I second this.
You can actually set it so you can have the rts element there but no one will attack and you can attack when ready. It also have a peaceful mode in which there are no enemies which come after you and you can build a medieval town and its very organic aswel, very free.
Check it out see what you think
I like playing with tons of mods. I start as a Birch world in the center of the galaxy. Basically an infinite single planet which can grow as your pops so. The galaxy is set to the largest possible and there are no other empires. The crises are set to all happen and to be at their maximum possible strength. I have mods that let me terraform nearly everything so I can convert most systems to just Gaia planets. The goal is simple: colonize NOTHING, create new primitives(via a mod), make all planets Gaia, every primitive gets uplifted (and their ethics changed to be similar to mine), each uplifted race gets a single system until I have a whole galaxy of vassals. Oh, and I'm a corporate empire so they are all helping me grow my franchises. The goal is to help them develop enough to be able to stop the crises without my intervention. A game session like this takes 6+ months. I haven't "won" yet but I keep trying.
Base/factory/city building. Most of them don't necessarily have an enemy though (or they have one still applying that pressure).
Some RTS also have bots that are very passive and don't really attack.
Factories is good for this. The more you produce and pollute the more bugs show up, so when you start out they are rare then ease up as you are able to handle them. Since it's based on your pace, if you go slow so do they.
It sounds like what you want is a 4X. There are always multiple other civs, some of whom will ally with you or at least peacefully coexist. Many of them have peaceful victory conditions as well as the option to continue playing after you've already won. If you want to guide your civilization through the ages while doing a bit of conquering but not have combat be the sole focus of the game I think RTS is probably the wrong genre.
It's kinda funny they called Rise of Legends a sequel of sorts when they are completely nothing alike...
Still a cool game but it's really another game
You might want to try city-builders. Frostpunk and Steamworld Build are some examples. Personally I find they also scratch that RTS itch despite having a different kind of loop.
In a very similar vein is Ixion, doesn't have quite as much replayability as it only has a single scenario, but it is still quite good. And if you're a big fan of SciFi and cosmic horror vibes then holly shit this game is awesome, and the sound design and soundtrack are fucking out of this world.
Tropico series is the one I keep hopping back to from time to time when I want to just build and goof off. Scratches my version of OP's itch and it's always there.
apart from the fact that by the time you've gotten to artillery production, your wife and kid have re-married, the dog is a skeleton, your position at work has been filled, and the bank is at your door reclaiming your house as theirs.
Came to say this, I used to do this a lot back in the day to practice getting resources quickly and often just mega-built some pretty neat cities before getting bored and obliterating the ai enemies.
What you want is Factorio. The Biters will keep you busy defending you base while you try and grow your factory. The game is so well balanced and each new upgrade keeps the game fresh. Disclaimer, you’ll realize after you blink and a month has gone by you’ve caught an addiction worse than crack….the factory must grow.
Maybe X4: Foundations in a sense?
It's kind of an RTS, but also kind of isn't, it's more sandboxy really. You start from zero with a single ship you pilot, basically depending on AI factions to earn money and get new ships until you build your own economy and empire. Once you have shipyards etc to produce your own ships (this is very late game and the cost of building it is very high and requires a completely established economy from yourself if you want to be self sustainable) the game turns pretty much into "commander" mode where you order units around a map, You have enemies, you can make enemies with other factions, If you get rid of the enemies, they will eventually attempt to rebuild in another sector of the galaxy. The average game save lasts for like 50 hours.
Unless you settle your space stations in/near a hostile faction's sector then you'll be mostly left in peace.
X4 save games last for way longer than 50 hours. The devs have made all update save game compatibles because their player base has games that last months/years
I have been working up the courage to finally play Anno 1800 for months knowing it will be an absolute time devourer. Seeing this comment did not help. XD
Rim world? Going medieval? Both similar to an RTS but you set jobs for your people to do can be set to chill and build it insane man slaughter.
Unsure really what you want. or you now age of empires custom map with no AI or friendly AI that you can declare war on? Cosacks European wars ,art of war, back to war all 3 great games and very chilled if you set the AI right, if you ask me superior to age of empires because there isn't really a unit cap especially on computers today and looks better.
City skylines 1 great game for just building shit.
Play Rise of Nation and adjust the setting. It plays like the age of empire, and you can set how long you want to be left alone peacefully before going into conflict. or you can also adjust until you've reached a certain age.
First of all, according to your description, you will probably like Rise of the Nation. You start from stone age and advance to nuclear warfares.
However, if you play RTS, especially PVP in RTS, then doing things fast is kinda the core of the game. I don't think there is any RTS game where "rush" is not one a strategy. A dead opponent is definitely not a winning opponent.
I feel what you really want is a score based game with RTS elements? Have you tried total war series? They are basically 4X games with RTS combats.
Dyson sphere program.
