What are the best naval games on PC? Naval warfare has a rich history dating back to ancient times, spanning countless conflicts that relied on access to the world’s oceans – and the delicate, skilful balance of sea battles makes for fantastic wargaming. We’ve played a ton of them over the years – read on for the very best ship games on PC in 2024.
Wargamer’s martial expertise extends on land, too, of course – you might also like our guides to the best WW2 games and the best WW1 games to add to your collections.
For now, though, all hands to battle stations! We’ve selected our favorite naval wargames to cover various styles and scales – from arcade style action and single-craft simulators, all the way to tactical fleet battles , and even grand strategic titles that put you in command of multiple fleets across entire theaters of war. Plus a wild card or two (strange things happen at sea, after all…)
The best naval games are:
World of Warships
While it’s not such a hardcore wargame as others on this list, we decided to include this on our list because not only does it offer a refreshingly different experience to everything below it, but it’s also a fun and surprisingly cerebral game. Featuring ships that range from WW1-era right through to the end of WW2 and a bit beyond, World of Warships is what happens if you take the concept of something like Battlefield, or Call of Duty, except everyone is controlling a warship.
What sets it apart from most of the best free war games, though, is that there’s a surprising amount of forethought required in order to play well. You’ve got to consider your direction and the time it’ll take you to change course, gun emplacements can take time to turn (especially in the big battleships), and – when it comes to attacking – the distance and lead-time with your shots are both crucial to success.
It’s a lot more fun to play with friends, and being free-to-play means a grind does start to set in at the higher tiers, but once you get to Tier 6 you can do the special PvE scenarios which are a nice change of pace.
Play World of Warships for free
Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal
Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal was originally released a few years ago on iOS, and was a hit with the mobile crowd as it was a pretty decent turn-based wargame, one of the few that existed on mobile. Now it’s finally been ported to PC with some help from Avalon Digital and its ready to take its place on our list of top naval war games. It’s worth caveating that as much as this features a tight design, deep gameplay and smart abstractions to cover the Pacific Theatre, it IS a port of a mobile game at the end of the day.
It’s gotten fancier graphics and some other upgrades, but it can’t shake the essence of being a more simplistic game for a simpler platform. That’s not a detriment, but it is something to bear in mind. Other than that though, Carrier Battles makes smart of use of Fog of War mechanics, as well as making you feel the tension of far-off air battles as you manoeuvre your task forces in an attempt to control the Pacific. As deep and beautiful as the ocean it ain’t – but it’s a cracking game all in all.
Read our Carrier Battles 4: Guadalcanal review.
Naval Campaigns: Wolfpack
A rare naval-themed outing from JTS and the late, great John Tiller, Naval Campaigns Wolfpack is the latest entry in the Naval Campaigns line and takes you to the till-covered Atlantic theatre. You are in charge of a varying number of U-Boat ships as you try and disrupt the Allied supply lines in the Atlantic Ocean. Alternatively, you’re in charge of the Allied fleets trying to keep Britain’s life-line up and running.
There are 50 scenarios in total, along with two campaigns covering a wide range of battles and set-pieces. Not all of them can be played from both sides, but most of them can. There is also a powerful editor as standard, and the usual JTS bells and whistles to go with it. In classic JTS fashion, it’s still fairly old-school in terms of visuals and accessibility, but this is a more straight-forward game in many ways than some of the publisher’s other big names – and well worth your time.
From the Depths
Allow us to get a little weird for a minute. From the Depths isn’t remotely a historical wargame – it’s a bizarre hybrid of voxel building sandbox, physics engine, and real-time naval battler that lets you build your own warships in excruciating detail (from the internals of the engines to barrel lengths and shell fuses), then smash them together like action figures.
If you get bored with building laser battleships, you can migrate to zeppelins and star-cruisers, and pit all your wacky, Roblox-meets-War Thunder creations against each other across a surprisingly wide range of game modes. If you want a break from doctrinaire wargaming, in favor of a genre-bending, build-and-battle game, try this bad boy out.
Command: Modern Operations
Its definition as purely a ‘naval’ war game is getting rather stretched now – because Command: Modern Operations (CMO) is the finest, most-in depth simulation of modern warfare you will ever see, and the new version improves over predecessor Command: Modern Air / Naval Operations (CMANO) in terms of U.I. and accessibility.
In most of its scenarios, CMO massively expands the ground operations part of the simulation versus CMANO, but the main focus is still on naval (and air) assets for the most part. Regardless of how you want to define it, it’s a damn good piece of software and deserves to be on every list it can fit under. Since its predecessor was here, feels right to continue the tradition.
If you’ve never owned CMANO but have an interest in trying the Big Kahuna of global war sims, then buying CMO is a must.
