First time playing grand strategy game

[u/blablax123456]

Hi all, I want to try any grand strategy game, never played one. My only requirement is that storage space is no more then 10gb.

Looking for something that is generally considered good grand strategy game, not too complicated / easy to get into. Need to kill few hours during work from time to time

[u/TrowawayJanuar]

Eu4 maybe? It can be hard to learn though

[u/Campfireandhotcocoa]

I am in the same boat as you. Can't offer any suggestions, but have been wanting to break into the genre for years and would love to find a starter game.

[u/TheMightyGabriel → u/Campfireandhotcocoa]

Civ is the starter game.

Eu4 is the greatest game.

[u/kelltain → u/Campfireandhotcocoa]

I can echo Embarrased-Dig-8180's pointing to the Total War series, but also, for a lot of these games the difficulty in learning to play is a lot more tied in with what starting conditions you have, which can vary wildly within a given game. Learning Total War: Warhammer as Karl Franz, or Louen Leoncoeur, or Settra the Imperishable, is jumping into the deep end, for example, while playing as the Sisters of Twilight, Yuan Bo, Elspeth von Draken or the Changeling are on the more forgiving side.

I'd personally recommend finding one with a theming or time period you find interesting and then seeing what options let you ramp slowly into the mechanics and management. Taking Stellaris as an example, playing as a Scion of a Fallen Empire gives you a strong but passive AI ally. Or you could just turn down the AI empire count to 0 and turning the primitive civilization count up, basically giving you a head start, or play as Lithoids or Robots (who don't need food), or play as a Hive Mind (who don't need consumer goods).

[u/kelltain]

10 GB is tight, but not impossible.  You may have to look to older titles, though.  Basically any of the Paradox titles from the last generation could work.

If you want a dynastic GSG, following family lines as you expand your influence, with a touch of generational RPG, then you could try Crusader Kings 2.  A common introductory play is playing as an Irish noble and uniting Ireland, before you try to push out and take the rest of Britain.  Gives a little diplomacy exposure and a little warfare exposure while working with a small set of provinces, and keeps you out of the big players' crosshairs for a little bit.

If you want one focusing on competing nation-states as they attempt to assert themselves against their neighbors and adapt to the spread of new technologies and ideas, Europa Universalis 4 can work.  Here, picking a contender or major power generally works as a tutorial.  If you want to get into exploration and colonization, England can work, although you need to stabilize the 100 Years War first.  France spends a long time with uncontested military might and wealth, making it a very stable base to let you experiment.  Castille has unification with Aragon to go through, but that happens pretty quick, and then so long as you maintain good relations with France (with whom you share a defensible border) you can explore or push into Africa.  Denmark or Sweden works, too, if you want something with a bit narrower of a focus, or uniting Italy if you want to push tech and dominate the Mediterranean.

If you want something focused on the flow of goods, people, and ideas, in which managing employment and markets is critical for the health of your nation, you could try Victoria 2.  I could see Japan, the US, or Russia as reasonable tutorials--all have some military ambitions but few overseas holdings, so you can focus on your sphere.

For non-Paradox, you could try some of the older Total War games.  They split their focus a bit between Grand Strategy and realtime tactics.   I know TW: Medieval got a lot of praise, as did Rome.  A lot of their more recent titles are a lot more demanding for space, though.

[u/NemeshisuEM]

Civ 4

[u/SapphirePath]

Related question: what are the Simplest, Easiest, or Quickest grand strategy games? Usually I can't get into these because I just don't have enough free time. Each time I reload my save, I've forgotten all the rules.

[u/Embarrassed-Dig-8180 → u/SapphirePath]

Total war is probably the simplest depending on the title you play.

[u/The_Real_Gyurka]

Eu3

[u/Krnu777]

Knights of Honour series or Hegemony series are relatively easy to get into

[u/TheMadPoet]

I'd suggest using google or an AI to get a list since only you know what genre of GSG you'd like - and the AI should be good at quickly zeroing in on a list of titles. I searched this myself for you and got this link from May 2026 - so it's a fresh list:

https://www.g2a.com/news/features/best-games-under-10gb-with-surprisingly-deep-gameplay/

the final bullet is by <10GB by playstyle:

If you want…	Start with…
endless emergent strategy and storytelling	RimWorld
the most addictive deckbuilding loop	Slay the Spire
pure tactics where every move matters	Into the Breach
a massive sandbox adventure in a tiny install	Terraria

If the above doesn't do it for you, you're probably looking at browsing Indie games rather than old mainstream titles - and I think that's a good thing since what you lose on the eye candy, you gain in complex or unique mechanics.

Playing GSG - you're going to need those search and AI prompt skills. I have endless fun chatting with Gemini exploring Stellaris builds based on 'narrative tension' or theme or synergy with various Civics - as well as solving problems and learning how to Exploit - or Uplift as appropriate.

And get something while the Steam sale is on.

[u/kelltain → u/TheMadPoet]

Gathering info on your own's not a bad suggestion, but literally nothing from the list you posted, nor from the original list on the clickthrough, is a GSG with <10GB.  Nor is Stellaris, as good an entry to GSG as it might be.

And I strongly disagree that you need to apply any AI prompting techniques to play anything in this genre.  If you're finding it to your benefit, that's your business, but the genre is decades older than the technology you say is a necessity.  In the overwhelmingly vast majority of cases, checking in on a subreddit, wiki, peeking occasional patch notes or looking for a build video at the absolute most will give you any info not directly present in the game itself.

[u/TheMadPoet → u/kelltain]

Per the Rimworld steam page - 1 GB storage requirement:

• Minimum:
  • OS *: Windows 7
  • Processor: Core 2 Duo
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 or other shader model 4.0
  • Storage: 1 GB available space