Here are 20 upcoming RPGs and strategy games you should know now.

We’re almost at the end of 2025, which has been absolutely stacked for the kind of games we care about. Over the past few days, I also did a quick, good enough cleanup of the article that collects all the releases from earlier in the year, so it gives a snapshot that’s as faithful as possible to what 2025 really looked like.

That said, it’s time to do what I enjoy most in the world, aside from being under the covers with my wife, which is starting to show you everything planned for 2026.

Yes, a lot of lists are coming, but today I’m kicking things off with one that includes 20 RPGs and Strategy Games I pulled out without overthinking it, some of my personal most-wanted picks.

You’ll find mostly small indie gems here, along with a few bigger productions, and of course, this is only a tiny slice of the massive list I’ve been keeping. Still, I think you’ll spot something seriously interesting in the mix.

MENACE (E.A.)

• Developers: Overhype Studios
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: February 5, 2026
• Steam Page

We’ve been getting to know MENACE (Overhype Studios / Hooded Horse), the new project from the developers of the acclaimed Battle Brothers, little by little, thanks to the steady stream of devlogs, and especially the demo that dropped toward the end of this year.

Now, the sci-fi turn-based tactical RPG is slated to hit PC in Early Access on February 5, 2026.

You lead a Republic strike force operating out of the cruiser TCRN Impetus in the isolated Wayback system, taking distress calls across multiple worlds and deciding who to help, when to deploy, and how hard to commit, choices that shape faction relations and the kind of support and upgrades you can secure.

Missions can unfold as branching, multi-battle operations, where hitting targets like air defenses early can change what assets you’re able to bring later.

On the battlefield, it leans into lethal firefights with cover, flanking, suppression, weapon effective ranges, and permadeath for squad leaders and their teams, plus vehicles like tanks and walkers alongside infantry squads. A Steam demo is live.

Norse: Oath of Blood

• Developers: Arctic Hazard
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
• Release Date: February 3, 2026
• Steam Page

Another promising Strategy RPG ready to debut is NORSE: Oath of Blood (Arctic Hazard / Tripwire Presents), which will land February 3, 2026, on PC (Steam), and it’s also been announced for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

It’s a Viking-age, story-led tactics RPG where you play Gunnar, forced into exile after his father Jarl Gripr is killed by Steinarr Far-Spear, then build back from a shattered home by rebuilding a settlement and cutting alliances that keep your people alive.

Combat runs on turn-based battles that care about positioning, unit synergy, and terrain, with elevation, flanking, and environmental hazards called out as core tools, while each warrior brings a distinct kit and can be shaped through customizable gear and upgradeable abilities.

Between fights, the village leader has you assigning villagers to roles, managing resources, and upgrading buildings (including a smithy, armory, and workshops) to unlock new fighters and equipment that feed directly back into combat effectiveness. There’s also a Steam demo available if you want a quick read on the tone and pacing.

Dead in Antares

• Developers: Ishtar Games
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: February 19, 2026
• Steam Page

I’ve got a soft spot for survival RPGs, so there’s no way I’m not eagerly waiting for Dead in Antares. From Ishtar Games, the dev behind the critically acclaimed The Last Spell, comes, on February 19, 2026, a new chapter in the Dead series and what looks like a bigger swing on the survival-management formula.

A crew of ten specialists gets thrown off course by an unexpected wormhole, crashes on Antares Prime, and has to turn the wreck into a working camp while juggling interlocked needs like food, water, exhaustion, and mental health.

The loop mixes task assignment and resource planning (repurposing ship tech, managing energy, and leaning on each character’s skills) with expedition-style exploration across distinct biomes plus turn-based tactical combat when the planet pushes back.

Choices don’t just steer the plot; they also shape relationships inside the crew, with friendships, rivalries, and betrayals feeding into multiple endings. There’s also a demo up if you want to get a feel for its pacing and decision pressure.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined

• Developers: Square Enix
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
• Release Date: February 5, 2026
• Steam Page

I can’t really call myself a big fan of remakes and remasters, but this one, I have to admit, seriously caught me off guard.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is Square Enix’s rebuilt take on the 2000 PlayStation JRPG, built around that great hook where Estard is the only island left in the world, until you and your childhood friends stumble into the Temple of Mysteries and start jumping into the past to unseal entire lands trapped by an evil force.

