Best Strategy Games That Combine Magic And Technology

Key Takeaways

Strategy games explore the fusion of technology and magic in large-scale wars, offering unique storytelling possibilities.
Games like Endless Legend and Warhammer 40,000 intertwine futuristic technology with mystical elements for powerful factions.
Titles like Age of Wonders 4 and Total War: Warhammer 3 showcase innovative upgrade paths blending fantasy with technology.

Some games have to worry about player balance and making sure the power fantasy doesn’t get too extreme, but strategy games are all about waging large-scale wars with little regard for the loss of life. That means technology and magic often get intermingled into terrifying and spectacular weapons of war that are rarely seen in other kinds of fiction.

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Whether it’s the dying of magic worlds that have embraced the industrial revolution or worlds that keenly infuse the technologically marvelous with familiar fantasy, strategy games are the perfect vessel for exploring the limits of what’s possible.

1 Endless Legend

Magic and Mayhem On A Dying World

Endless Legend

Systems

Platform(s): Microsoft Windows , macOS , Xbox One
Released: September 18, 2014
Developer(s): Amplitude Studios

In Endless Legend, players take control of various factions on the planet Auriga, which has long since infused magical elements with advanced technology coupled with the mysterious substance called Dust, resulting in one of the best stories strategy games have to offer.

The result is a fantastic amalgamation of the magical and the technological. Take the Vaulters, who are essentially fantasy mech-users, or The Broken Lords who have infused their very souls with their steel armor. The gameplay encourages balancing technological innovation and mystical intervention. Endless Legend is a great example of the narrative possibilities of fusing the two genres.

2 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War

Hell Has Come With A Fury

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War

Systems

Platform(s): Microsoft Windows
Released: September 20, 2004

Anyone who knows anything about the gaming world likely thinks of Warhammer 40,000 as being the best example of stories that fuse fantasy and technology. This remains true in the stone-cold classic Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, an RTS that constantly foregrounds the mix of the fantastical races as well as their astonishing doomsday weapons (not to forget the forever weird and terrifying space marines).

Screenshots from Warhammer 35M, XCOM 2, ASV UMW 40k

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Take, for example, the Psykers, who are essentially power armor users who are fueled with the fantastical element of the Warp. Similarly, Tech-priests aligned with Mechanicus are a great example of what happens when one crosses a D&D-style paladin with futurism. The result? Nothing good for anyone who gets in their way.

3 Age Of Wonders 4

The Original Comes Back Firing On All Cylinders

Released: May 2, 2023
Developer(s): Triumph Studios

Age of Wonders 4 is a great example of a classic franchise coming back stronger than ever, and it also reinvigorated the series’ trademark blending of technology and fantasy. The game has an innovative upgrade path system that lets the player grow their burgeoning faction in whichever way they so desire.

Technology and fantasy blend most readily with the Materialist Affinity (one of many paths a faction can take), permitting advancement choices that see the advent of steampunk-like constructions powered by magic. Similarly, this can lead to the development of technomancy, and it doesn’t get much more fusion than that.

4 Total War: Warhammer 3

The Ultimate Warhammer Sandbox

Systems

Released: February 17, 2022

It would be rude to not mention Total War: Warhammer 3 in the same list as Warhammer 40,000. Where 40,000 takes the franchise into the far future, Total War: Warhammer 3 stays in a more conventional dark fantasy setting that is perfect for beginners in the genre. However, that doesn’t mean technology is nowhere to be found.

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Take for example the horribly evil Chaos Dwarfs, an entire faction that is dedicated to infusing demonic magic into advanced weaponry and war machines such as the Iron Daemon or Magma Cannons. Similarly, Grand Cathay fuses magic with gunpowder and impressive mechanisms, making a great showcase for the franchise’s trademark creativity and wildness when it comes to fleshing out these fantasy worlds.

5 Warcraft 3

The Best There Ever Was

Warcraft 3: Reigns Of Chaos

Systems

Platform(s): Microsoft Windows , macOS
Released: July 3, 2002

While Warcraft 3 didn’t invent the crossover between technology and fantasy in game settings, it may be responsible for popularizing it and laying the path for what was to come after. While the world of Azeroth is inspired by Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons, the original creators made their world unique by fully embracing how these societies would advance by using technological creations. Just be sure to stick with the original and not the remake.

Take, for example, the Blood Mages, who fuse magical abilities with mechanical devices, or the Orc factions that blend Shamans alongside siege engines and Goblin units who churn out technological marvels from their laboratory. Azeroth is nothing if not creative, and it’s always delightful to see how each faction has a unique take on where technology would fit into their societies.