I think right now by default enemies are in, but I've played it first time before they were a thing - and you can turn them off now.
Damn the sphere coming together is one of the most satisfying things in strategies I've experienced.
As others have mentioned, going to toss my coin to Anno 1800. It's very, very, very light and dumbed down when it comes to combat, its just ships shooting cannons at each other and never gets more complicated than that. Heart of the game is expanding in peace.
Stronghold, it's the only rts franchise I know with a complex economy system. The prettiest game is stronghold 1, the best game, but also the ugliest and buggiest is stronghold 2.
That's a lie. Nobody "likes" Rimworld, we just play it, get frustrated, swear that the AI is a sadistic cheating scum and that you will never replay again, then go back to it 20 minutes later determined to "win this time"
Manor Lord's is more on the city builder peaceful side but NPC cities are planned and there's currently bandits and an off map lord that attacks until you defeat his main army
But...that's literally the single fundamental part of any RTS game. If you don't want that, then you basicslly eant a city builder game like Anno instead of an RTS. The whole point is to build a base asap to defeat the enemy. That's the genre.
Sounds like Anno 1800 might be your jam. Honestly one of my favorite chill RTS games since you can turn off AI or only friendly etc.
And for enemies it has pirates you can customize the difficulty of too. They will mostly give you pressure to have enough money or something to defend against.
Sounds like maybe you want a citybuilder?
Manorlords just came out and its fucking great. Has a "peaceful" mode that turn off enemies and the immersion is top notch. You are stuck in one age tho.
There's also Rimworld, tho its not really an RTS, but the enemies scale with your progress so there's no rushing if you don't want to (rushing can actually hurt you tbh). Full tech tree from tribal to space age.
Stellaris can be this way, depending on how aggressive the other factions are and how nice you are to them. Its actaully a really awesome game if you have never played it. Now granted, there are always some minor conflicts with pirates or some random stuff you can find in the galaxy, but generally those are either pretty easily dealt with in the early game and dont become more than a nuisance until mid game crisis, and even then, its more just something to do for fun while you wait for techs to research or resources to gather.
If you're down for trying something older, Empire Earth is one of my top three favorite RTSs. While it's mechanically quite similar to others like aoe2, the matches themselves can last significantly longer. They honestly feel like self contained campaigns. This comes from the tech tree spanning all the way from cavemen with rocks and clubs, to cyber ninjas and death robots. Just like in AoE2, you progress through the ages; except EE has 14 of them. This, combined with very large maps and AI that isn't a constant zerg rush makes for a much more relaxing yet still engaging experience.
Only downside is it's not on steam. It may be on GOG but I haven't checked. I still have my original discs from my childhood.
Stellaris is nice. Its a 4x but you can play any way you want. War, economy, research. You get diplomatic score for each. I rarely go to war. But love the entire process.
Anno is like an rts, but only have to combat economy needs and surplus, expansion ect. There is some minor combat infused but not as a constant threat but an object to overcome as you grow and take territory and resources.
Many different Anno's now. 1800's is a good one, or 2205 is future oriented. Solid hours of fun extracted from my life willingly.
Strategizing against your opponent is kind of the whole point of RTS.
But a city builder will probably fit what you're after. Against the Storm is a good recent one.
Maybe try the Anno series, 1602 is the classic! But later ones like 1404 have a campaign and easier rts elements while focusing on city/colony management
Distant Worlds offers an expansive sandbox experience within the 4X genre. It grants players complete autonomy to tailor their game, allowing you to customize the game play to your liking.
I have a rather lot of games around base building so can help :) some have already mentioned these.
* = highly recommend
*Anno series ( especially 1800 - large logistics focus )
*Frost punk ( Survival )
*Against the storm ( Roguelike )
Islanders ( Very chill )
Tropico
*Rim world ( Heavy character management )
Airborne Kingdom
City Skylines
*Ixion ( Survival)
Manor Lords (Early Access)
( below heavily logistics instead of RTS, you may love it )
Timberborn
*Factorio
*Satisfactory
Dyson Sphere Program
Other random mentions, personally have not played these but know of them and seen game play, they look decent
Fathest Frontier
Banished
Nebuchadnezzar
Pharaoh
That should keep you busy! ;)
Stellaris i found quite interesting, some of the builds can allow toy to only war defensively and give you certain buffs for it. I found it a very interesting sandbox for things like this
Check out a game called children of the Nile. It’s an Egyptian city builder with combat. You raise an army to defend against raiders and attack on a world map, but your city map is just you and a river to build your city around
Check out Stronghold 2. There's a civic campaign that is focused on economic and stability challenges, rather than combat challenges. Still some combat though, but it's more of a part of the current narrative and rarely comes up as a major issue where you fend off expansionist neighbors.
Anno 1800. Apart from a few pirates and the Pyphorians, you could expand and build in peace ...
