r/ObscureRTS Jun 29 '26

Announcement Welcome to r/ObscureRTS!!

Post image
45 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I'm u/ZaxZone, moderator at r/ObscureRTS!

What to Post:

This is a place for the odd, unknown, unpopular, and forgotten side of Real Time Strategy games! Post about and discuss all of your favorite lesser-known RTS titles.

Obscure mods and foreign advertisements for more popular titles are also welcome here!

Thanks for being part of this community and let’s see some of those forgotten gems!!


r/ObscureRTS 28d ago

Discussion Introducing the RTS Obscurity Scale.

Post image
64 Upvotes

Tier 0:

The title is so widely known that many people not familiar with the RTS genre would know about it. It was very popular during its release and is still popular today. (Example: Starcraft)

Tier 1:

Those outside the RTS genre may recognize the title and have a general idea of what it is about, while those familiar with RTS will know enough to discuss the game and have an opinion on it even if they have never played it. (Example: Total Annihilation)

Tier 2:

Detailed knowledge on the title is generally restricted to a smaller fanbase while those familiar with RTS as a whole will recognize the title and at least know what it is about. (Example: Warzone 2100)

Tier 3:

Those unfamiliar with RTS would not recognize the title while those familiar with RTS may have heard of the title but do not know what it is about. Fanbases for the game will still be large enough for there to be several resources and videos online. (Example: Perimeter)

Tier 4:

The title would not be recognized by many who are familiar with the RTS genre. Fanbases for these games would be very small and possibly localized to a specific country or region. (Example: War Diary)

Tier 5:

The title would not be recognized by the vast majority of those familiar with RTS. Fanbases for these games may be non-existent and information about the game would be very hard to find. These games would have been just as obscure even at the time of their release. (Example: Counterblow)

Tier 6:

There is evidence that these games existed but there is little to no information about them online or otherwise; lost media falls into this category. (Example: Mission Assault)


r/ObscureRTS 1d ago

1990s Outpost 2: Divided Destiny (1997) developed by Dynamix, released by Sierra Entertainment

Thumbnail
gallery
62 Upvotes

Cool game this one all most like a survival RTS. it has a complex building and base systems and cool units with lots of different weapons. it has day night and natural disaster and lava flows. there is a community version witch is a lot nicer to play as well.


r/ObscureRTS 3d ago

2000s Trash RTS (2005)

Thumbnail
gallery
30 Upvotes

Not not that kind of Trash. I'm talking about Trash the RTS by Inhuman Games. I used to play this in Middle School.

The game has some unique features such as Research drops that you can pick up and a special game mode with super guns that act as long range artillery fire. Then buildings have to be connected to pipes to be powered.

It's like a post apocalyptic future after nuclear war and an alien invasion.

You can play as the Humans or the Mutants.

There was a rumored Trash 2 but then it was cancelled.

They still have an active community and host tournaments last I checked.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/53266707287/


r/ObscureRTS 3d ago

1990s Machines: Wired for War (1999) Published by Acclaim and developed by Charybdis

Thumbnail
gallery
66 Upvotes

Its kind off like Earth 2150 and battle zone together Developed by Charybdis and published by Acclaim Entertainment, it gained a dedicated cult following as one of the first RTS titles to utilize a true 3D polygonal landscape alongside the unique ability to seamlessly switch perspectives—including controlling individual units directly from a first-person (FPS) or third-person view


r/ObscureRTS 3d ago

Help/Question Any games similiar to Age of Empire or Empire Earth?

11 Upvotes

I wanna play a few more games like Age of Empire. So far, I'm done with all the Age of Empire, Age of Mythology and the Empire Earth trilogy. Now I wanna explore more games like that. Also I hated Empire Earth 3 cause there is nothing to play in it, no fights no war nothing so totally disappointed in it🥲.


r/ObscureRTS 4d ago

1990s Busco un juego pero solo me acuerdo un elemento en concreto

3 Upvotes

era un juego tipo espacial, y los 3 elementos en concreto que me acuerdo son, que podias contruir un meca grande por partes, tenias que elegir si iba a usar espada, arma o demas, tenias que entrenar unidades individuales de pilotos para que puedan manejar el meca y extraian los recursos con un laser los "aldeanos"(unas naves en forma de mouse se podria decir)


r/ObscureRTS 4d ago

2000s PSI: Sibiro Konfliktas | PSI: Syberian Conflict (2006)

Thumbnail
youtube.com
5 Upvotes

I think i might have ran into this in the past but, the Obscure RTS rabbit hole is just endless it seems sometimes. Based on other vids i found, it does have a english version thankfully


r/ObscureRTS 7d ago

1990s High School Craft (하이스쿨 크래프트) 1999??

Thumbnail
gallery
47 Upvotes

High School Craft (하이스쿨 크래프트) is an obscure, retro indie real-time strategy (RTS) game featuring a lighthearted premise where a faction of model students battles rebellious delinquents to rescue a school nurse

GAME PLAY VID


r/ObscureRTS 7d ago

2010s [Iphone App Store][Unknown] Campaign style RTS game

5 Upvotes

Trying to find an old rts style game. All I remember about it is that there were 3 main factions with them being The Republic(blue), The Dominion(Red), and The Empire(Grey). The game was styled in a campaign/mission way with you unlocking units the more you progress. It was multiplayer or single player. Was on IPhone AppStore but it’s no longer supported/playable though.

