Best Early Access Action RTS Games on PC

Attack on Toys

Army Men

This is probably the most precious hidden gem in steam store. You get a super cheap price (or free if you download from their main site) for a massive gameplay content with potential to be even more in future. Map is completely free-roam you can hook or jetpack your way onto anything, build anywhere, place any soldier or vehicle everywhere, drive or enter any emplacement or vehicle, even a mega robot. Personally fight the war in a front line or act as a commander and use map feature to command your troop in basic RTS style. Furthermore they have included toybox mode which basically allow you to create your own map and adding any little props or detail however you want, giving an unlimited idea to expand replayability map with community help via workshop feature.

– Real player with 146.7 hrs in game

Read More: Best Early Access Third-Person Shooter Games.

This is a fun game to play. I hope to see more content later on, in the future. Maybe a terrain manipulator tool would be a good idea, so we can be more creative. I Also hope to see some game logic tools as well. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to implement, a player level pallet, so when the player completes a level, it go’s on to the next level, that the player has made. More map props i think are needed. A much needed level variety I think would be good. In the map maker, I think it would be nice to have a clear all option, instead of individually deleting every map prop. I think the camera needs to be fixed, when going into buildings, makes it hard to give commands to units when the camera floats into the ceiling. It would be nice to be able to spawn unites inside on buildings, instead of spawning them out side of the building, then having them follow you inside, then having to fight with the player’s camera. But over all the game is very fun, it brought back childhood memories, like Army men 3D, Army men world war, Army men air sea land, Army men RTS, Army men Sarge’s Heros 1, and 2.

– Real player with 69.0 hrs in game

Attack on Toys on Steam

Mud and Blood

I love the Mud And Blood saga.

I’ve been a fan for 15 years of the games and the concept behind, which is kept in its Steam version.

It’s a one man army of a game which provides you with a strict and unforgiving challenge.

The game requires you to be alert and actively playing, focusing on each decision and movement in order to avoid certain defeat. This causes the player to descend in a trance, in which you need to be at 100% of your playing capabilities.

The game “fuses” MnB2 and MnB3 togheter, and are now being called classic and campaign.

– Real player with 333.1 hrs in game

Read More: Best Early Access Real Time Tactics Games.

As a tester for this game, there’s a reason why I have played this many hours of this game. I’m not the kind of guy who’s a masochist, especially as someone who can remember plenty of times raging at this game. Some moments will be easy and some moments will be randomly challenging. But for new players, especially those unfamiliar with the older Mud and Blood flash games, you will get screwed really hard in the first few or even several hours until you learn. However despite all those moments, I still come back and play this game again and again because its difficulty is what makes winning rewarding, and its randomness is what makes the game replayable. I’ve lost lots of men to standard rifleman, and other times I managed to beat back a element of infantry backed by armored vehicles.

– Real player with 220.5 hrs in game

Mud and Blood on Steam

Niiikotopia: Sky Fall

The evil aliens are invading Niiikotopia and attacking your beloved Niiikos, so your task is protecting them and repel the invasion. Collect and manage resources. Maintain Niiiko’s population by provide them foods and houses. Research new technology, design new gun and bullet to hold again enemy invasions. Save your cute Niiiko race from anihilation.

Read More: Best Early Access 2D Platformer Games.

Niiikotopia: Sky Fall on Steam

Centurion Rex

Centurion Rex is a strategy game set in an alternate history where the Meditterean region is ruled by a Roman-dinosaur-led republic. Few dare to oppose the hegemony of the reptilian republic. One such force is Shark Shogunate - a militaristic dictatorship from the Far East.

You can take control of either republican or shark forces and lead them to victory through superior leadership and tactics.

Centurion Rex on Steam

EONWAR

Local & Online Competitive Action Strategy (LOCAS).

PLAN • PROLIFERATE • PUNISH

A Grand Strategy digital board-game focusing on simplicity and fun. We have stripped out lengthy text rollouts and numbers for a more accessible game experience. No number crunching or RNG’s here! Just a familiar interface and good old fashioned skill. Take direct control of Infantry, Tanks, Fighters, and Transports across space and planet-side on unforgiving worlds. Absorb opponents into your great empire and subjugate them for your glory. Choke enemy supply chains and capture control points to keep the talantium flowing into your mighty war-machine and win by amassing the greatest empire or obliterate your foes with raw power.

Increase your intel to strike unsuspecting enemy commanders and kidnap, bribe or assassinate them. Place bounties to tempt your enemies into doing your dirty work while you carefully position cloaked forces at the edge of their planet. Demand ransoms for imprisoned commanders or hijack transports for a quick influx of talantium. Conquer the galaxy with a mix of card management and contextual mini-games for up to 6 players locally via LAN or online.