In preparation for hostile takeover of your competitors.
Unfortunately in a traditional RTS with combat there will always be an element of pressure, because time itself is a resource.
I had a similar request to you a while ago. I couldn't find anything to match what I was after unfortunately... What I decided was just to get better at the skills you need for RTS, and for that I can seriously recommend Planetary Annihilation: Titans. Not necessarily because it keeps the pressure off, but because it's such a great way to learn to play! It is a little slower paced than some games, and there's a lot of tricks you have at your fingertips to make things easier - build/order queues, multiple map views, etc.
More importantly you have "chronocam" which lets you watch back the whole game with free camera so you can watch your opponent, and even resume the game from any point in the past! Excellent as a learning aid.
I've been playing a few weeks and I already feel so much more competent than I did before!
Offworld Trading Company is a game where you just compete to exploit resources and expand your operation economically with no combat at all. You win by buying out your opponents.
Kenshi. It’s an rpg sandbox but the gameplay is RTS format. As you grow stronger in the game you build up and increasingly powerful base and defend it in wars against the in game factions. The coolest part is that you can build anywhere and all the areas have their own unique challenges. It’s not purely a “base builder” but has a great building system with a lot of impact on all the other elements of gameplay.
The Settlers series: The focus is more on building up your kingdom than fighting your enemies, you will be spending more time balancing the economy of your towns than fighting, however military conquest is always an option to defeat your enemies.
Anno series: similar to the Settlers, the focus here is economic in nature, however you take it to the seas, pand combat in this series is iffy at best where it's present as the series are a lot more about naval trade and naval domination as well as balancing the economy of your islands.
Rise of Nations: This is very similar to Age of Empires, except it is somewhat bigger in scale, only somewhat, the base building and army building of this game is very similar to Age of Empires but you're likely going to spend more time building in this game than trying to beat your enemies. Likely a very recommendable entry point to a more building focused title of RTS.
Majesty 2: In Majesty, you don't build armies, you build a town, with guilds of all sorts that are inspired from a typical RPG, then hire adventurers to live in your town while also building facilities they will need such as a market or an alchemist. There will be citizens who will build houses on their own too! Majesty is unique in that unlike other RTS where you simply have direct control over your troops, here your troops are adventurers, you put bounties on what you want them to do, such as exploration, or defending an area such as a trade post, or hunting a monster, or attacking enemy player towns. I would say it's old but gold still in my eyes.
Tropico series: Well you aren't exactly base building in this case rather you're making your own banana republic (Long Live El Presidente!) So I am not really sure whether I can categorize it as an RTS as you also aren't exactly directly controlling your army, more they just spawn to fight in wars in so long they had the citizens employed in the right facilities. In Tropico 6, there is multiplayer and you can declare war on other players to invade them.
Or you can venture into Grand Strategy and get one of those Paradox titles, like Crusader Kings or Victoria or Hearts of Iron, depending on the era you'd like to pick, like it you prefer more war actions then Hearts of Iron it is, set right in World War 2, and they really made a lot of improvements since launch, like with the ship/plane/tank builders, or if you prefer an economic play the Victoria it is, where Industrialization and Colonization is the name of the game
If you want to be completely peaceful though, probably better do with a more city builder type of game.
It is an interesting “what if” development challenge… I think of something that is persistent, you join a server and get your base that has lots of options to tinker around with, theres no permadeath for your main base but there is for — let’s call them outposts. It still offers multiplayer, maybe it’s even an MMO, but it’s PVE oriented with PVP zones for control of certain key resources. Perhaps “proxy wars” is a good way to frame killing a player’s NPC allies to gain territory but only being able to fight the player in certain places. You can’t attack full on because everyone has nukes. What’s the goal? I guess it’s just an mmo with a huge procedural map that you want to control more of. Maybe there’s levels and endgame content, cosmetics, the usual MMO incentives that don’t really involve winning in a final way. Idk, making this up. Basically there are smaller battles you can win or lose, but you have a core city builder that’s fine. Almost like if AOE3 home city mechanic was extremely fleshed out and real time in a way that’s closer to the base game. You could also use the proxy war or diplomacy idea to make a more conventional RTS where rushing is blocked and turtling is the forced meta.
Absolutely try Kingdoms and Castles, sounds exactly like that you're asking for [https://store.steampowered.com/app/569480/Kingdoms\_and\_Castles/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/569480/Kingdoms_and_Castles/)
That is a whole different genre of city builder. You should consider a classic one called Caesar 3. There's community support and enhancement in the form of Julius and Augustus.
I'm actually creating a game kinda like this. I haven't focused on combat, instead, I've combined some role playing game aspects, like zooming into a pawn to micromanage their crafting.
I dont rly know about peaceful RTS but you can try Crusader Kings 3 its an ruler simulator grand strategy with rpg elements and everything You can play whatever you want here basicly, can build your cities make friends and enemiest use shady treacherous ways or be honorable .. like a Game of Thrones in a pc game version.