The “Reimagined” part isn’t just a fresh coat: it’s being reconstructed in a warm diorama / “doll-look” 3D style, with added voice work, an updated UI, and a streamlined main story meant to keep the momentum moving.

Combat is also described as heavily revised, with faster pacing options, an auto-battle feature, and job (“vocation”) perks that push builds more clearly, plus a new dual-vocation setup that lets characters level two vocations at once, and a new arena mode called out as additional content.

Square Enix has it dated for February 5, 2026 on Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam / Windows store listings vary by region).

Sacrifire

• Developers: PixelatedMilk
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
• Release Date: Q1, 2026
• Steam Page

2026 will also be, and I’d add finally, the year of JRPG-inspired SacriFire.

Antioch is a sprawling underground city where faith isn’t just culture, it’s infrastructure, and Ezekiel Ridan is trying to earn his place among the Church’s elite while a war between gods and demons keeps squeezing the world around him.

SacriFire leans into that tension with a combat system that blends turn-based planning with real-time movement and reaction, including an active-pause style flow where you can stop time to make decisions, then move again.

The Steam page also calls out chaining attacks into combos, swapping between multiple weapon options, and a wider RPG toolset that includes crafting, puzzles, dungeons, and different combat disciplines.

Outside Antioch, the game has you crossing into Erebus, a spirit paradise that contrasts hard with the city’s politics and control. It’s planned for PC in Q1 2026 (Steam, with GOG also announced), with PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Switch versions slated to follow later in 2026.

Lootbound

• Developers: ArtDock
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation
• Release Date: Q1, 2026
• Steam Page

In Lootbound, the party isn’t a band of heroes so much as a group of abandoned golems trying to piece together who made them and why they were thrown into the dark.

Before a run even starts, the game leans into chance: you roll for blessings or curses that can warp the whole expedition, then push into procedurally generated dungeons covered by fog of war. Fights are built like small tactical puzzles where abilities spend action points, and the loot you win comes with a problem. Your inventory is limited, so every upgrade is also a cut.

The dungeon layer throws in obelisks as self-contained challenge nodes (battles, choices, and rewards), and it even promises you’ll decide what the final boss becomes, which is a neat way to make the endgame feel earned rather than fixed. It’s slated for Q1 2026 on Steam and PS, and there’s a playtest sign-up live on the store page.

Mars Tactics (E.A.)

• Developers: Takibi Games
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: Q1, 2026
• Steam Page

Mars Tactics is definitely one of my favorites on this list for a ton of reasons, and after several delays, it finally seems locked in for a 2026 release.

A grenade isn’t just a kill button in Mars Tactics. It’s also a shortcut to better cover, because the game treats terrain like something you can remake, dig trenches with explosions, punch holes through walls to open fresh angles, or erase a building with an air strike when enemies turtle up inside it.

That destruction feeds into fights that mix infantry, vehicles, and long-range tools like mortars, which the developer has shown working as a teamwork-heavy weapon with clear action-point costs for deploying, loading, and firing.

Outside the firefights, it aims bigger than a mission list. You pick a side in a corporate-versus-worker war, Capital or Labor, and run operations across a strategic map of Mars, backing squads that grow through a dynamic trait system tied to what they actually do in the field, while scientists and engineers keep your tech and capabilities moving forward.

It’s listed for PC (Steam) with a May 2026 release date, and the dev has framed that launch as Early Access.

Fight Life: Vanguard

• Developers: StartImpulse, Two Cakes Studio
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
• Release Date: Q2, 2026
• Steam Page

In the past, I described it as a tactical RPG that looked like it came straight off an Amiga, and that’s exactly what Fight Life: Vanguard still feels like.

A forgotten god is bleeding power out of the world in Fight Life: Vanguard, after a human apprentice betrays him and tries to claim divinity by sacrificing his own master. That Divine Spirit starts out distrustful of humanity, then pivots when he sees people holding the line against the darkness, and the story frames the campaign as his last call before he fades.

You play commander for a mercenary squad, picking recruits from a wider pool and then building them up over the course of four chapters of turn-based battles, where rookies are meant to grow into hardened fighters through upgrades and character management between fights.

It’s currently listed for Q2 2026 on Steam, with both a demo and a playtest sign-up already live.

