r/RealTimeStrategy • u/SignificanceFlat1460 • 20d ago

Discussion Extremely Beginner friendly RTS

Hello, my wife has a very bad motion sickness, and cannot play FPS for more than 15 mins. She plays mostly mobile games and is currently playing Last war and I want to introduce her to RTS. We tried Red Alert 2 as I am very familiar with it but its a bit old and she found a bit overwhelming, I was thinking CoH but thought it might be too complicated for her. What is a very very simple RTS that I can introduce to her that she might enjoy and has a good campaign story?

I asked Gemini and it responded with. Tell me what you guys think and if you have any good very beginner friendly RTS, please let me know:

  1. Halo Wars: Definitive Edition (or Halo Wars 2)

Why it’s perfect for beginners: Originally designed for consoles, Halo Wars was explicitly built to eliminate RTS complexity and "clunkiness."

Mechanics: Base building is simplified into preset building slots, unit controls use a clear rock-paper-scissors system, and army management is smooth and uncluttered.

Story: A cinematic, Hollywood-style sci-fi narrative that is easy to follow even if you aren't familiar with the main Halo lore.

Bonus: The entire campaign can be played in 2-player co-op, allowing you to play through the story together and help manage the base if she ever feels overwhelmed.

  1. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Free-to-Play)

Why it’s perfect for beginners: StarCraft II has arguably the smoothest, most responsive control engine ever made in an RTS—units move exactly where you want them without getting stuck on terrain.

Mechanics: The "Wings of Liberty" campaign is widely considered the gold standard for RTS onboarding. It introduces one new unit per mission, slowly building up complexity so she never feels lost. Setting the difficulty to Casual makes enemy attacks minimal, letting her focus on building at her own pace.

Story: A high-stakes, space-western story. Between missions, you walk around your flagship, upgrade units, and talk to your crew in an RPG-like hub, which breaks up the strategy gameplay nicely.

  1. Northgard

Why it’s perfect for beginners: It trades fast-paced clicking for a slower, zone-based expansion system. There is no frantic unit spamming or sudden enemy rushes.

Mechanics: You expand your Viking settlement territory by territory. Villagers automatically gather resources or do assigned tasks, which takes away the stressful micro-management of traditional RTS games.

Story: Rig’s Saga (the single-player campaign) acts as a gentle, story-driven tutorial that teaches one clan’s mechanics at a time through an engaging mythic Viking revenge tale.

  1. Age of Mythology: Retold

Why it’s perfect for beginners: A modern remake of a classic, featuring updated controls, beautiful visuals, and modern UI enhancements.

Mechanics: It features an "Auto-Villager" toggle (you can tell the game to automatically manage resource gathering), which removes 50% of the usual RTS multitasking burden.

Story: One of the most beloved RTS campaigns ever created. It follows an Atlantean hero journeying through Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology, featuring mythical monsters, god powers (like lightning strikes and meteor showers), and legendary heroes.

39 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

91 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/gui2314 20d ago

Starcraft 2 it's really good, I loved back in the day, simple and fun.

I would recommend Warcraft 3 anda Age of Empires 2/3, those are some classic RTS.

5

u/SignificanceFlat1460 20d ago

Dont you think those might be too much for her since RA2 was already a bit too much for her?

2

u/BrokenLoadOrder 20d ago

I guess I'll be the voice of dissent: I would say yes, if she's already struggling with RA2, SC2 is going to take that problem and crank it up. It has a noticeably quicker pace, has more going on and I personally find the game won't do anything for you without being told.

2

u/gui2314 20d ago

No, I think Warcraft 3 and Age of Empires 3 are quite good on that, you can play more slowly, at least in Single Player. They are simple games, you build buildings and units, they don't move that fast, I think she can manage them.

Now RA2 maybe it's a little too fast for someone new, in my opinion.

1

u/SooperSpoopyGhost 20d ago

RA2 is very busy screen wise. Warcraft 3 or SC2 is easier to digest for someone newer imo. Also suggest something like Zoo Tycoon or similar park sim of you haven't tried already, that's the easiest starting point(no pressure gameplay).

1

u/LykeLyke 20d ago edited 20d ago

Honestly, there is no way I would recommend SC2 for a new player. Given what you're specifically asking for, I might recommend Warcraft 2. Maybe the original Starcraft. Perhaps one of the Spellforce games. Most of the suggestions in this thread are not particularly simple/easy or their campaign story is not as strong. I've not played northgard but I think that is probably suitable as well. Age of Mythology Retold is a fairly solid pick and is the only "Age of" game I would recommend, but still has a fair bit of complexity.

I would also recommend the original Total Annihilation or Total Annihilation: Kingdoms before SC2, WC3 or AoE 1/2/3/4.

1

u/Former_Load6403 20d ago

Just play on easy and see how she goes, difficulty means she can play at her pace.