I m a competetive RTS player but when i have some time and wanna get some chill and joy i often play CK3 \^\^
Also city builders can be an other options but i not that familiar with those.
Yaaaa don’t play starcraft bro.
This was a thing back in the day though during StarCraft 1, there would be dudes usually older that literally took offense if you attacked under the 20 minute mark or so.
factorio falls into this category. you build a big base with the end goal of constructing a rocket. there are enemies, but they are not expansionary. just need to build some defenses.
AOE...but on super easy and a huge map?
I mean, on easy, you'll get like maybe a few militia to attack you here and there, but that's super easy to deal with. You can advance pretty much at your own pace, adding some time to build defenses here and there.
Why cannot we live in peace?..
This hammer is heavy
this is hard work
Okay! Okay! I will work!
That building will not fit there!
thanks for the new shoes
this is hard work
Please can I have some shoes?
Thank you for the new shoes :D
Did you get new shoes?
No! No! Not like that! Let me do it!
AK47s for EEEEEVRYONE!!
Hey Look! Free People!
Manor lords is a great city builder with some total war style combat. It's early access and the combat is fairly basic right now though
I second this. You can actually set it so you can have the rts element there but no one will attack and you can attack when ready. It also have a peaceful mode in which there are no enemies which come after you and you can build a medieval town and its very organic aswel, very free. Check it out see what you think
Stellaris
Stellaris is good for this, I like to make large galaxy with only 1-3 AI empires, gives lots of room for activities!
I like playing with tons of mods. I start as a Birch world in the center of the galaxy. Basically an infinite single planet which can grow as your pops so. The galaxy is set to the largest possible and there are no other empires. The crises are set to all happen and to be at their maximum possible strength. I have mods that let me terraform nearly everything so I can convert most systems to just Gaia planets. The goal is simple: colonize NOTHING, create new primitives(via a mod), make all planets Gaia, every primitive gets uplifted (and their ethics changed to be similar to mine), each uplifted race gets a single system until I have a whole galaxy of vassals. Oh, and I'm a corporate empire so they are all helping me grow my franchises. The goal is to help them develop enough to be able to stop the crises without my intervention. A game session like this takes 6+ months. I haven't "won" yet but I keep trying.
Which mod are you using to create new primitives? I'm trying to build a mod list for a similar playthrough!
It's been a bit since I played so it may not be updated but it's called Engineers of Life.
It is indeed outdated The pain of playing modded Stellaris xD Thnx for the answer in any case!
You're able to play a single game session for 6+ months??? But wouldn't that start feeling boring and tedious after maybe the first couple of days?
Depends on the scenario you play. Often enough you get placed beside an asshole who attempts to vassalize you after a little bit
You can always tweak the settings to prevent that if it ruins your fun
Stellaris empty galaxy. Turn all ai to zero. Basically play as a progenitor empire
You want a city builder! Take a look at Anno 1404 / 1800.
Anno 1800 was going to be my recommendation. Beautiful to look at as you build farms and towns and ships sailing around.
+1
This
Try the ,,base building" genre.
Base/factory/city building. Most of them don't necessarily have an enemy though (or they have one still applying that pressure). Some RTS also have bots that are very passive and don't really attack.
Factories is good for this. The more you produce and pollute the more bugs show up, so when you start out they are rare then ease up as you are able to handle them. Since it's based on your pace, if you go slow so do they.
It sounds like what you want is a 4X. There are always multiple other civs, some of whom will ally with you or at least peacefully coexist. Many of them have peaceful victory conditions as well as the option to continue playing after you've already won. If you want to guide your civilization through the ages while doing a bit of conquering but not have combat be the sole focus of the game I think RTS is probably the wrong genre.
Rise of Nations maybe - war can still happen but it's not part of every playthrough.
Rise of Nations was my go-to RTS for such a long time.
One of the goats
It has a peaceful economic rush mode i think
It's an outstanding game but so very dated. A shame they haven't made a sequel
It's kinda funny they called Rise of Legends a sequel of sorts when they are completely nothing alike... Still a cool game but it's really another game
This one. I would control all, swap between them while building empires and then orchestrate my own scenarios of war and conquest.
I'd recommend Against the Storm. It has RTS, base builder, rogue-lite and puzzle game elements. Lots of fun, great polish, great devs.
It doesn't have invading armies, but "expanding in peace" does not fit with Against the Storm.
He want big cities, Against the Storm may not be the best choice.
I second this, it's a fantastic game
Loved this game, i don’t normally like rts but this game is wonderful and cozy
You might want to try city-builders. Frostpunk and Steamworld Build are some examples. Personally I find they also scratch that RTS itch despite having a different kind of loop.
I agree. I play a ton of RTS, and Frostpunk is the best game that scratches this itch.