Blightstone

• Developers: Unfinished Pixel
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: January 20, 2026
• Steam Page

You’ll probably agree with me when I say Blightstone is one of the most visually inspired games out there, right? And on top of that, I’ve found its combat system genuinely gripping.

Blightstone is built around a simple job with ugly consequences: keep the Earthglass Crystal alive long enough to haul it to the Infernal Rift, because that’s the only way to break Korghul and shatter the corruption source.

It plays turn-based, but movement isn’t locked to a grid, so positioning comes from reading angles and covering the way the enemies do. The battlefield is meant to be manipulated; long grass can be used for hiding or burned, water can be used to boost electric attacks, and the weather changes the math with fog obscuring vision, rain amplifying electricity, and wind affecting accuracy.

Runs pull from procedural generation, and failure is part of the progression loop, unlocking more tools for both your adventurers and the crystal itself.

Heroes come from a class set that includes Brawler, Hunter, Arcanist, Druid, and Priest, with a big pool of active/passive skills, grapples, combos, and status effects like bleed, poison, bind, stun, and burn. It’s dated for January 20, 2026 on Steam, and there’s a demo up.

Golel

• Developers: Ofer Rubinstein
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: Q2, 2026
• Steam Page

Lately, a ton of first-person dungeon crawler projects have been popping up, a genre I absolutely love, and for 2026, one of the most promising is definitely Golel.

A first-person dungeon crawler where every turn is about movement and using the room like a weapon. Turn-Based actions with tile-based movement, where you can win a fight by dropping a bookshelf on a skeleton, kicking enemies into pits or spikes, or sprinting through tight passages so something bigger can’t follow.

It’s pitched as a disturbing dark-fantasy crawl with a non-linear world structure, plus character growth built on hundreds of skills, stats, and build paths, and a main campaign estimated at 30 hours, followed by an endless procedural challenge mode.

It’s being developed and published by indie dev Ofer Rubinstein, targets Q1 2026, and there’s a demo up on Steam (with VR supported).

Scourge of the Reptiles

• Developers: Kyoti Games
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: Q2, 2026
• Steam Page

A meteor hits the world of Scourge of the Reptiles, and the fallout isn’t just fire and ash, humans, elves, and dinosaurs all end up with magic, which quickly turns into war and a mess that reaches far beyond one quiet village.

The player character can control and ride dinosaurs, then gets dragged into a wider conflict when rival thrones start plotting chaos, and the reptiles stop acting like tools and start turning on their masters.

The pitch is a wilderness rebellion: survive long enough to come back stronger, then figure out what’s driving the sudden defiance because the game points to a dark force possessing dinosaurs and building an army.

Combat is straight turn-based tactics, framed as classic-style positioning play, with a party of warriors and sorcerers fighting alongside (and against) dinosaur companions, plus undead and human factions in the mix.

Kyoti Games lists Q2 2026 and calls out three acts / 40 hours, 19 dinosaur species, and 100+ skills and combat moves.

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II

• Developers: Bulwark Studios
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
• Release Date: Spring 2026
• Steam Page

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II is doubling down on the part the first game only teased: the war isn’t just against the Necrons anymore, it’s playable from both sides.

One campaign follows Magos Dominus Faustinius as he’s pulled back into the fight, and the other puts you in command of Vargard Nefershah as her dynasty wakes up and moves to wipe the Adeptus Mechanicus off her world.

Battles still sit in that tight turn-based tactics space, but the sequel adds a bigger strategic layer where you capture and defend regions, manage resources, and set up garrisons so every deployment feels tied to the wider front.

The battlefield rules also lean into faction identity: the Mechanicus is pushed toward cover and positioning, while the Necrons can tear terrain apart to remove safety and open lines.

It’s due in Spring 2026 on PC (Steam / Epic Games Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and there’s already been a public demo that showed off some of the new combat systems and the two-faction structure.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

• Developers: Unfrozen
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: 2026
• Steam Page

How could I leave a new entry in one of the most iconic strategy series of all time off my list?

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era brings back that familiar rhythm where every turn is a trade: one hero has limited movement points, the map is still covered by fog of war, and you’re racing to grab mines, towns, and guarded landmarks before the other side snowballs.