Build and Upgrade talantium-payload missiles to breach planetary defences and pave the way for ground forces to storm the enemy HQ. Loot their resources, widen your intel and bring your enemies to submission. Unlock 36 unique, beautifully painted commander cards with powerful contextual abilities that can change the tide of war. Judge when to call on your commanders and where to assign them, is critical to your success. Bribe, Sabotage, Capture, Kidnap, Reinforce, Scan, Mine, Hack, Shield, Cloak, EMP and Battle against your foes to ensure the continued existence of your people.

Conquer worlds to create a mighty empire and wage the war to end all wars against the unforgiving Kollektiv… or suffer the same fate as those silenced by their devastation. EONWAR: strategy war-gaming evolved.

FEATURES

Online Multiplayer
Local LAN Multiplayer
Scalable match settings & Modes
36 Commander Cards
Contextual Commander Powers
Randomised Planets ensure each match is full of suspense- a reconnaisance team can be sent ahead to gather intel on planet topology so you can formulate the best strategy/ angle of attack. Each planet hex has been crafted (not procedurally generated) to provide an exciting variation of strategy and attack when controlling your tanks and infantry. Each planet hex is randomly positioned and rotated at the start of each match making invasion a challenging prospect for armies brave enough to land on them.
Directly Control Air Support with your squadron of fighters and drop devastating TP bombs on unsuspecting enemies below, but beware the enemy may call in their air forces to counter you!
Space Strategy offering factions the ability to position and proliferate their forces across the galaxy
Space Battles across several contextual locations such as in debris, amongst the Ancients or in the The Belt
Enemy Conversion to bring them into your empire, gaining you an ally and speeding up the match conclusion. It is possible to absorb 5 of the 6 factions in the game (exc. Kollektiv) ultimately making you win via the Greatest Empire.
Service Sectors allow repair to your ships and deposit of mined talantium
Overshields giving your battle-group additional hit points or immunity from certain strategic phenomena
Planetary Shields to help protect your capital that can be rotated and repaired as special actions
Cloak providing your fleet or lone battle-group a means to gain favourable strategic positions or escape battles entirely
Advanced Scanners to identify enemy positions and sniff out powered-down units awaiting to invade
Retreat when a battle goes horribly wrong, but be warned you must pilot your ships through the Jump Gate to succeed while the enemy likely tries to end you or the gate itself!
Bribe to bring additional commander cards (and their powers) into your hand while weakening the enemy
Kidnap to imprison enemy commanders at a command post and force them to work on weapon research or allow you to demand ransoms
Capture sectors and colonies to grow your mighty empire and keep the talantium flowing
Rig a doomed allied colony in an attempt to obliterate oncoming enemy with a well-timed detonation
Jump to lightspeed to reach distant sectors before your foes- but this costs precious talantium!
Engine Priority to give a chosen battle-group a speed boost til the end of the day
Weapon Priority to give your controlled battle-group a powered-up edge during battles
Reinforce a friendly colony or planet with available units residing at another friendly colony or planet, without having to pay the jump levy
Shop to create more units and missiles to breakdown your enemy’s planetary defences
Radiation creates additional variation on the gameboard making each game unique
Ion Cannon Support for factions defending their colony, providing more incentive to capture them first
Missile Piloting to ensure the best pilots in the galaxy may hit enemy targets- even without upgrades!
Missile Upgrades to help lesser pilots hit enemy targets at the cost of time and research
Randomised Mining to add depth to your strategic decisions- do i capture a commander, colony or mine the asteroid only two sectors away? Do i have enough hull-space for such a large haul?
Steal the haul from enemy transports with a cheeky cloaked stand-by group
Scalable Asteroid Belt that acts as a primary defence to TP Missiles, provides cover at the cost of speed (unless shielded) and a means for spectators to influence the outcome of battles taking place within it
Multiple Win Conditions including Capital takeover, Obliteration, Greatest Empire and minor wins for loyal subjects that served their Empire
Single, Concise Progression Bar with a clear route to all unlockables. We are focused on bringing players the best game-experience possible, not cosmetic upgrades
Optional Wagering System to speed up (or slow down) game progression so you can get on with being the best faction in the galaxy
Pumping Original Soundtrack from leading underground psy, minimal and techno artists including Quivver (John Graham), Grouch, Beat Bizarre, Khainz, Champa, Burn in Noise and others!
Many more tactics, features and powers waiting to be discovered.

Early Access Schedule

Planetside Battles/Planet diversity
Kollektiv (PvE) integration
More space battle variation
Additional Commanders

Local Same/Split Screen Multiplayer (Kickstarted)

THE CRIES OF YOUR PEOPLE ECHO AMONG THE STARS

TAKE UP YOUR ROLE AS GENERAL AND RESTORE THE PEACE THAT ONCE PREVAILED

EONWAR on Steam

King and Kingdoms

Whatever you do DO NOT buy this game, yes its in development but that is not an excuse for the developers to totally ignore players when they submit tickets reporting faults

The game has a research section, the developers decided to alter it and in doing so the section no longer works, it refuses to carry out any research stating that you have insufficient resources to carry out the research … strange when my resources are over twenty times that needed

The game does not allow you to carry out what is basically the whole idea of it, to take over other kingdoms, it is hard enough to work out how at the beginning with no game instructions but eventually when you do work it out don’t expect it to work

– Real player with 21.5 hrs in game

Discord is the best way to contact developers for help.