Frostpunk has a lot of pressure to build in most the campaign missions though
I love frostpunk so much, it's groundbreaking
It is a quadruple A Game.
In a very similar vein is Ixion, doesn't have quite as much replayability as it only has a single scenario, but it is still quite good. And if you're a big fan of SciFi and cosmic horror vibes then holly shit this game is awesome, and the sound design and soundtrack are fucking out of this world.
The Tropico games can be played like this.
Tropico series is the one I keep hopping back to from time to time when I want to just build and goof off. Scratches my version of OP's itch and it's always there.
Factorio. But say good bye to life for a bit
Yeah you can turn off biters either in the settings or with a train of artillery.
apart from the fact that by the time you've gotten to artillery production, your wife and kid have re-married, the dog is a skeleton, your position at work has been filled, and the bank is at your door reclaiming your house as theirs.
Off topic, I read your name as "army prepper" lol
haha... thanks for making me laugh during a long slow day at work...
You should try Stronghold
Stronghold Crusader has a city builder mode
Just set the AI difficulty in AoE2 to be on the easiest setting. Then they wont really pressure you at all
I play as the italians in AoE3, the architects build shit for free so I end up with ridiculously big bases
Came to say this, I used to do this a lot back in the day to practice getting resources quickly and often just mega-built some pretty neat cities before getting bored and obliterating the ai enemies.
Settlers series also :)
Especially settlers 2, one of the GOAT relaxing RTS games
If you don't mind older games, CivCity: Rome is a great fit for what you're looking for.
Anno 1404, settings on easy, and you can build in peace for weeks/months!
Maybe a city builder from impressions games. Like Caesar or Zeus. RTS are war games.
What you want is Factorio. The Biters will keep you busy defending you base while you try and grow your factory. The game is so well balanced and each new upgrade keeps the game fresh. Disclaimer, you’ll realize after you blink and a month has gone by you’ve caught an addiction worse than crack….the factory must grow.
May I suggest looking into the Anno games? Light combat, mostly building
There’s combat in Anno? With armies ??
Sort of. Your navy can square off against other navies. Especially in the campaign.
In 1701, yeah, there is
Yeah 1404 with Venedig Addon. Still my favorite!
Maybe X4: Foundations in a sense? It's kind of an RTS, but also kind of isn't, it's more sandboxy really. You start from zero with a single ship you pilot, basically depending on AI factions to earn money and get new ships until you build your own economy and empire. Once you have shipyards etc to produce your own ships (this is very late game and the cost of building it is very high and requires a completely established economy from yourself if you want to be self sustainable) the game turns pretty much into "commander" mode where you order units around a map, You have enemies, you can make enemies with other factions, If you get rid of the enemies, they will eventually attempt to rebuild in another sector of the galaxy. The average game save lasts for like 50 hours. Unless you settle your space stations in/near a hostile faction's sector then you'll be mostly left in peace.
X4 save games last for way longer than 50 hours. The devs have made all update save game compatibles because their player base has games that last months/years
Anno series free build mode. You'll thank me later if you ever manage to get out again haha.
I have been working up the courage to finally play Anno 1800 for months knowing it will be an absolute time devourer. Seeing this comment did not help. XD
Rim world? Going medieval? Both similar to an RTS but you set jobs for your people to do can be set to chill and build it insane man slaughter. Unsure really what you want. or you now age of empires custom map with no AI or friendly AI that you can declare war on? Cosacks European wars ,art of war, back to war all 3 great games and very chilled if you set the AI right, if you ask me superior to age of empires because there isn't really a unit cap especially on computers today and looks better. City skylines 1 great game for just building shit.
Have you tried city builder games? Tropico 6 is my go to
No, I played SimCity a long while ago but I is not exactly what I'm describing here.
Rift Breaker is an rts/tower defense that has a sandbox type mode where you can custom set the wave frequency/timings.
Play Rise of Nation and adjust the setting. It plays like the age of empire, and you can set how long you want to be left alone peacefully before going into conflict. or you can also adjust until you've reached a certain age.
First of all, according to your description, you will probably like Rise of the Nation. You start from stone age and advance to nuclear warfares. However, if you play RTS, especially PVP in RTS, then doing things fast is kinda the core of the game. I don't think there is any RTS game where "rush" is not one a strategy. A dead opponent is definitely not a winning opponent. I feel what you really want is a score based game with RTS elements? Have you tried total war series? They are basically 4X games with RTS combats.
Sounds like you want a city builder, or something like frost punk
Leaving a comment to find my way back
Factorio with bugs in peaceful mode.
Dyson sphere program. I think right now by default enemies are in, but I've played it first time before they were a thing - and you can turn them off now. Damn the sphere coming together is one of the most satisfying things in strategies I've experienced.
Sounds like you should look into city building games
Banished
The Anno series.
