Rankeno

Best Turn-Based Games

Games we have reviewed where the turn matters more than the reflex, ranked by our own score.

Ranked from 60 published games reviews · 1 of 60 are free · newest review Oct 2026

Ranked
60

Ranked by score

  1. 01Persona 5 RoyalRPG game$59.99Persona 5 Royal refines an already exceptional JRPG to an unassailable standard, blending deep social simulation with stylish, tactical turn-based com...9.7Outstanding
  2. 02Slay the SpireCard game$24.99Slay the Spire blends roguelike mechanics and deck-building into an endlessly replayable and deeply strategic experience, with every run demanding fre...9.7Outstanding
  3. 03Metaphor: ReFantazioAction game$69.99Metaphor: ReFantazio is a masterful evolution of the Atlus formula that trades high school halls for high-stakes politics, delivering one of the most ...9.6Outstanding
  4. 04Divinity: Original Sin 2Adventure game$44.99Larian Studios' Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the very best RPGs of its era, a sprawling, reactive epic whose tactical combat and narrative depth...9.6Outstanding
  5. 05Baldur's Gate 3Adventure game$59.99Baldur's Gate 3 is a great game whose reactive world and systemic depth set a new standard for digital role-playing. It's a messy, ambitious, and utte...9.6Outstanding
  6. 06DeltaruneRPG game$24.99Toby Fox deconstructs the very idea of player agency in a genre-defining RPG that feels both nostalgic and dangerously new. At $24.99, it's one of the...9.5Outstanding
  1. 07Shogun ShowdownAction game$14.99Shogun Showdown shows tactical restraint, proving that a single dimension is all you need for a deep, punishing, and utterly addictive strategy experi...9.4Outstanding
  2. 08XCOM 2 CollectionAction game$19.99The XCOM 2 Collection is a crucible. Firaxis Games crafted turn-based tactics at its finest, a game whose tension and emergent storytelling remain as ...9.4Outstanding
  3. 09Persona 4 GoldenRPG game$19.99More than a decade after its Vita debut, Persona 4 Golden still makes an enormous runtime feel like time well spent — a genre-bending JRPG where the f...9.3Outstanding
  4. 10Rift WizardRPG game$14.99Its deterministic design strips away the safety nets of modern roguelikes to reveal a terrifyingly deep tactical engine. It is a grueling, "open-book"...9.3Outstanding
  5. 11Slice & DiceAdventure game$8.99Slice & Dice is one of the very best tactical roguelikes available, a game whose probabilistic combat blends the capricious whims of dice with profo...9.3Outstanding
  6. 12Chained EchoesRPG game$24.99Chained Echoes honors the 16-bit JRPGs of a bygone era while pushing the form forward with fresh ideas, and the result rivals the very classics it so ...9.3Outstanding
  7. 13WildermythRPG game$24.99Wildermyth is a triumph of procedural generation, weaving tactical RPG mechanics into a storytelling engine so potent it creates legitimate emotional ...9.2Outstanding
  8. 14Sid Meier's Civilization VISimulation game$59.99Civilization VI refines the series' legendary formula with a brilliant district system, creating the most geographically-aware and strategically deep ...9.2Outstanding
  9. 15Darkest DungeonRPG game$24.99Darkest Dungeon is a punishing, deeply strategic, and psychologically taxing RPG whose stress system turns the roguelike dungeon crawl into a harrowin...9.1Outstanding
  10. 16CogmindAdventure game$24.99Cogmind is a brutally challenging yet intellectually rewarding roguelike whose deep customization and dynamic, reactive world that feels truly alive s...9.0Outstanding
  11. 17Tales of Maj'Eyal (ToME)Adventure game$6.99A sharp, deeply tactical roguelike that strips away the genre's chores to expose a brutal, rewarding core of pure strategy. It falls short of flawless...8.9Great
  12. 18Horizon's GateAdventure game$19.99A captivating blend of classic tactical RPG mechanics and expansive open-world freedom, Horizon's Gate carves out a unique niche, showing that pixel a...8.9Great
  13. 19A Dark RoomRPG game$6.99A Dark Room is a quietly brilliant exercise in minimalist storytelling, a genre-bending game whose text-only design proves how much atmosphere imagina...8.9Great
  14. 20In Stars and TimeRPG game$19.99In Stars and Time uses a simple time loop to tell a sharp, affecting story about found family and the weight of carrying knowledge alone. It's a speci...8.9Great
  15. 21Tactical Breach WizardsAdventure game$19.99Tactical Breach Wizards earns a strong recommendation as a sharp, well-designed take on turn-based tactics, pairing clever mechanics with a genuinely ...8.9Great
