Games Like Hearts of Iron IV Starter Edition (2026)

Shared: WWII, Co-op Multiplayer

A deep WWII RTS where individual soldiers bleed out and tanks have armour zones. Brutal, spreadsheet-worthy, and still very much alive online.

Shared: Grand Strategy, Alternate History

Over a decade old and still the benchmark for grand-strategy depth, EU4 rewards patience with hundreds of hours of alternate-history sandboxing, but the DLC catalog demands a plan before you open your wallet.

Shared: Co-op Multiplayer

A voxel heist sandbox where blowing a hole through a wall is always the correct solution. Destructibility is the mechanic, not the backdrop.

Shared: Grand Strategy

Put 50 hours in before you see the cracks, and 500 before you stop caring about them. Stellaris is the deepest space grand strategy on PC, but the DLC wall and a shaky 4.0 patch make the entry point complicated right now.

Shared: Naval Combat

Genuinely tactical naval combat with a brain behind it, wrapped in a free-to-play economy that will test your willpower more than your gunnery skills.