Cities matter as much as battles, since you build structures to recruit and upgrade units, then stack armies under heroes who can bring their own starting troops, skills, and spells (the page calls out 100+ heroes).

Combat keeps the series’ “armies + spells” identity, with six factions planned; Steam name-drops groups like the Temple, Sylvan, Dungeon, and Necropolis, each with its own creature lineup and active/passive abilities that can swing positioning, summoning, and tempo.

Beyond the story campaign, it supports both procedurally generated and handcrafted maps, and it includes an in-game map editor for community creations, plus online PvP and online co-op.

It’s set on Jadame in the Might & Magic world of Enroth, and it’s currently listed for 2026 on PC (Steam) with a demo available.

STARBITES

• Developers: IKINAGAMES
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
• Release Date: 2026
• Steam Page

In STARBITES, the desert planet Bitter is still littered with the leftovers of a space war, and the main character, Lukida, survives by scavenging parts and relics until something called the Oracle throws her routine off course.

She operates out of the tower-like Delight City, a lively settlement that’s slowly getting swallowed by sand, and the story builds its momentum by pushing Lukida into the planet’s wider weirdness, mechas mutating in strange ways, AI getting more aggressive, and abnormal phenomena spreading across the surface.

Exploration is built around riding a partner mecha, recruiting companions, and cracking open new city floors by chasing clues and finding hidden areas.

Combat’s headline mechanic is Drivers High: fighting charges a DH gauge, and when it fills, triggering it lets you act again immediately regardless of turn order, with powered-up skills that change attributes, add effects, and hit harder.

Gear and materials feed straight back into customization through swappable weapons, armor, engines, and cores, and party building splits roles between battle members and support members. The release window is simply 2026, with IKINAGAMES developing and NIS America publishing.

Pathbreakers: Roaming Blades

• Developers: 6 Eyes Studio
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: 2026
• Steam Page

From the creators of the Final Fantasy Tactics–like Fell Seal, this time we’re getting another fantasy RPG, only now it’s built around a Battle Brothers-style structure.

On the Stormtossed Isle, Pathbreakers: Roaming Blades has you running a mercenary company that lives and dies on logistics: hire a roster, train them, keep them equipped, then chase coin through contracts, trading runs, and dungeon delves as the world map reshuffles itself each campaign.

Combat plays out on a hex grid with squads of up to eight units, and the roster is built around eight base classes, each branching into two advanced classes, plus background traits that add another layer of build identity.

The company can build a reputation along three tracks, Mercenary, Trader, and Explorer, unlocking different opportunities, while story events and contracts can resolve in multiple ways.

It’s also being designed for tinkering, with Steam Workshop support, a map editor, a spell editor, and data files meant to be mod-friendly. It’s slated for 2026, developed by 6 Eyes Studio and published by Hooded Horse.

Lost Hellden

• Developers: Artisan Studios
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
• Release Date: 2026
• Steam Page

Lost Hellden builds its whole world around the Seven Deadly Sins. In Era, the religion of Unio claims you’re bound to one sin for life, and resisting it earns you eternity in Hellden, while giving in earns something worse.

The twist is its twins: Cyphel is born without sin, while Leht is bound to all seven after a ritual fails, and the story kicks off when Leht escapes, and Cyphel leaves the temple to find him.

Combat is where it tries to stand apart. It uses a phased battle system that blends turn-based decision-making with real-time action, leaning on timing bonuses, positioning, elemental attributes, summons, and whole-team commands, with big “turn the fight” moves called Transcendence abilities.

Party building looks chunky too: eight playable characters, a multi-layered job system with 21 jobs, ability trees, and lots of equipment to tune roles rather than locking you into one lane.

Weather isn’t just a backdrop; dynamic weather is meant to affect battles, NPCs, and locations, and there’s a side activity called Hexaken, a tactical card game that exists as an in-world pastime.

Visually, it’s going for an astonishing hand-painted “Deep 2D” 3D style with illustrations by Takeshi Oga, plus a soundtrack by Hitoshi Sakimoto, and it’s planned for 2026 on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

Monster Hunter Stories 3

• Developers: Capcom
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
• Release Date: Q1, 2026
• Steam Page

Two countries, Azuria and Vermeil, are sliding toward ruin, and the one thing that looks like hope cracks open into a problem: a Rathalos egg, from a species believed extinct, hatches into twin Rathalos carrying a Skyscale marking tied to a civil war from 200 years ago.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection puts you in the Rangers as their captain, with the job focused on protecting endangered species eggs while Crystal Encroachment spreads and Invasive Monsters start tearing through habitats.

