Rank 01Why this
Also Base-Building and City Builder, like Empires in Ruins.
- $19.99 (Price checked Nov 7)
- Deck Playable
- 2024
Games like Empires in Ruins
- 29 games
- Updated May 4, 2026
Players who liked Empires in Ruins also play
The closest matches to Empires in Ruins: Rising Lords, Conan Unconquered, Empires of the Undergrowth, Plebby Quest: The Crusades, and Stronghold HD (2012). Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
- Rank 01
Rank 02- $19.99 (Price checked Nov 7)
- Deck Playable
- 2019
Rank 03Why this
Also Grand Strategy and Base-Building, like Empires in Ruins.
- $29.99 (Price checked Nov 8)
- Deck Playable
- 2024
Rank 04 
Plebby Quest: The Crusades
Why this: Also Grand Strategy and Wargame, like Empires in Ruins.
Rank 05 
Rank 06 
Rank 07 
Rank 08 
The full ranked list: top 24 games like Empires in Ruins
Best match first, as plain text. The same list for AI assistants:
- 1
- 2
- 3Empires of the Undergrowth
Also Grand Strategy and Base-Building, like Empires in Ruins.
- 95% of 10,237 reviews
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
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- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
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- 18Driftland: The Magic Revival
Also Grand Strategy and City Builder, like Empires in Ruins.
- 71% of 732 reviews
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- Released: 2021
- Developer: Hammer & Ravens
- Price: $17.99checked Nov 7
- Steam Deck: Deck Playable
- 80% of 56 reviews
- Genres: Strategy, Indie, Simulation, RPG
- Platforms: Windows
Players highlight
- Darkly comedic low fantasy narrative with full metal jacket style dialogue
- Enemy air and ground unit mix creates constant tactical pressure
- Hybrid tower defense and 4x strategy gameplay
- Atmospheric
- Dark
- Immersive
More games like Empires in Ruins, sliced differently
Reviewers mention these as similar to Empires in Ruins
Surfaced from review text: when other players write 'if you liked X, try Y', we catch the name and resolve it back to a Steam game.
Stronghold Crusader HD (2012)
Why this: Also Base-Building and City Builder, like Empires in Ruins.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Empires in Ruins at current Steam store prices.
Home Wars
Why this: Also Grand Strategy and Base-Building, like Empires in Ruins.
Dust to the End
Why this: Also Base-Building and City Builder, like Empires in Ruins.
Lumencraft
Why this: Also Base-Building and Tower Defense, like Empires in Ruins.
Border Pioneer
Why this: Also Base-Building and Wargame, like Empires in Ruins.
There Are No Orcs
Why this: Also Wargame and City Builder, like Empires in Ruins.
East India Company
Why this: Also Grand Strategy and City Builder, like Empires in Ruins.
Planar Conquest
Why this: Also Grand Strategy and Wargame, like Empires in Ruins.
Free alternatives
Free games the recommender matches to Empires in Ruins, limited to titles with at least 500 Steam reviews and 80% positive.
Crusader Kings II
Why this: Also Grand Strategy and Medieval, like Empires in Ruins.
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Why this: Also Base-Building and City Builder, like Empires in Ruins.
Zero-K
Why this: Also Base-Building and RTS, like Empires in Ruins.
KARDS - The WW2 Card Game
Why this: Also Wargame and Turn-Based Strategy, like Empires in Ruins.
Bloons Monkey City
Why this: Also City Builder and Tower Defense, like Empires in Ruins.
Dota 2
Why this: Also RTS and Tower Defense, like Empires in Ruins.
POSTAL
Why this: Also Dark Humor and Isometric, like Empires in Ruins.
More from Hammer & Ravens
Other recommendable Steam games by Hammer & Ravens, ranked by review count so the studio's hits land first.
Ale Abbey - Monastery Brewery Tycoon
Why this: Also Base-Building and Medieval, like Empires in Ruins.
Razerwire:Nanowars
Why this: Same atmospheric mood as Empires in Ruins.
Headbangers in Holiday Hell
Why this: Also 2.5D and Isometric, like Empires in Ruins.
About Empires in Ruins
The closest matches to Empires in Ruins: Rising Lords, Conan Unconquered, Empires of the Undergrowth, Plebby Quest: The Crusades, and Stronghold HD (2012). Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
If Empires in Ruins is your kind of game, the closest matches are Rising Lords, Conan Unconquered and Empires of the Undergrowth — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers describe it as atmospheric, dark and immersive, and single out its persistent upgrades and research. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.
About Empires in Ruins: The bastard child of Grand Strategy and Tower Defense, with a black humor infused plot, set in a grim, disillusioned world. Quell the rebellion, tame the Western Marches, disobey your orders and save your brandy. Not strictly in this order.
Is Empires in Ruins worth buying?
Players recommend it
A summary of what players say, not a promise you'll like it. Every signal is listed below.
- 80% of 56 Steam reviews are positive.
- We don't track this game's daily reviews yet, so this is the all-time picture.
- Price: $17.99 (checked Nov 7).
- People who recommend it had played a median of 12 h when they wrote their review.
- Steam Deck Playable: works, with some rough edges.
What fans praise · Themes mined from positive reviews
- Darkly comedic low fantasy narrative with full metal jacket style dialogue
- Enemy air and ground unit mix creates constant tactical pressure
- Hybrid tower defense and 4x strategy gameplay
- Province governance with disloyal officers who ignore orders
Top critical reviews
The most up-voted negative English reviews in our sample, quoted as written.
“I wish I could give a separate thumbs up and thumbs down for the two parts of this game. The strategic province management side of things is well-written, has great art, and reasonably engaging gameplay. The tower defence side had much…”
“I tried to play the game after leaving it for a while, it has some interesting aspects, but overall it is lackluster. It seems that not much thought went into the UI and the game isn't good enough to make up for this. To give an example…”
People who play it also play: Rising Lords, Conan Unconquered, Empires of the Undergrowth
Frequently asked about Empires in Ruins
Can I run it?
Does Empires in Ruins run on Steam Deck?
Empires in Ruins is rated Playable on Steam Deck — it runs, but expect some manual adjustments (control remapping, text size, or graphics settings) for the best experience.
How much does Empires in Ruins cost?
Empires in Ruins is listed on Steam at 17.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
What games are most similar to Empires in Ruins?
Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Empires in Ruins are Rising Lords, Conan Unconquered, Empires of the Undergrowth.
Who developed Empires in Ruins?
Empires in Ruins was developed by Hammer & Ravens and published by Hammer & Ravens, WhisperGames.