Read our Command: Modern Operations review.
Cold Waters
Killerfish Games manages to hold two titles on this list, and with good reason. With its submarine-based naval game Cold Waters, the studio manages to walk a perfect line between arcade and simulation. Establishing itself in a modern setting, Cold Waters drops you in nuclear submarine and has you strike against surface targets and warships, while evading modern ASW countermeasures.
Great mission and unit variety, outstanding visuals and intuitive UI enables Cold Waters to stand tall among the greatest naval wargames out there. Content for Cold Waters is still being released, including a South China Sea campaign. Those looking for a more immersive sub sim, please note that this isn’t Silent Hunter – you may be disappointed if that’s what you’re looking for here.
Rule the Waves 2
While the sequel to RtW won’t be ground-breaking for anyone experienced in the original title, Rule the Waves 2 is a clear improvement over its predecessor in more ways than one. With an expanded timeline through to 1950, air forces and aircraft carriers now make their appearance in the mid-to-late game, shifting the priority of naval doctrine from Dreadnoughts and super-ships to platforms capable of fielding large amounts of air power.
Other little improvements, such as changed naval invasion ranges, mean that this takes on a more long-form, emergent narrative experience similar to Hearts of Iron 4 – it’s less about painting the map your colour, and more about the strategic and long-term naval performance of your nation. There’s still room for improvement – in-game events and politics remain a eurocentric affair, the game is terrible at explaining itself, and we’d love to see mechanics that cater towards large-scale warfare between alliances.
As with the first game, this is a unique experience in naval wargaming, and anyone even remotely interested should definitely try it out for themselves.
Read our Rule the Waves 2 review.
Supremacy at Sea WW2
In many ways, Supremacy at Sea WW2 is a counter-point to NWS’ other entry on this list, Rule the Waves 2. It’s not getting a sequel and hasn’t had the same amount of support as the other game, but provided you can still get a hold of it, it’s a very engaging naval warfare game that focuses on the big-picture.
There are three campaigns covering the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean theatres, and you’re tasked with managing and deploying fleets and task forces based on operational needs of the campaign. Along with fleets and ships, you can also manage air assets, and even intervene in ground battles.
It’s a little bit fiddly to get working on Windows 10 machines, but it is doable and this is one of those rare games that clearly has been designed by someone with immense knowledge and passion for the subject, and have offered a unique take that makes best use of the resources and technology they had available. The quintessential ‘indie’ wargame.
Atlantic Fleet
Initially released on iOS as a sequel to Pacific Fleet in 2015, Atlantic Fleet excels as an arcade-style, turn-based naval strategy game. Slug it out in single battles, scenarios or an Atlantic campaign as the Kriegsmarine or the Royal Navy.
Both factions offer a wide variety of naval vessels, from famous ships such as the Hood and Bismarck, all the way to ‘paper’ battleships such as the Lion-class and H-44! The use of land based or carrier aircraft for strikes against ships is also present, and can give an edge over the enemy.
The turn-based combat is perfect for the surface ship engagements, but submarine and aircraft carriers are a bit sub-par. The price of admission is just right for the amount of content in the game.
Victory at Sea
Victory at Sea is an excellent game for those who want a fast-paced experience of WW2 naval warfare across multiple theatres of operation. Simplified combat controls and real time management allows for the action to be quick and engaging.
Nation variety spans the traditional naval powers of British, American, Japanese and German fleets to the lesser represented Dutch, Italian and French forces for custom battles. There is a lot of content for Victory at Sea due to free updates from the developers, and an enticingly cheap purchase price.
Add in modding tools that expand unit rosters (such as can be found here) and ship variety, and you have here a great title for people looking to expand their naval libraries. This game also received a sequel – Victory at Sea: Pacific. Sadly, the added campaign layer has added a whole new pool of potential problems for the developer.
It’s got a solid foundation, but there’s still work to do yet before it’s in a good enough place to knock the original game off its perch. It’s also worth pointing out that the developers are working on a new game – Victory at Sea: Ironclad.
Silent Hunter 3
As a U-boat captain of the Kriegsmarine, you will find yourself prowling for unsuspecting targets, ambushing convoys, or fighting against aircraft as you’re surfaced. Interacting with the ships interior is also a major component of managing your submarine. Of the Silent Hunter series, Silent Hunter 3 easily remains the undisputed champion.
What pushes Silent Hunter 3 beyond its sequels is the incorporation of the GWX3 GOLD mod. This mod gives the game an even more immersive experience, with quality of life changes, environment improvements and added variety still unmatched by the later titles. If you can sacrifice the visual fidelity that the later versions have, you’ll find afternoons and evenings lost as you develop into a successful U-boat commander.
