Steam Winter Sale 2023: best strategy games to grab at a discount
Christmas is almost upon us and funds are running low, but our battle plan guarantees that you will be able to buy plenty of great video games during the Steam Winter Sale 2023 and still be able to afford a nice dinner for yourself and your family on the festive day. Winter campaigns are notoriously tricky, but we have just the right recipe to overcome any logistical nightmares and bring you and your mighty wallet into an advantageous position for battle.
We’ve compiled a list with some of the best strategy games to grab at a discount at the Steam Winter Sale 2023 so that you have the best intelligence available to you from the comfort of wherever you are reading this – no need to personally scout ahead and brave the cold.
Battle Brothers
- 50% off.
- Edition with all DLC 37% off.
- Find Battle Brothers on Steam.
If you’re interested in the upcoming Menace, then you have to play developer Overhype Studios’ previous game, Battle Brothers. It essentially mixes up Mount & Blade with turn-based tactical battles and is through and through brilliant. It’s gritty, kind of dark, very tactical, and no run is the same thanks to the different start scenarios and the procedurally generated maps.
Orcs and other dangers await your mercenary band in Battle Brothers.
Overhype Studios
Civilization 5: Complete Bundle
- 87% off.
- Find Civilization 5 on Steam.
It’s going to be a long wait for Civilization 7, so anyone planning on familiarizing themselves with the series’ history ahead of time should grab the iconic Civilization 5 – and this Complete Bundle contains every piece of content ever released for the title for a very strong price. It’s, in fact, a lot cheaper than the base game alone, which did not receive a discount.
Civilization 6 is off by 90%, which is worth checking out on Steam as well.
Civilization 5 markes the series' switch to hexagons.
Firaxis
Total War: Warhammer 3
- 50% off.
- Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC 20% off.
- Champions of Chaos DLC 33% off.
- Find Total War: Warhammer 3 on Steam.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for Total War: Warhammer 3. The Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs was an excellent piece of DLC beloved by fans, but then controversial price hikes and a general unhappiness with a lack of frequent patches led to a shitstorm par excellence, which is why the game’s rating dropped so hard. But it’s still a very good game, especially paired with the best Total War: Warhammer 3 mods, which are getting more and more impressive. Plus, things are looking to be on the upswing now with Shadows of Change getting additional content for free and frequent patches having resumed.
The stocks of Total War: Warhammer 3 are rising again.
Creative Assembly
Anno 1800
- 75% off.
- Find Anno 1800 on Steam.
For city-builder fans with a hand for logistics, Anno 1800 is still the go-to address. Ubisoft Mainz has done some very interesting things with the series in this one, especially when it comes to long-term content production – and sometimes those developments can get a bit wild, like with the title’s Cthulhu-themed expansion. Yeah, that’s a thing – and, somehow, it works.
Welcome to a new age of Anno that seemingly is never-ending.
Ubisoft
Age of Empires 4
- 50% off.
- Find Age of Empires 4 on Steam.
Age of Empires 4 is a strong real-time strategy game now, even though it took a while to get there. Its start was a bit of a mixed bag, but Relic and World’s Edge definitely gave it the necessary love to turn things around. Since release, key features and even two free civilizations were added to the title, and only recently its first paid expansion, The Sultans Ascend, was launched, which brought a ton of new content including a new campaign to the game.
Age of Empires 4 has Byzantines now, so all is well.
Microsoft
Against the Storm
- 35% off.
- Find Against the Storm on Steam.
Developed by Eremite Games and published by Hooded Horse, Against the Storm mixes classic and satisfying city-builder gameplay with roguelike elements to create a truly unique experience that has won the hearts and minds of strategy game fans everywhere. Clad in a creative fantasy aesthetic the developers call “rainpunk” and focusing on what’s usually the most interesting and dynamic phase of any city-building game – the foundation period – Against the Storm never overstays its welcome, allowing players to easily “finish” a city in one sitting. Skilfully woven into the core city-building experience, the roguelike meta-progression still gives the game an overarching long-term goal to work towards.
Against the Storm is the best city-builder of 2023 and a must-buy.
Eremite Games / Hooded Horse
Age of Wonders 4
- 30% off.
- Expansion Pass 18% off.
- Find Age of Wonders 4 on Steam.
Triumph Studios’ Age of Wonders 4 is my personal best strategy game of 2023, so it’s a joy to recommend it to you. For anyone in possession of the base game already – or if you’re already sure that you’re going to love the game once you’ve bought it – the Expansion Pass is a good pick-up as well. Both Dragon Dawn and Empires & Ashes have been brilliant content additions to the title. This is turn-based strategy with the freedom of role-playing elements at its finest.
Age of Wonders 4 integrates many great RPG elements into the genre.