  16. 22SlipwaysStrategy game$16.99A sharp exercise in reductionist design that strips away the bloat of 4X strategy to reveal a focused, addictive core of logistical puzzles — clearly ...8.8Great
  17. 23Brutal OrchestraAction game$19.99A visceral, uncompromising tactical roguelike that transforms the afterlife into a vibrant hellscape of strategic resource management. It is as punish...8.8Great
  18. 24Octopath Traveler IIRPG game$59.99Octopath Traveler II builds meaningfully on its predecessor, pairing nostalgic pixel artistry with sharper storytelling and deeper systems. It's a str...8.8Great
  19. 25Bug Fables: The Everlasting SaplingAction game$19.99Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling is a confident, well-crafted adventure-RPG that honors classic Paper Mario design while carving out its own identi...8.8Great
  20. 26Battle BrothersRPG game$29.99Battle Brothers is an unforgiving, deeply rewarding turn-based tactical RPG that captures the grim reality of leading a mercenary company in a low-fan...8.8Great
  21. 27MoonringRPG gameFreeMoonring is an uncompromising, beautifully eerie retro RPG that respects your intelligence, trading modern handholding for sharp tactical depth and ge...8.7Great
  22. 28Stray ChildrenAction game$29.99Stray Children is a haunting, psychological mirror that makes traditional level-grinding feel hollow; it is less a game and more a serious interrogati...8.7Great
  23. 29Invisible, Inc.Action game$19.99A sharp, deterministic take on tactical stealth that trades dice rolls for information-driven tension. A thinking person's heist simulator that comes ...8.7Great
  24. 30West of LoathingAdventure game$10.99"West of Loathing" is a comedic RPG that marries stick-figure aesthetics with a rich vein of clever writing and genuine player agency. It earns a stro...8.7Great
  25. 31OMORIAdventure game$19.99OMORI is not the charming indie RPG it pretends to be. It's a devastating, unflinching exploration of trauma, dressed in the deceptively comforting cl...8.7Great
  26. 32ImbroglioStrategy game$3.99Michael Brough took a 4x4 grid, sixteen weapons, and roughly zero explanation, and built one of the deepest tactics games on a phone. It demands more ...8.6Great
  27. 33Yakuza: Like a DragonAction game$7.99RGG Studio took a 15-year-old brawler franchise, threw out its combat system, replaced its iconic protagonist, and delivered the series' most accessib...8.6Great
  28. 34Sid Meier's Alpha CentauriStrategy game$4.99Twenty-seven years on, Alpha Centauri remains one of the most intellectually ambitious strategy games ever built — and the Steam Planetary Pack is...8.6Great
  29. 35Cinco PausAdventure game$9.99Michael Brough's Portuguese-language mystery-box roguelike turns not knowing what your tools do into the entire game — and it's one of the smartest ...8.6Great
  30. 36Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Action game$49.99A debut studio walked into the RPG arena swinging at Persona, Final Fantasy, and Sekiro all at once—and mostly landed the punch. Clair Obscur: Exped...8.6Great
  31. 37Path of AchraRPG game$9.99Path of Achra is a sharply focused roguelike that strips away the tedious micromanagement of traditional turn-based RPGs to deliver a satisfying san...8.6Great
  32. 38Old WorldRPG game$39.99Mohawk Games' Old World is a genuinely fresh take on the 4X, weaving deep character simulation into a genre often content with abstract numbers an...8.6Great
  33. 39Pillars of Eternity II: DeadfireRPG game$19.99Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a vast, choice-driven adventure that carefully refines its predecessor's strengths while charting ambitious new co...8.6Great
  34. 40GriftlandsIndie game$19.99Griftlands reshapes the roguelike deck-builder formula, weaving intricate card-battling mechanics with a branching, consequence-laden narrative. It's ...8.6Great
  35. 41The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 1st ChapterAction game$59.99Falcom took the most intimidating on-ramp in modern JRPGs and rebuilt it into a genuinely welcoming entry point — a two-decade-old script preserved al...8.5Great
  36. 42Fire Emblem: Three HousesNintendoThree Houses welds a genuinely excellent tactical RPG to a school-management sim that has no business working as well as it does — and then asks you t...8.5Great
  37. 43Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive AgeAdventure game$39.99Dragon Quest XI S is a "definitive edition" that largely earns the label — a sprawling, warm-hearted, 100-plus-hour JRPG that trades innovation for cr...8.5Great