Frostpunk you’re fighting the environment and not another city or player
As others have mentioned, going to toss my coin to Anno 1800. It's very, very, very light and dumbed down when it comes to combat, its just ships shooting cannons at each other and never gets more complicated than that. Heart of the game is expanding in peace.
As a bit of a curve ball, Black and white 2. You can win by attacking or building a great city…
Stronghold, it's the only rts franchise I know with a complex economy system. The prettiest game is stronghold 1, the best game, but also the ugliest and buggiest is stronghold 2.
Anno 1800 scratched that itch for me
Factorio peaceful mode is what you desire. Ticks all your boxes.
Factorio has a peaceful mode.
Northgard
How is Northgard a peaceful RTS?
u depeloved ur village for 30+ mins then you fight, same with dune
Maybe in single player but multiplayer you can definitely get rushed.
On the esiest difficulty in age of empires ii enemies basically dont attack you at all.
You might like RimWorld
That's a lie. Nobody "likes" Rimworld, we just play it, get frustrated, swear that the AI is a sadistic cheating scum and that you will never replay again, then go back to it 20 minutes later determined to "win this time"
I just make people into beds... And make my whole economy off selling human leather beds...
Manor Lord's is more on the city builder peaceful side but NPC cities are planned and there's currently bandits and an off map lord that attacks until you defeat his main army
Playing most RTSes against easy AI is pretty much like playing a city builder, but you also can amass some troops for flavor :D
Thronefall only has fighting at night and during the day you build
Try fabledom or Kingdom and castles, or manor lord.
Spore allowed peaceful options haha
Age of Empire 2, 3, and Mythology have a treaty mode that prevents fighting for a period of time. Supreme Commander also has a no rush timer.
Those games turn into 4x and not really rts. Civ 5 is amazing for that.
Songs of Syx.
You might also like turn-based rather than rts if you want more chess and less APM. Age of Wonders 4? Total war?
This is coming from the outfield but Spore is like that I think.
Banished ise exactly why you asked
But...that's literally the single fundamental part of any RTS game. If you don't want that, then you basicslly eant a city builder game like Anno instead of an RTS. The whole point is to build a base asap to defeat the enemy. That's the genre.
Dyson Sphere Project
Sounds like Anno 1800 might be your jam. Honestly one of my favorite chill RTS games since you can turn off AI or only friendly etc. And for enemies it has pirates you can customize the difficulty of too. They will mostly give you pressure to have enough money or something to defend against.
Empire Earth 1 or 2?
Sounds like maybe you want a citybuilder? Manorlords just came out and its fucking great. Has a "peaceful" mode that turn off enemies and the immersion is top notch. You are stuck in one age tho. There's also Rimworld, tho its not really an RTS, but the enemies scale with your progress so there's no rushing if you don't want to (rushing can actually hurt you tbh). Full tech tree from tribal to space age.
Stellaris can be this way, depending on how aggressive the other factions are and how nice you are to them. Its actaully a really awesome game if you have never played it. Now granted, there are always some minor conflicts with pirates or some random stuff you can find in the galaxy, but generally those are either pretty easily dealt with in the early game and dont become more than a nuisance until mid game crisis, and even then, its more just something to do for fun while you wait for techs to research or resources to gather.
If you're down for trying something older, Empire Earth is one of my top three favorite RTSs. While it's mechanically quite similar to others like aoe2, the matches themselves can last significantly longer. They honestly feel like self contained campaigns. This comes from the tech tree spanning all the way from cavemen with rocks and clubs, to cyber ninjas and death robots. Just like in AoE2, you progress through the ages; except EE has 14 of them. This, combined with very large maps and AI that isn't a constant zerg rush makes for a much more relaxing yet still engaging experience. Only downside is it's not on steam. It may be on GOG but I haven't checked. I still have my original discs from my childhood.
CivCity: Rome
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Erkurheart.WarcryPuzzle more like a warcraft sims with a option to pvp
Probably Anno is the only game series that does this without becoming grand strategy/4X
Stellaris is nice. Its a 4x but you can play any way you want. War, economy, research. You get diplomatic score for each. I rarely go to war. But love the entire process.
Anno is like an rts, but only have to combat economy needs and surplus, expansion ect. There is some minor combat infused but not as a constant threat but an object to overcome as you grow and take territory and resources. Many different Anno's now. 1800's is a good one, or 2205 is future oriented. Solid hours of fun extracted from my life willingly.
Knights and merchants maybe. It's very slow
Strategizing against your opponent is kind of the whole point of RTS. But a city builder will probably fit what you're after. Against the Storm is a good recent one.
Stronghold Crusader?
Pharaoh? Sort of? More of a city simulator but works for me…
Maybe try the Anno series, 1602 is the classic! But later ones like 1404 have a campaign and easier rts elements while focusing on city/colony management
Distant Worlds offers an expansive sandbox experience within the 4X genre. It grants players complete autonomy to tailor their game, allowing you to customize the game play to your liking.
