Original War similar games & best alternatives

Original War - Trailer
Original War - original-war_1.avif
Original War - original-war_2.avif
Original War - original-war_3.avif
Original War - original-war_4.avif
Original War - original-war_5.avif
Original War - original-war_6.avif

Original War

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2014

Should you play it?

An American geological expedition, under a UN mandate, assesses the natural resources in a distant part of Siberia, deep in the trackless steppes of Eastern Russia. But instead of oil, they discover a deposit of a hitherto unknown mineral.

What works

  • Unique blend of rts and rpg elements
  • Persistent unit progression and permadeath
  • Branching storylines with meaningful choices
  • Mod support and active community
  • Challenging and strategic gameplay

Things to keep in mind

  • Dated graphics and audio
  • Somewhat clunky ui and controls
  • Lack of ai skirmish mode
  • Russian campaign considered caricatured by some
  • Steep difficulty and trial-and-error gameplay

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Thea 2: The Shattering

  • Bastard Bonds

  • Warzone 2100

  • Age of Wonders Shadow Magic

  • Zero-K

  • Tzar: The Burden of the Crown

Less intimate

Games that feels like Original War but with less focus on close relationships

  • Perimeter

  • Warbanners

  • Eador: Genesis

  • Eador. Imperium

  • Oh My Gore!

  • From Glory To Goo

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Original War. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Original War. These titles are not in What to play next.

Original War: Less representative of its motivational profile, with noticeable differences. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Cooperation, Fellowship, Intimacy, Leadership. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Leadership, Survival. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Relaxation.

Last update: 21/08/2026