Top real-time strategy Indie games you need to play

STEAM RATING: 'Overwhelmingly Positive'

Build an army of brave warriors and journey to distant Arabian lands to do battle in real-time strategy combat in this highly-anticipated sequel to the best-selling Stronghold.

Stronghold Crusader HD throws you into historic battles from the Crusades with brutal AI opponents, new units, four historical campaigns and over 100 unique skirmish missions. Playing as either Richard the Lionheart or the Saladin, Sultan of Syria, players will lead their determined group of Crusaders, forged by centuries of barbaric warfare, into large-scale battles.

Stronghold Crusader HD gives you access to both Stronghold Crusader and Stronghold Crusader Extreme, including the original Stronghold Crusader with a few extra perks. Get ready to battle through several campaigns documenting the First, Second and Third Crusades, as well as conflicts within the individual Crusader states.

STEAM RATING: 'Overwhelmingly Positive'

A thermodynamic, fluid physics-based strategy... say that after a few cans!

In Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal, players find themselves engaging an enemy with theoretically predictable behavior, unlike most games that feature a heavily scripted A.I.

Explore hundreds of star systems with thousands of worlds in Prospector missions, with a story arc featuring insane and unique enemies. Create your own maps using the built-in map editor and upload and share on-line - or join thousands of other players and peruse the databases of worlds created by others.

If you want to create a new weapon, unit, enemy or effect, use the game's built in scripting language to design whatever your strategy heart desires.

STEAM RATING: 'Overwhelmingly Positive'

Never seen a giant piranha with giraffe legs? You're missing out!

Long before the internet become obsessed with Pokemon Fusion, there was Impossible Creatures - the RTS that allows players to conduct monstrosities of the animal kingdom and recruit them in their army. Set in the 1930s, Impossible Creatures pits the player against an evil villain in a desperate campaign across a chain of remote and diverse islands.

Using Earth’s most formidable animals as building blocks, the player must create an army of genetically-altered mutant monsters in a titanic struggle to protect an unsuspecting world. For example, combining a cheetah with a scorpion will create a chorpion (we made the name up) which gives the creature specific abilities - in this case, the creature has Leap Attack, Poison and Barrier Destroy abilities.

Players can refine their armies in the single-player campaign, and test their strategies with the same armies in a multiplayer game.

STEAM RATING: 'Overwhelmingly Positive'

Set in Japan around the Edo period, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is deemed as a hardcore tactical stealth game, where players take control of a team of deadly specialists and sneak in the shadows between dozens of enemies.

The group is composed of very different personalities, and with enough experience under their belts, trust is won and friendships are made. The characters develop their own dynamic and each member will have to face their own personal demons.

One of the leaders of this team is Hayato, an agile ninja, who clears the way through his enemies silently, with his sword and shuriken. Samurai Mugen prefers a more powerful approach and can defeat more fiends at one time, but thus also forfeiting flexibility.

Aiko is a master of camouflage when she distracts enemies disguised as a Geisha. Street child Yuki places traps and decoys enemies towards their deadly fate, while the mysterious marksman Takuma relies on his sniper rifle and takes care of the enemies from a distance.

Conquer seemingly impossible challenges where you are outnumbered ten to one by finding dozens of ways to take out your opponents, and explore the beautiful surroundings of ancient Japan.

STEAM RATING: 'Very Positive'

Tactical battalion level combat sim Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 sees players head into tank-filled feuds during the WW2 era. Embark on large-scale operations for the US Army and Wehrmacht with realistic organizational structure, and experience a campaign that features more than 50 detailed vehicles produced in Germany, USA and UK.

There's over 400 sq. km of realistic landscapes reconstructed from topographical maps and photo and video materials, so expect an authentic battle experience!

One of the game's main modes is Tactical, an RTS mode where players conduct engage with the enemy through capturing territory, destroying vehicles and taking out enemy manpower. However, this game also features 'Operational', a turn-based mode where you can shift and concentrate forces in specific directions, as well as resupply and replace units, and repair and refuel vehicles.