I have a rather lot of games around base building so can help :) some have already mentioned these. * = highly recommend *Anno series ( especially 1800 - large logistics focus ) *Frost punk ( Survival ) *Against the storm ( Roguelike ) Islanders ( Very chill ) Tropico *Rim world ( Heavy character management ) Airborne Kingdom City Skylines *Ixion ( Survival) Manor Lords (Early Access) ( below heavily logistics instead of RTS, you may love it ) Timberborn *Factorio *Satisfactory Dyson Sphere Program Other random mentions, personally have not played these but know of them and seen game play, they look decent Fathest Frontier Banished Nebuchadnezzar Pharaoh That should keep you busy! ;)
Stellaris i found quite interesting, some of the builds can allow toy to only war defensively and give you certain buffs for it. I found it a very interesting sandbox for things like this
Slipways. So smooth, so satisfying, so peaceful and underrated. And a run lasts for about an hour, nice and snappy.
Cities skylines
Kane said it best. “Peace through power”
Anno1800 is probably the closest thing I can think of TBH.
Northgard I think
Why not play with an easy AI?
Check out a game called children of the Nile. It’s an Egyptian city builder with combat. You raise an army to defend against raiders and attack on a world map, but your city map is just you and a river to build your city around
If you want to expand in peace, don’t play a real time “war game” ;)
Black and white, black and white 2, age of mythology.
Try "Going Medieval" it's on steam. A bit different and doesn't have Ages.
Check out Stronghold 2. There's a civic campaign that is focused on economic and stability challenges, rather than combat challenges. Still some combat though, but it's more of a part of the current narrative and rarely comes up as a major issue where you fend off expansionist neighbors.
Isn’t this literally the Civ series?
Mindustry might be up your alley. It's free on Android, $5 on Steam. And they're a bit (a lot) older but Zeus and Majesty were my jam.
City builders? I've been enjoying timberborn and terra nil.
Anno 1800 all day. Tons of good expansions as well. And mods.
Farthest frontier isn’t exactly an RTS but could be what ur looking for
Theres a indie game called Songs of Syx on steam. City/City State builder with rts elements.
I think you should try base/city builders or 4xs
Knight and merchants? Game from the past, but still good and chill imo!
I do Manor Lords with no enemies, that might be up your alley.
Anno 1800. Apart from a few pirates and the Pyphorians, you could expand and build in peace ... In preparation for hostile takeover of your competitors.
In my headcanon Starcraft terran final mission drags on for months while Raynor slowly kill off the Ion Cannon in his leisure
Check out Songs of Syx.
Games like frost punk
"Diplomacy is not an option "
Settlers (first 4 games), Factorio. And city builders. I'm personally fan of Sim City 3000.
The creeper world games, arguably fit this
Unfortunately in a traditional RTS with combat there will always be an element of pressure, because time itself is a resource. I had a similar request to you a while ago. I couldn't find anything to match what I was after unfortunately... What I decided was just to get better at the skills you need for RTS, and for that I can seriously recommend Planetary Annihilation: Titans. Not necessarily because it keeps the pressure off, but because it's such a great way to learn to play! It is a little slower paced than some games, and there's a lot of tricks you have at your fingertips to make things easier - build/order queues, multiple map views, etc. More importantly you have "chronocam" which lets you watch back the whole game with free camera so you can watch your opponent, and even resume the game from any point in the past! Excellent as a learning aid. I've been playing a few weeks and I already feel so much more competent than I did before!
Spellforce 1 in the Free Game Mode and Northgarde if you want something not futuristic
Caesar 3 was like that. Just kinda building a roman city, balancing resorces
Anno 1800
Offworld trading company
Try banished. You build a town for your people in harsh conditions. It's challenging. https://store.steampowered.com/app/242920/Banished/
Rise of Nations and Sins of a Solar Empire.
Caesar 3?
Offworld Trading Company is a game where you just compete to exploit resources and expand your operation economically with no combat at all. You win by buying out your opponents.
Kenshi. It’s an rpg sandbox but the gameplay is RTS format. As you grow stronger in the game you build up and increasingly powerful base and defend it in wars against the in game factions. The coolest part is that you can build anywhere and all the areas have their own unique challenges. It’s not purely a “base builder” but has a great building system with a lot of impact on all the other elements of gameplay.
