Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition similar games & best alternatives

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Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition

2009

Should you play it?

Command the seas, control the land, forge a new nation, and conquer the globe.

What works

  • Large and detailed world map
  • Deep strategic and tactical gameplay
  • Immersive naval and land battles
  • Extensive modding community
  • Long replayability and campaign depth

Things to keep in mind

  • Ai can be unintelligent or frustrating
  • Some bugs and technical issues
  • Limited faction variety without mods
  • Diplomacy system sometimes illogical
  • Steep learning curve for new players

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Medieval II: Total War™ Kingdoms

  • Age of Wonders III

  • The Stronghold Collection

  • Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® - Dark Crusade

  • STAR WARS™ Empire at War - Gold Pack

  • The Pirate: Caribbean Hunt

Less dominating

Games that feels like Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition but with less domination over others

  • IfSunSets

  • Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail

  • The Pirate: Plague of the Dead

  • Total War: WARHAMMER

  • Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

  • Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition

Less fantastical

Games that feels like Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition but with less imaginative fiction

  • Total War: SHOGUN 2

  • Total War: ATTILA

  • Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition

  • A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA

  • Oriental Empires

  • Act of War: High Treason

More intimate

Games that feels like Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition but with more focus on close relationships

  • Holdfast: Nations At War

  • Conqueror's Blade

  • Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® - Soulstorm

  • Total War: THREE KINGDOMS

  • Age of Empires® III (2007)

  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Competition, Status, Fellowship, Domination. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Leadership, Story, Domination.

Last update: 03/08/2026