oldest game in the ranking (1991) and still here. Number 7, inside the top 10.
No argument here: Ticket to Ride: Classic Edition wins over players and critics alike. It holds the best critic score on the whole list, 91/100. That gets it into the top 10, at number 8.
Dead Man's Draw is one of the few Turn-Based Strategy Games where players and critics say the same thing. Number 9, inside the top 10.
Players and critics agree on Ascension: Deckbuilding Game, which is rarer than it sounds in Turn-Based Strategy Games. Number 10, inside the top 10.
Sid Meier's Civilization II earns its place on presence rather than on a score. It sits at 11 of 20.
Critics were lukewarm on Triple Town; players were not. It sits at 12 of 20.
Egyptian Senet earns its place on presence rather than on a score. It sits at 13 of 20.
Poker Night 2 is carried by its players more than by its reviews. It sits at 14 of 20.
No argument here: Worms wins over players and critics alike. It lands at 15 of 20.
No argument here: Poker Night at the Inventory wins over players and critics alike. It sits at 16 of 20.
Teamfight Tactics earns its place on presence rather than on a score. It is the newest on the list (2019), and has already earned its place. It sits at 17 of 20.
Players and critics agree on Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013, which is rarer than it sounds in Turn-Based Strategy Games. It sits at 18 of 20.
Duelyst is one of the few Turn-Based Strategy Games where players and critics say the same thing. It lands at 19 of 20.
No argument here: Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy wins over players and critics alike. It lands at 20 of 20.