– Real player with 16.9 hrs in game

King and Kingdoms on Steam

Starlight: Defence Command

This is such an addictive tower defence game with some features I’ve never seen for this genre of game before. I was invited to be an alpha tester on this game. It’s got an 80’s Tron vibe for me, but with some epic music and sound effects. Very configurable towers, and more interest that a kind of repetitive TD app game, with proper missions rather than just the same level over and over.

One of my favourite aspects is that the levels have a kind of “fixed” duration (if you make it to the end of the level that is..) I like this because I’m one of those people who is motivated through my procrastination by playing games …okay I’ll just play Level 1 for 20 minutes…then laundry for 20 minutes…level 1 again…then something else I need to do in the real world. This really suits my preferred playing style for a game.

– Real player with 44.0 hrs in game

This is a more cerebral TD game in a genre that leans towards kuwaii aesthetics. Tower customization is probably the most detailed I have seen and it is pretty satisfying when you dial in an effective tower strategy. There is leveling up, so it is worth replaying early maps and it gives you a chance to try alternate methods. The story is interesting and told in text and can be ignored if you don’t care about it.

Developer responded to a minor issue I noticed within 24 hours. Definitely worth trying out if you like TD.

– Real player with 28.1 hrs in game

Starlight: Defence Command on Steam

Dark Prospect

My first experience with this game was building a giant wall to protect us against artillery, and losing my mind over having to go out and gather MORE resources because that damn monster tore it down. It was a hard fought battle that my wall unfortunately did not survive… it will be missed.

My second experience was going through a dark forest trying to find the objectives. In I walk through the barn door, and I see a box. I go to look at it and see I can interact with it, and thus I do. All of a sudden epic metal riffs are blaring through the surrounding area, and I am in awe. It is beautiful. I have decided that this new piece of technology shall follow me in my journey no matter what I face, and it shall be glorious. As I go to pick it up, I accidentally just tap the interact button and… the channel changes. Tears of joy welled in my eyes as it fully dawned on me what I had just discovered. The ensuing hours were filled with my dropping the radio to play my epic battle theme and mow down the enemy on my way to conquer the RTS player, who thought I was absolutely insane.

– Real player with 41.7 hrs in game

Day 1 Impression:

Direct and to the point. A FPS vs RTS!

The FPS side has a fun construction element to it. It is clear they have good FPS knowledge that they are building from. If you like FPS, you are ready to play this game and enjoy it. You can practice single player FPS in training.

The RTS side has a C&C like play to it. Much like most past RTSvsRTS games. You have 3 bases and you can build units out of them. I would say that the makers do not have a good grasp on the RTS side of the game but it has promise once RTS people give good feedback. They can only build the RTS side up from where they are now. You can not yet practice RTS in training but I am sure it will come around eventually.

– Real player with 27.6 hrs in game

Dark Prospect on Steam

Epic Fantasy Battle Simulator

It’s fun, but I don’t like how some units will just stay put if there are no enemies to attack within their range, especially the ones all the way in the back. Have the back units go around the enemy army and attack or, just have them do something instead of standing. Like I’d love to see armies actually clashing into each other and trying to charge through instead of just attacking what’s in front of them in a straight line.

And if there are cavalry units, PLEASE HAVE THEM CHARGE THROUGH ARMIES LIKE THE ROHIRRIM IN LOTR. I hate how cavalry units in games like UEBS just stay put and attack instead of trampling through enemies! Having cavalry units run through armies would really make this game fun!

– Real player with 23.6 hrs in game

With epic battles between 4 different races, simple UI, and for only $12 this game is worth trying - especially if you like Total War games too.

Watch as Humans, Dwarves, Orcs & Undead clash amonst several powerful monsters as hordes of warriors get slaughtered.

I feel this game has amazing potential. But right now it is not perfect. Still pretty buggy, and clunky at times. But other times - it looks pretty darn good! Especially considering how many units you can fit on the screen at one time.

– Real player with 9.5 hrs in game

Epic Fantasy Battle Simulator on Steam

Heart Of Muriet

The Seener, a powerful band of Wizards, have been removed from power and seen their families kidnapped by an opposing house. Fortunately, a young powerful Seener wizard survived the siege and is now on a quest to restore the Seener to its former glory.

Teaming up with Elves, Dwarfs, and Mages, you’ll need to build and manage settlements while researching powerful magic to overcome the enemy in tense, company-based warfare.