Triumph Studios / Paradox Interactive
Stellaris, EU4, and HoI4
Stellaris is what you need in your life, if you need to let out that inner space despot in you from time to time: Create a species from the near endless pool of possibilities and role-play or min-max it in whichever way you want – in Stellaris, you can become the galaxy’s savior as well as its doom. Solve ancient mysteries, master the arts of war and diplomacy, and expand your empire’s boundaries to acquire untold riches. You’ll also find several big DLC discounts and similar offerings for other Paradox titles such as Europa Universalis 4 and Hearts of Iron 4.
When it comes to grand strategy, you can't go wrong with any Paradox title.
Paradox
Planet Zoo
- 75% off.
- Find Planet Zoo on Steam.
Planet Zoo is the best zoo-building game available at the moment. Though light on the actual management aspect, it looks stunning and really brings the animals and landscapes to life. In terms of building your dream zoo and populating it with beautiful creatures, this is the game to get.
Jurassic World Evolution 2 has a similar discount, so check it out on Steam if dinosaurs are more your thing.
Must. Resist. To. Sing. The. Song.
Frontier
Company of Heroes Franchise Collection
- 54% off.
- Contains Company of Heroes 1, 2, and 3
- Find Company of Heroes on Steam.
Company of Heroes 3 is still struggling to find its place after a disappointing release earlier this year, but a bundle with all three of the real-time strategy games? Now that’s enticing. You can experience the single-player campaigns of all of these titles, diving into World War 2 as both the Allies and the Axis, and then check out the renowned multiplayer with its chaotic PvP battles.
A complete Company of Heroes bundle is never a bad deal.
Relic Entertainment
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters
If Space Marines are too vanilla for you, there is always the Grey Knights – clad in power armor that’s inspired by medieval equipment, these bad boys are all Psykers and specialized in taking down Daemons of the Warp. This turn-based tactical game has you take command of a ship of Grey Knights as you thwart a daemonic plan of epic proportions. You’ll always be outnumbered, but that’s where the immense powers of these supersoldiers shines brightly.
Glory to the God-Emperor!
Complex Games / Frontier
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Released in 2023, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a superb real-time stealth tactics game. And it features undead pirates, so what more do you want? No, it’s seriously a brilliant genre entry by Mimimi Games, featuring rock-solid mechanics, an impeccable theme, and a really good-looking art style. Plus, it has the allure of being the last-ever game by Mimimi, which is disbanding at the end of the year.
What's that quote about believing in ghost stories because you're in one again?
Mimimi Games
The Last Train Home
Stuck in Russia as it breaks apart in a civil war after World War 1, a group of foreign soldiers needs to escape the country – by riding an armored train along the entire length of the nation. Mixing real-time strategy combat and a strategic survival layer, The Last Train Home is a new release from this year that’ll captivate you from start to finish.
You won't want to miss this train.
Asheborne Games / THQ Nordic
Two Point Campus
- 66% off.
- Find Two Point Campus on Steam.
Want to build the university campus of your dreams? Then Two Point Campus is your charming and not always quite so realistic solution. Make sure your students are happy, well-fed, and get good grades to grab more of that public funding and expand your institution – after all, you’ll need some money to offer extravagant courses like jousting. And, honestly, who’d ever visit a university that doesn’t offer jousting? I’ve watched Walkure Romanze, so I know what I’m talking about.
Who wouldn't want to go to this university? Oh, it's the building next to the castle.
Two Point Studios / Sega
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
- 35% off.
- Early Access.
- Find Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic on Steam.
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic is a city-builder and logistics game that – as you might have guessed from the title – tasks you with building up a new Soviet Republic during the time of the Cold War. Make the Motherland proud in this in-depth, detailed, and often very funny strategy game that manages to satirize the dysfunctional Soviet state system as you try to make it work.
Look at glorious Soviet civilization, comrade!
3Division / Hooded Horse
Mechabellum
- 35% off.
- Early Access.
- Find Mechabellum on Steam.
Mechabellum is a strategic auto-battler featuring giant mechs that fight against other giant mechs. Sold already? You basically customize your personal army, equipping your units with different modules and weapons, and then deploy it on the battlefield opposite of the enemy army, after which they automatically combat each other. There’s a good amount of strategy and mind games at play and you don’t need any APM whatsoever to play it.
Welcome to the glorious world of Mechabellum.
Game River / Paradox Arc
There are so many more good deals to be had during this sale, I can’t even properly list them all. Command & Conquer Remastered? XCOM 2? The Lamplighters League? Dune: Spice Wars? The Great War: Western Front? Rimworld? Pioneers of Pagonia? Grab what you can and never look back – or at what’s left in your wallet. Listen, I may have to take back that dinner guarantee.