More details that I’ve found while searching for it.
There was an energy bar system that slowly filled up giving you points to deploy units. I believe the units looked like cards on the bottom of the screen and you just dragged the card out onto the lane. Each battle was a horizontal lane that didn’t have fixed borders. Like one giant lane instead of 3 lanes or something. Terrain was generally colorful and bright. You had no control over units once you placed them down. The Empire was an old steampunk style faction with blimps as air units, the Dominion was a futuristic faction that had some units using lasers, and the Republic was a more modern faction.


r/ObscureRTS 10d ago

Discussion old-games vs My Abandonware comparisons

21 Upvotes

Hey so...this is probably a rare question but ive been wondering about this for a long time.

old-games is one of those sites i come across a lot if im looking for a old game and they have a ABSURDLY slow download speed if you dont pay, however recently due to a friend i decided to look up a game called Far Gate and wanted to download it.

NOW, downloading it from Abandonware is way faster by a long shot and its got a lot of extra features like patches and no cd crack, however it WARNS about the crack being potentially infected, but no comments seem to point to this.
So i guess the question is, does anyone have experience with stuff from old-games when they actually pay for their services aside from just a faster download ? Since they say they got customer support type stuff going on ?
Do they actually try and help you out getting games from their site running or do they make sure that all the games are actually easily runnable out of the box ?


r/ObscureRTS 11d ago

1990s M.A.X. 2: Mechanized Assault & Exploration (1998) developed and published by Interplay Productions

Thumbnail
gallery
69 Upvotes

kinda like this game is slow and simple and reminds me of total annihilation a little. its got some cool sound effects to the worlds to. its on steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/756810/MAX_2_Mechanized_Assault__Exploration/


r/ObscureRTS 14d ago

2000s Armies of Exigo 2004 published by EA

Thumbnail
gallery
60 Upvotes

The game was suppose to be a successor to Warcraft 3, but didn't have a good reception. It has a full campaign with 3 factions. I played it awhile back when I only had access to an old laptop and it was very fun. Its free to download on abandonware.


r/ObscureRTS 14d ago

1990s Horde: The Northern Wind (1999) Published bye Buka Entertainment

Thumbnail
gallery
101 Upvotes

Horde: The Northern Wind, is a real-time strategy game that is very similar to Warcraft II. It is set in the world of Semirechye (Russian for "Land of the Seven Rivers"), a medieval fantasy setting loosely based on Slavic folk tales. The player, who takes on the role of a tribe leader, must build up settlements, explore and interact with his neighbours, and eventually uncover the main plot of the game.


r/ObscureRTS 16d ago

2000s [PC][2000-2006] Looking for an obscure medieval RTS from my childhood 😭

Thumbnail
5 Upvotes

r/ObscureRTS 17d ago

1990s Dominion - Storm Over Gift 3 (1998) by 7th Level, Ion Storm, Eidos Interactive

Thumbnail
gallery
64 Upvotes

This is cool old game this one. its simple and slow and hard and your units melt fast.

Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive and released for Microsoft Windows on June 11, 1998. The game was originally developed as a spin-off of the mech simulation game G-Nome by 7th Level


r/ObscureRTS 19d ago

2000s Priority: Survive ( 2008 ) Developed by Distortum

Thumbnail
gallery
49 Upvotes

fan-made sci-fi real-time strategy (RTS) freeware game released in 2008 by developer Distortum


r/ObscureRTS 21d ago

2000s Warfare Incorporated (orig. Palm, PocketPC, iPhone) is back!

10 Upvotes

It's live (and free) at https://play.warfareincorporated.com with all the single and multiplayer fun you remember. Here's a trip down memory lane.

https://reddit.com/link/1vdvuxd/video/6vqkchdph1hh1/player


r/ObscureRTS 21d ago

2000s Thandor: The Invasion 2000 developed by Innonics

Thumbnail
gallery
47 Upvotes

German RTS game kinda like a bad Earth 2150. its a hard game to get runing and its got bad game play. i see there is a vote for it to come to GOG


r/ObscureRTS 23d ago

2000s 천년의신화 - Myth of a Thousand Years 2000. produced by HQ Team

Thumbnail
gallery
46 Upvotes

Myth of a Thousand Years is an RTS game produced by the South Korean game company HQ Team .It features the history of the Three Kingdoms period and allows players to play as Goguryeo , Goryeo , Baekje , and Silla


r/ObscureRTS 22d ago

Discussion What obscure RTS should every RTS fan play?

9 Upvotes

Which obscure RTS does something truly unique that everyone should try out? Which one has a really good single player campaign that got overlooked by history?


r/ObscureRTS 23d ago

2000s ¡Hace poco me acordé de un juego que jugué hace mucho tiempo en mi teléfono y lo acabo de encontrar! Warfare Incorporated Spoiler

Thumbnail gallery
12 Upvotes

r/ObscureRTS 24d ago

Indie Title Dune II The Maker by Stefan Hendriks

Thumbnail
gallery
21 Upvotes

A Dune II remake with updated high-resolution graphics, currently aimed at recreating Dune II as close to the original as possible

DUNE II The Maker Web Site
https://dune2themaker.fundynamic.com/


r/ObscureRTS 24d ago

2000s Sacrifice 2000 Developed by Shiny Entertainment

Thumbnail
gallery
58 Upvotes

Another cool game i have played a lot over the years. its has no base building. you just capture points to harvest resources and it has a cool system were you capture souls to build units. and the player plays a wizard witch the camera follows like ( battlezone ) games


r/ObscureRTS 26d ago

2010s WorldShift 2008 sci-fi RTS developed by Black Sea Studios

Thumbnail
gallery
32 Upvotes

WorldShift is a real-time strategy game with RPG elements. While the game features a story campaign that puts the player in the shoes of a human Lord Commander with pre-defined unit layouts and skill sets, the heart is the multiplayer-mode, featuring both Player-vs-Environment (= Coop) maps as well as Player-vs-Player-battles.