Ironclads 2 Collection
Where previous Totem Games releases can be considered misfires, the Ironclads 2 series of games bundled as a collection on Steam are a great addition for any armchair admiral out there. This collection of games has you fighting forgotten engagements in the late 19th century. While the strategic element is turn based, engagements are in real time. But don’t be fooled; managing ships can get complicated when you split columns or try and envelope an opponent’s fleet.
Superb opponent AI, ship models, and unique settings allow these naval engagements to really come alive and provide wonderfully varied experiences. Impatient players or newcomers might be frustrated by the lack of tutorials (other than just a manual) and hardcore sim fans might be disappointed by the basic mechanics for tactical engagements. However, for the price of four games, and the unique setting each brings, these titles definitely deserve the attention they get.
Enigma: Rising Tide
Enigma: Rising Tide is a very strange but excellent naval wargame. What makes it so odd is the alternative history the game is based upon: the Germans won the first world war, and everything stems from that. Now that you’ve digested that twist, it’s easy to see what makes Enigma: Rising Tide such a compelling game to play.
Focusing on small unit actions, such as operating a corvette, submarine or a destroyer, the game puts the player on the bridge of these vessels and manages to operate a fine balance of arcade action and command options. Where it lacks in patience and finesse, the pace of the missions and the satisfaction of a ship sinking is still gratifying in this title.
Enigma: Rising Tide is for those wanting to take a break from the hard-fought battles of stratagem, and simply are looking add a few more hulls to the bottom of the sea at what sometimes can be a break-neck pace.
Navyfield
Navyfield is a curious naval game. Recommending it is like telling somebody to go see Woodstock today. As an MMO, its time in the sun has passed by a few years, but at its peak it was a phenomenal game. Although Navyfield has been overshadowed by modern releases, the game is still strong to this day. Pitting teams of up to 32 players against one another with an assortment of ships, Navyfield has a surprising amount of variety and modes, backed by quick and addictive battle sessions.
Typically, fleets are a combined assortment; battleships, carriers, cruisers, destroyers and even frigates are some of the options available (unless the hosted room decides otherwise). The beauty starts as you see the players naturally forming up to picket the larger ships, or the carriers and more agile craft either laying torpedoes or scouting for incoming spreads. Players that aren’t part of the pack, or are inexperienced, can find themselves isolated and destroyed. Anti-aircraft fire is also an important element as, although your ships’ machine gun fire is automatic, managing your flak bursts to take out incoming planes requires a keen eye and manual control – and can sway the battle in mere seconds. Matches are quick and full of action in an easy-on-the-eye isometric view.
Navyfield was (and still is) grindy, making the drive to those bigger ships a pain if you’re unwilling to cough up some cash. Leveling up your crew and unlocking newer arsenals are still very much mechanics here. However, a side benefit of this is understanding the types of ships and the benefit of different play styles. Rushing to play as a King George V-class may not necessarily be as enjoyable as wiping out many unsuspecting players with a perfect torpedo spread from a Japanese light cruiser. Every faction has a distinct feel and doctrine.
Although there is a Navyfield 2, it tries too hard to compete with World of Warships – rather than capture the ‘magic in a bottle’ that the first game had – and suffers for it. Both newer titles feel more about smaller engagements and which captain has the widest bow (a matter of speaking). The original Navyfield, by contrast, managed to capture fleet combat exceptionally well in a multiplayer setting and is still supported and played by players today. It’s well worth giving a whirl in 2021.
Fighting Steel: World War II Surface Combat 1939-1942
Fighting Steel is a lesser known title for those looking into the war chest of naval wargames; as a game, it primarily focuses on fleet action. Pitting capital ships against others in historical contexts or user created scenarios, ships square off in real time to lob shells at each other until somebody capsizes or breaks off under the cover of smoke screen.
What Fighting Steel does well is the variety through a large variety of ships and how they perform in battle, and its attempt of authenticity, through its scenarios and mechanics. Although the graphics are simple and dated, they are crisp and serviceable. It’s easy for the experienced admiral to distinguish targets by their silhouettes.
For Jutland players, the games are very similar, only standing out on a few overlay mechanics and time period of course. A rocky release might have damaged the hull of Fighting Steel a bit, but since 1999, the game has improved to be a compelling and immersive through patches from the dedicated.
If you’re looking to expand into tabletop games and are looking for something a little different, read our Silent Victory review – it’s a solitaire submarine warfare game from GMT games, set during WW2’s pacific theatre.
Or, for more PC wargames from different eras, check out our guides to the best American Civil War games and the best Vietnam War games.
This guide includes extensive contributions from Zach Zimmerman.
Source: Wargamer