Its big new layer is Habitat Restoration: you recover stolen eggs, hatch them, and release monsters back into the wild to rebuild populations, raising an Ecosystem Rank that improves what you can find and hatch, up to special pulls like Dreadqueen Rathian and even dual-element variants.

Capcom has also shown Arkveld crossing over from Monster Hunter Wilds. It’s set for March 13, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC, with Steam listing the PC release as March 12, 2026.

The Secret of Weepstone

• Developers: Talesworth Game Studio
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: 2026
• Steam Page

One of the games I’m pinning the most hopes on for 2026. I tried the demo about a month or so ago, and it really impressed me with its depth and technical polish. The first thing The Secret of Weepstone sells is mood: stark, hand-drawn black-and-white art wrapped around a village that’s basically starving.

Weepstone’s fields have gone barren, its people are desperate, and their lord, Byron, is wasting away while his sleep fills up with occult symbols and visions of rituals in the abandoned keep looming over town. Six regular people get pushed into the job of going inside to find the source, and the game is clear about the tone; there are no heroes here.

Mechanically, it leans hard into old-school tabletop DNA. Actions resolve through dice rolls for both combat and skill checks, progression comes from scraping together treasure and surviving fights long enough to level up, and the dungeon isn’t just combat rooms.

There are dangerous puzzles guarding its secrets. Death isn’t brushed off either: when characters die, you gain Mortal Favors, and the party can expand up to eight members as you recruit new faces on the way down.

It’s in development at Talesworth Game Studio and published by DreadXP, with a 2026 release window and a Steam demo available right now.

Echo Generation 2

• Developers: Cococucumber
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: 2026
• Steam Page

I’ll admit I never played the first game, even though the vibe is exactly my kind of thing. And it’s not just the vibe, either: we’re talking about a sort of JRPG, which I’m always into. Either way, the other day they announced the next entry in the Echo Generation series, and it really made me want to finally give the first one a shot.

In this new chapter, we are Jack. Jack isn’t a chosen hero; he’s an ordinary dad who’s been trapped in a mysterious dimension and is trying to claw his way back home, one weird encounter at a time.

The hook is a sci-fi turn-based RPG where you build characters through lots of skills, then stitch those skills into combos that fit whatever alien problem shows up next.

Battles also let you summon recruited allies for assists and synergies, and the whole thing leans into Cococucumber’s crunchy voxel / retro 3D pixel look with an ’80s-inspired synth soundtrack by Pusher returning from the first game. It’s listed for 2026 on Steam.

Shardpunk 2

• Developers: Clockwork Pile
• Platforms: PC
• Release Date: 2026
• Steam Page

I’ll wrap up my list of what I consider some of the most important RPGs coming in 2026 with another title that was announced just a few days ago. This one is also the second entry in a tactical RPG series that first debuted in 2023 under the name Shardpunk.

The Capitol is gone, sacrificed to slow a massive rat swarm, and now its sealed-off ruins have turned into a gold rush for the Motherland, the power rising from the Empire’s remains.

In Shardpunk 2, you run a forward outpost that keeps sending squads into those collapsed streets to drag back fusion cores, rare crystals, and amber, a resin with newly discovered uses that can change what your troops can do.

Between expeditions, the game leans hard on outpost management: expanding and reinforcing the base, rationing scarce resources, fulfilling directives, and bartering for the upgrades that keep people alive.

Then it snaps back into turn-based tactical combat, where veterans’ skills, traits, and weapon proficiencies matter, and the pressure comes from threats that keep evolving, fewer rats than before, but “smarter and deadlier,” plus reports of unknown lifeforms in the ruins. Clockwork Pile is making it with Retrovibe publishing, and it’s currently dated for 2026 on Steam.

Let me know what you think about these first twenty games I’ve selected. I’m fully aware I’ve left out other titles that are just as interesting, but don’t worry, they’ll be coming in the next lists. Join us on our Reddit channel to keep the discussion going. See you there. Ciao