real-time strategy

Armies clashing in the real-time strategy game Cossacks: European Wars Games in the genre can feature defensive structures, such as these city walls in 0 A.D. A real-time strategy (RTS) game is a subgenre of strategy video games where players manage resources and command units to achieve objectives continuously in real time, rather than taking turns. By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to play. The term "real-time strategy" was coined by Brett Sperry to market Dune II in the early 1990s.

In classic real-time strategy games, each participant positions structures and maneuvers multiple units under their indirect control to secure areas of the map and destroy their opponents' assets. In a typical RTS game, it is possible to create additional units and structures generally limited by a requirement to expend accumulated resources. These resources are in turn garnered by controlling special points on the map or possessing certain types of units and structures devoted to this purpose. More specifically, the typical game in the RTS genre features resource-gathering, base-building, in-game technological development, and indirect control of units.