Best Games That Let You Rule, Reign, Or Rebel

Power has a strange way of pulling people in. Some want a crown, some want control, and some would rather tear the whole system apart if they are not happy with the rulers. Games built around ruling or rebelling give players the chance to shape a world that actually responds to their decisions, and that’s where the real excitement is.

For rulers, these games do a great job of making it clear that every choice carries weight. For rebels, the world is already stacked against the protagonist from the get-go. These games capture that climb from powerless to powerful in a way that hits immediately, because the player sees the world shift around their actions.

Crusader Kings 3

Medieval Power Plays And Dynasty Control

• Players guide a medieval dynasty through marriage, politics, war, and messy family drama.
• The world reacts to every decision; a kingdom can rise, break apart, or completely surprise the player depending on how each ruler behaves.

If there’s a game that perfectly captures the wild mix of royal drama, family fights, and power struggles in the Middle Ages, it’s Crusader Kings 3. It basically allows players to rule as a noble family and watch their bloodline rise, fall, and sometimes destroy itself. In this game, power can come from many things, including fear, faith, or arranged marriages. A ruler can earn respect through battle or use charm and gold to earn allies, but no one rules forever. When a monarch dies, their heir takes over, and that new ruler might be a genius… or a complete fool. But the dynasty must go on, no matter what.

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For those who love chaos, they’ll be delighted to know that nothing in Crusader Kings 3 stays calm for long. A wedding can spark a war. A loyal friend might turn traitor. A single bad decision can ruin years of careful planning. The chaos is what makes this strategy game so addictive and fun.

Civilization 6

Building A Civilization That Shapes The World’s Future

• A strategy game about growing a civilization from a tiny settlement into a world power.
• Players choose how their nation leaves its mark, shaping culture, science, diplomacy, faith, and military strength.

Civilization 6 asks a single blunt question: can one city start a chain reaction that dominates the whole world? The answer depends on how a player chooses to rule. Players act as the brain behind an entire civilization, choosing what to focus on, which could be science and technology, art and culture, diplomacy and peace, or good old-fashioned war.

Every path leads to a different kind of victory. Win through science and the player becomes a builder of progress. Win through culture and their people inspire the world. Win through domination and they stand as a mighty conqueror. Civilization 6 is a game where every ruler writes their own story. Some love peace, some crave power, and some just want to outshine everyone else. Diplomatic talks, trade deals, and even wars depend on how rulers treat one another.

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord

Rising From Nobody To The Ruler Of A Growing Kingdom

• A Medieval game where the player slowly climbs from wandering fighter to powerful lord.
• Kingdoms wage constant wars, and players can join them, shape them, or overthrow them.

In Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord, power is never given; it’s taken. That’s why players begin as wanderers with little more than a sword and a dream, but they can climb their way up to become feared lords, loyal vassals, or even monarchs who rule the realm. On the battlefield, players fight alongside their troops, giving orders in real-time and charging headfirst into the action. Off the field, they make deals, form alliances, and manage towns.

This medieval action game also lets players shape the land’s economy. Profits come from trade, taxes, and workshops that keep the war machine running. Even those who prefer peace can build wealth through commerce and diplomacy instead of endless fighting.

Tropico 6

Running An Island Nation As A Dictator

• Players take charge of a tropical island as El Presidente and decide how strict or playful the regime becomes.
• The island’s people react to every choice, from building flashy landmarks to controlling elections or running a laid-back paradise.

Running a country shouldn’t be this funny, but Tropico 6 makes leading a dictatorship so much fun. Players find themselves in the boots of El Presidente, the forever ruler of a not-so-peaceful tropical paradise. Whether they’re loved as a champion of the people or feared as a cigar-smoking tyrant, El Presidente always finds a way to stay in power.

The islands are sunny, but nothing in Tropico 6 is simple. Citizens complain about jobs and housing, political groups bicker over every decision, and everyone seems to want something different. The capitalists demand profit, the militarists want strength, and the revolutionaries shout about freedom. Keeping all of them happy is practically impossible. But keeping them quiet? That’s what El Presidente does best.

Frostpunk

Governing A Frozen City On The Edge Of Collapse

• Rule the last surviving city in a frozen world.
• Players make hard laws, control scarce resources, and guide society through crises that test the people’s faith in their leader.

There’s no glory in ruling the last city on Earth, just cold nights and hard choices. Frostpunk puts players in a desperate steampunk city built around a giant coal-powered generator, which is the only thing standing between life and an icy death. As the city’s leader, every decision matters, whether it’s how much food to ration, who gets to rest, or whether children should work to keep the city running. There’s no right answer, only the least terrible one. It’s one of those games where players can not just be rulers, but also evil ones.

The moral weight of the game is what keeps many players hooked. Laws can help the city survive, but they also test how far a player is willing to go. Will the leader allow amputations to save lives? Use harsh discipline to prevent riots? Put children to work to maintain infrastructure? Or turn the city into a theocracy to keep people believing in something before the city collapses.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

Commanding Armies And Steering A Fractured China

• Struggle for control of China.
• Politics matter as much as armies.

Total War: Three Kingdoms takes the classic Total War formula and adds drama, politics, and a cast of legendary warlords who all want the same thing: the throne. As rulers, players forge shaky alliances, marry off relatives, and charm rival lords with promises that might not survive the next harvest in ancient China.

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Best Games Where You Can Influence A Faction War

In these games, players become a part of the political landscape, playing a direct hand in how things play out between factions.

Running a kingdom goes beyond waving banners; it’s about keeping food coming, taxes fair, and egos under control. If players push their luck too far, even loyal generals start wondering if they should be in charge instead. When words fail, battles begin. Total War: Three Kingdoms doesn’t give players a straight road to power. It’s a tangle of fights, bargains, and small choices that add up.

Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered

The Rebel With A Hammer

• An open-world action game set on Mars where players join a resistance fighting against an oppressive military force.
• The environment is fully destructible, so buildings, bases, and enemy structures can be blown apart to weaken the regime.

Red Faction: Guerrilla is basically the story of one guy on Mars deciding, “You know what? Enough of this,” and then solving every problem with a big sledgehammer. The game doesn’t pretend to be deep. It just hands the player a hammer, points at a giant corporate dictatorship, and says, “Go break their stuff.”

In Red Faction: Guerrilla, Mars isn’t a quiet place. EDF soldiers patrol the roads, propaganda blares from loudspeakers, and the resistance is always outnumbered. The player ends up fighting in dusty canyons, shabby mining towns, and ruined research bases. The missions in the game bounce between ambushes, jailbreaks, and sabotage runs. It’s all about fighting until Mars finally feels like it belongs to its people again.

Dishonored 2

Taking Back A Throne

• A first-person stealth-action game about reclaiming a stolen throne.
• Missions can be approached loudly or quietly, and the world changes depending on how violently players fight back.

Dishonored 2 opens with the kind of disaster that makes rulers lose sleep. A surprise coup kicks the rightful leader, Emily, off the throne. She’s now hunted, powerless, and forced into exile. Whether players choose to play as Emily or Corvo, the goal remains clear: take back the throne, even if it means becoming a monster.

Every key figure running the place is involved in the coup in one way or another, and each mission is basically a revenge tour. Once the dust settles and the last corrupt official falls, the throne is Emily’s again. Dishonored 2 is really about a ruler turning into a rebel, setting out for revenge, and then turning back into a ruler again.

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