5 Tactical games like X-COM: Terror From the Deep that you should try

Games like X-COM: Terror From the Deep · Find similar →

We filtered the 38 games similar to X-COM: Terror From the Deep down to the 5 that fit the “Tactical” category. Infested Planet, Dorfromantik and X-COM: UFO Defense top the list, ranked by affinity and similarity score to X-COM: Terror From the Deep.

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GenreStrategySubgenreCity Builder

The best tactical games like X-COM: Terror From the Deep

5 similar games foundUpdated May 2026

Handpicked by our similarity algorithm, these are the titles with the highest gameplay match to X-COM: Terror From the Deep. Each one has been evaluated across 15 real attributes — from combat style and progression mechanics to world structure and visual perspective — so every recommendation is based on how the game actually plays, not just its genre label.

Infested Planet

24 similarity to X-COM: Terror From the Deep

NGL79

Closest on combat

GenreStrategySubgenreTower Defense

SoloTacticalMeleeSci-FiIsometric

Year 2013Dev Rocket Bear GamesPlaytime ~3hOn PC · Apple Macintosh

Held in common with X-COM: Terror From the Deep: tactical combat, a sci-fi setting and single-player focus. To that it adds an isometric view. They part company on visuals and genre: this one brings real-time strategy and a top-down view.

Released 18 years after X-COM: Terror From the Deep.

Combat100Game mode100Setting64Genre50Visuals48

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Dorfromantik

54 similarity to X-COM: Terror From the Deep

NGL88

Closest overall match

GenreStrategySubgenreCity Builder

SoloTacticalBase BuildingManagementCasual

Year 2022Dev Toukana InteractivePlaytime ~3hOn PC · Nintendo

Genre puts it alongside X-COM: Terror From the Deep, and so does tactical combat, single-player focus and base building. They part company on tone and visuals: this one brings a casual, approachable feel and 3D presentation.

Released 27 years after X-COM: Terror From the Deep.

Genre100Game mode100Progression100Combat87Tone0Visuals0

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X-COM: UFO Defense

42 similarity to X-COM: Terror From the Deep

NGL83

Closest on tone

GenreStrategySubgenreTurn-Based Strategy

SoloTacticalDarkHardcoreSci-FiHorrorBase BuildingIsometricPixel Art

Year 1993Dev MicroProse Software · MicroProsePlaytime ~1hOn PC · PS · Commodore / Amiga

What brings it close to X-COM: Terror From the Deep is turn-based strategy, dark, oppressive atmosphere and tactical combat, and the two track each other on game mode, tone and setting. Both also lean on pixel art and a sci-fi setting. The distance is in genre — its own ground is procedural generation.

Same studio: MicroProse Software.

Game mode100Tone100Setting100Visuals100Combat87Progression81

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Plague Inc.

30 similarity to X-COM: Terror From the Deep

NGL80

GenreStrategySubgenreRTS

SoloTacticalDarkHorrorSci-FiIsometric

Year 2012Dev Ndemic CreationsOn PC · Android · iOS

With X-COM: Terror From the Deep it shares deep simulation, dark, oppressive atmosphere and tactical combat. To that it adds horror setting and single-player focus. They part company on genre and tone: this one brings real-time strategy.

Released 17 years after X-COM: Terror From the Deep.

Game mode100Setting100Combat86Visuals76Tone69Genre50

Defense Grid: The Awakening

26 similarity to X-COM: Terror From the Deep

NGL82

GenreStrategySubgenreTower Defense

SoloTacticalSci-FiIsometric

Year 2008Dev Hidden Path EntertainmentPlaytime ~4hOn PC · Xbox · Apple Macintosh

It meets X-COM: Terror From the Deep on deep simulation, tactical combat and a sci-fi setting. Both also lean on single-player focus and an isometric view. The distance is in genre and setting — its own ground is tower defense planning.

Released 13 years after X-COM: Terror From the Deep.

Game mode100Combat86Visuals76Setting64Genre50

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More similar-games lists to keep going

Found one on the list you already love? Open its own list: the games that play most like it, ranked, with the reason for each.

Explore games similar to X-COM: Terror From the Deep by category

If X-COM: Terror From the Deep left you wanting more, this is where you narrow it down. Was it the dark or the sci-Fi that hooked you? There is a list of just that. And if you play on PlayStation, Xbox and Mobile, filter by platform and skip the games you could not play anyway.

Rankings in the same genre

Sometimes what you want is not a X-COM: Terror From the Deep look-alike but simply the best City Builder Games there are. That is what these rankings are for: no comparison to anything, just the highest-rated games. And if you feel like widening the net, the Strategy Games ranking is a good way to run into something you were not expecting.

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