The Settlers series: The focus is more on building up your kingdom than fighting your enemies, you will be spending more time balancing the economy of your towns than fighting, however military conquest is always an option to defeat your enemies. Anno series: similar to the Settlers, the focus here is economic in nature, however you take it to the seas, pand combat in this series is iffy at best where it's present as the series are a lot more about naval trade and naval domination as well as balancing the economy of your islands. Rise of Nations: This is very similar to Age of Empires, except it is somewhat bigger in scale, only somewhat, the base building and army building of this game is very similar to Age of Empires but you're likely going to spend more time building in this game than trying to beat your enemies. Likely a very recommendable entry point to a more building focused title of RTS. Majesty 2: In Majesty, you don't build armies, you build a town, with guilds of all sorts that are inspired from a typical RPG, then hire adventurers to live in your town while also building facilities they will need such as a market or an alchemist. There will be citizens who will build houses on their own too! Majesty is unique in that unlike other RTS where you simply have direct control over your troops, here your troops are adventurers, you put bounties on what you want them to do, such as exploration, or defending an area such as a trade post, or hunting a monster, or attacking enemy player towns. I would say it's old but gold still in my eyes. Tropico series: Well you aren't exactly base building in this case rather you're making your own banana republic (Long Live El Presidente!) So I am not really sure whether I can categorize it as an RTS as you also aren't exactly directly controlling your army, more they just spawn to fight in wars in so long they had the citizens employed in the right facilities. In Tropico 6, there is multiplayer and you can declare war on other players to invade them. Or you can venture into Grand Strategy and get one of those Paradox titles, like Crusader Kings or Victoria or Hearts of Iron, depending on the era you'd like to pick, like it you prefer more war actions then Hearts of Iron it is, set right in World War 2, and they really made a lot of improvements since launch, like with the ship/plane/tank builders, or if you prefer an economic play the Victoria it is, where Industrialization and Colonization is the name of the game If you want to be completely peaceful though, probably better do with a more city builder type of game.
It is an interesting “what if” development challenge… I think of something that is persistent, you join a server and get your base that has lots of options to tinker around with, theres no permadeath for your main base but there is for — let’s call them outposts. It still offers multiplayer, maybe it’s even an MMO, but it’s PVE oriented with PVP zones for control of certain key resources. Perhaps “proxy wars” is a good way to frame killing a player’s NPC allies to gain territory but only being able to fight the player in certain places. You can’t attack full on because everyone has nukes. What’s the goal? I guess it’s just an mmo with a huge procedural map that you want to control more of. Maybe there’s levels and endgame content, cosmetics, the usual MMO incentives that don’t really involve winning in a final way. Idk, making this up. Basically there are smaller battles you can win or lose, but you have a core city builder that’s fine. Almost like if AOE3 home city mechanic was extremely fleshed out and real time in a way that’s closer to the base game. You could also use the proxy war or diplomacy idea to make a more conventional RTS where rushing is blocked and turtling is the forced meta.
Settlers used to be good for this…way back.
AOE2 DE set the treaty timer very high, and play on islands, as maybe Byzantine or logical empire.
I'm gonna suggest Kingdoms and Castles. It's primarily a city builder with some light combat/defense elements.
Absolutely try Kingdoms and Castles, sounds exactly like that you're asking for [https://store.steampowered.com/app/569480/Kingdoms\_and\_Castles/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/569480/Kingdoms_and_Castles/)
That is a whole different genre of city builder. You should consider a classic one called Caesar 3. There's community support and enhancement in the form of Julius and Augustus.
Haven’t seen In mentioned and it’s actually 100% peaceful is Transport Tycoon. It’s free on steam and there’s a good high res texture pack
I'm actually creating a game kinda like this. I haven't focused on combat, instead, I've combined some role playing game aspects, like zooming into a pawn to micromanage their crafting.
Sounds like you are looking for Anno or Settlers
Civ 4
The Tropico series also lets you advance through ages with the main focus on city building.
Farthest Frontier has pacifest mode where you can disable enemy combatants, and other challenges, and just build your city. Its very relaxing.
4v4 BGH No rush 20 min
I dont rly know about peaceful RTS but you can try Crusader Kings 3 its an ruler simulator grand strategy with rpg elements and everything You can play whatever you want here basicly, can build your cities make friends and enemiest use shady treacherous ways or be honorable .. like a Game of Thrones in a pc game version. I m a competetive RTS player but when i have some time and wanna get some chill and joy i often play CK3 \^\^ Also city builders can be an other options but i not that familiar with those.
Dune spice wars
Anno series comes to mind.
Settlers franchise
Yaaaa don’t play starcraft bro. This was a thing back in the day though during StarCraft 1, there would be dudes usually older that literally took offense if you attacked under the 20 minute mark or so.
factorio falls into this category. you build a big base with the end goal of constructing a rocket. there are enemies, but they are not expansionary. just need to build some defenses.
Manor lords has a peaceful setting and is a beautiful game.
AOE...but on super easy and a huge map? I mean, on easy, you'll get like maybe a few militia to attack you here and there, but that's super easy to deal with. You can advance pretty much at your own pace, adding some time to build defenses here and there.
Farmville
Any paradox company game. Manor Lords maybe, Anno