Best games
Best Strategy games of 2001
The 8 best Strategy games released in 2001, ranked from 1,320 critic and player ratings.
The best Strategy game of 2001 is Advance Wars, with a critic score of 100/100 — updated September 2026.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Each game is ranked in one genre only, the one that defines it best, so the same title never tops two different genre charts.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 2001.
- 8 games are listed on this page, carrying 1,320 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 29 September 2026.
Top 8
01
Advance Wars
Just because this battle fits in the palm of your hand doesn't mean the stakes are small. On the contrary, this all-or-nothing fight will have you accessing guns, grenades, launchers, and weaponry of all sorts. Players assume command of an army that's out to reclaim a world that's been broken up by warring factions. The battle map is essentially a grid, and moving units is like moving chess pieces on a board -- each of the units can move a specific amount of spaces within this grid, and can only attack at a certain distance from specific enemies. Advance Wars features more than 115 maps, a map editor, head-to-head play via link cable, and an easy-to-understand tutorial mode for beginners.
100
/100
02
Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete
90
/100
03
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - Yuri's Revenge
86
/100
Advance Wars
Just because this battle fits in the palm of your hand doesn't mean the stakes are small. On the contrary, this all-or-nothing fight will have you accessing guns, grenades, launchers, and weaponry of all sorts. Players assume command of an army that's out to reclaim a world that's been broken up by warring factions. The battle map is essentially a grid, and moving units is like moving chess pieces on a board -- each of the units can move a specific amount of spaces within this grid, and can only attack at a certain distance from specific enemies. Advance Wars features more than 115 maps, a map editor, head-to-head play via link cable, and an easy-to-understand tutorial mode for beginners.
100
/100
02
Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete
90
/100
03
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - Yuri's Revenge
86
/100
04
Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
Play six Desperados, lead by the hero John Cooper in the hardest and wildest Wild West Game of all times. Guide Cooper and his fearless companions in the exciting pursuit of the mysterious bandit leader El Diabolo. Breath-taking landscapes and a thrilling story create an unmatched Wild West atmosphere resulting in “Desperados – Wanted Dead or Alive” being a challenging team based real-time-adventure-strategy-game. The Wild West has never been this entertaining! 6 different game characters, each of them having special abilities 25 real time-strategy missions full of action Award-winning full motion videos with thrilling plots Unique sceneries including ghost towns, gold mines, pueblos, swamps, camps saloons, prisons and steamers Thrilling gun fights, bank robberies, ambush missions, traps and breakneck pursuits Spectacular effects in the landscapes including thunderstorms, sun sets, caves, fires and waterfalls 6 practice missions to get used to controlling the characters Altogether more than 30 different characteristics to be used by you skillfully in order to survive the levels and to escape
81
/100
05
Stronghold
Stronghold is a historic real-time strategy game developed by Firefly Studios. While the game focuses primarily on conquest and expansion through military pursuits, Stronghold does provide space for economic strategy and development: there is both an economic and a military campaign to be played and both are discussed in the game manual. The game takes place in Medieval Britain around the time of AD 1066, though, since there is sometimes no time limit, scenarios can continue to hundreds of years beyond this date.
81
/100
06
Sid Meier's Civilization III
Civilization III, like the other Civilization games, is based around building an empire, from the ground up, beginning at start of recorded history and continuing beyond the current modern day. The player's civilization is centered around a core of cities that provide the resources necessary to grow the player's cities, construct city improvements, wonders, and units, and advance the player's technological development. The player must balance a good infrastructure, resources, diplomatic and trading skills, technological advancement, city and empire management, culture, and military power to succeed.
80
/100
07
Worms World Party
Worms World Party is an artillery game, which is a type of Turn-based strategy game. Like its predecessors, Worms World Party involves controlling a team of worms and using a collection of weaponry to eliminate the opposing team(s). The worms can walk and jump around and use tools such as the ninja rope and parachute to move to otherwise unreachable locations. The worms have an arsenal of dozens of weapons, ranging from longbows to bazookas and from fireballs to Holy Hand Grenades.
75
/100
08
Cossacks: Art of War
74
/100
Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
Play six Desperados, lead by the hero John Cooper in the hardest and wildest Wild West Game of all times. Guide Cooper and his fearless companions in the exciting pursuit of the mysterious bandit leader El Diabolo. Breath-taking landscapes and a thrilling story create an unmatched Wild West atmosphere resulting in “Desperados – Wanted Dead or Alive” being a challenging team based real-time-adventure-strategy-game. The Wild West has never been this entertaining! 6 different game characters, each of them having special abilities 25 real time-strategy missions full of action Award-winning full motion videos with thrilling plots Unique sceneries including ghost towns, gold mines, pueblos, swamps, camps saloons, prisons and steamers Thrilling gun fights, bank robberies, ambush missions, traps and breakneck pursuits Spectacular effects in the landscapes including thunderstorms, sun sets, caves, fires and waterfalls 6 practice missions to get used to controlling the characters Altogether more than 30 different characteristics to be used by you skillfully in order to survive the levels and to escape
81
/100
05
Stronghold
Stronghold is a historic real-time strategy game developed by Firefly Studios. While the game focuses primarily on conquest and expansion through military pursuits, Stronghold does provide space for economic strategy and development: there is both an economic and a military campaign to be played and both are discussed in the game manual. The game takes place in Medieval Britain around the time of AD 1066, though, since there is sometimes no time limit, scenarios can continue to hundreds of years beyond this date.
81
/100
06
Sid Meier's Civilization III
Civilization III, like the other Civilization games, is based around building an empire, from the ground up, beginning at start of recorded history and continuing beyond the current modern day. The player's civilization is centered around a core of cities that provide the resources necessary to grow the player's cities, construct city improvements, wonders, and units, and advance the player's technological development. The player must balance a good infrastructure, resources, diplomatic and trading skills, technological advancement, city and empire management, culture, and military power to succeed.
80
/100
07
Worms World Party
Worms World Party is an artillery game, which is a type of Turn-based strategy game. Like its predecessors, Worms World Party involves controlling a team of worms and using a collection of weaponry to eliminate the opposing team(s). The worms can walk and jump around and use tools such as the ninja rope and parachute to move to otherwise unreachable locations. The worms have an arsenal of dozens of weapons, ranging from longbows to bazookas and from fireballs to Holy Hand Grenades.
75
/100
08
Cossacks: Art of War
74
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Strategy game of 2001?
Advance Wars currently tops the ranking with a score of 100/100 across 82 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.