  38. 44868-HACKAdventure game$7.99Michael Brough packed remarkable strategic depth into a 6x6 grid, and 868-HACK still makes one of the sharpest cases that constraint — not content...8.5Great
  39. 45Look OutsideAdventure game$9.99Look Outside takes a premise most studios would waste on a jump-scare gallery — look out a window, become a monster — and builds one of the smartest s...8.5Great
  40. 46Shadowrun: DragonfallAdventure game$14.99Dragonfall is the rare tactical RPG where the writing hits as hard as the shotguns. It remains one of the sharpest cyberpunk stories in the genre, hel...8.5Great
  41. 47Symphony of War: The Nephilim SagaAdventure game$19.99Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is a strong turn-based strategy RPG, delivering intricate tactical depth and rewarding squad customization despite ...8.5Great
  42. 48MewgenicsAdventure game$29.99Mewgenics is a demanding, deeply addictive tactical roguelite whose ingenious cat breeding system and macabre charm make it easy to recommend — with r...8.5Great
  43. 49BeastieballAdventure game$24.99Beastieball turns volleyball into a creature-collecting RPG's combat system, and the idea holds up. It's a confident, well-designed Pokémon-like with ...8.4Great
  44. 50Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice ChroniclesRPG game$49.99Square Enix has given one of the most literate, mechanically dense tactical RPGs ever made a remaster it deserved — voiced, redrawn, and respectful of...8.4Great
  45. 51Persona 3 ReloadAdventure game$59.99Atlus has rebuilt its most melancholy, most thematically daring RPG with the production values it always deserved — and only a repetitive back half of...8.4Great
  46. 52Your Only Move Is HUSTLEAction game$4.99Ivy Sly stripped every millisecond of execution out of the fighting game and discovered that what's left — pure, naked prediction — is the heart of it...8.4Great
  47. 53Chrono ArkAdventure game$24.99Chrono Ark is a demanding, party-based tactical deck-builder that trades solo simplicity for a sophisticated synergy engine. It earns a clear recommen...8.4Great
  48. 54The Last SpellAction game$24.99A demanding tactical hybrid that rewards calculated risks and punishes hesitation with mathematical cruelty. It's a grueling, heavy-metal-fueled defen...8.4Great
  49. 55Jupiter HellRPG game$24.99ChaosForge has done something rare: making a grid-based, turn-based roguelike feel like a kinetic shooter. It's a sharp, focused piece of mechanical d...8.4Great
  50. 56Keep DrivingAdventure game$17.99Keep Driving turns the mundane anxiety of a long-distance road trip into a compelling, high-stakes management RPG. It's a specific, atmospheric achiev...8.4Great
  51. 57Hylics 2RPG game$14.99Hylics 2 is a striking feat of aesthetic commitment that transforms the traditional JRPG into a tactile, hypnotic piece of interactive art, even if it...8.4Great
  52. 58Void StrangerAdventure game$11.99Void Stranger is a cerebral gauntlet wrapped in existential dread, demanding real dedication from anyone hoping to conquer its carefully built, often ...8.4Great
  53. 59ArcoAction game$19.99Arco is a genuinely inventive tactical RPG whose simultaneous-turn combat and culturally rooted narrative make it an easy recommendation, even if th...8.4Great
  54. 60HoplitePuzzle game$3.99Twelve years after its seven-day birth, Hoplite remains a benchmark-free but genuinely excellent take on turn-based tactics on a phone. Four dollars b...8.3Great

How we chose the best turn-based games

Turn-based combat only works if each decision is legible, so this list starts with the information the game gives you before you commit: hit chances, enemy intents and the real cost of an action. Our reviews weigh the depth of the tactical layer, the quality of the opposition, pacing across a long campaign and how well the interface reads on a small screen. Real-time games with a pause button are not turn-based and therefore excluded.

Ranking on this page is deliberately plain: each title is ordered by the score our review published, highest first, and a tie goes to the more recently reviewed product so a new verdict shows up straight away. Nothing is re-weighted for a store chart, a publisher or a release window, and no title is promoted for being well known. Price and platforms are read from each row rather than restated here, because they move.

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