Warcraft III has one thing none of the other strategy games on this list can fully match: custom maps that turn a single install into about fifteen different game types. Tower defence sessions, hero arena nights, full competitive RTS matches, the variety per LAN is genuinely hard to beat. The reason it sits at nine rather than higher is that setup friction has increased over the years and the LAN functionality requires a bit more configuration than it once did. Still worth it for strategy-focused groups, especially if someone in the room already has it set up and knows the maps. That person is usually the one who has played it for twenty years and still acts surprised when the Lich King ability one-shots everyone.

Overview
About Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a real-time strategy game set in the high fantasy world of Azeroth. Players control one of four factions, the Human Alliance, Orcish Horde, Night Elves, or Undead Scourge, each with unique units, structures, and hero characters that gain experience and abilities through combat. The single-player campaign follows a sequential narrative across four faction-specific chapters. Multiplayer is supported through Battle.net with ranked matchmaking. The game includes a World Editor that allows players to create custom maps and scenarios, which gave rise to influential community creations including the mod Defense of the Ancients.
Story setup
Several years after the wars between Humans and Orcs, an uneasy peace has settled over Azeroth. The defeated Orcs languish in internment camps, and the Human Alliance has begun to fracture without a common enemy. But a demonic army called the Burning Legion, having once corrupted the Orcs and sent them to invade Azeroth, is preparing a second assault on the world.
The story follows three paths that intertwine. Prince Arthas Menethil, a young paladin of Lordaeron, investigates a spreading plague that transforms its victims into undead servants, and his obsessive pursuit of the plague's source drives him toward a cursed blade and a terrible transformation. Orc warchief Thrall, warned by a mysterious prophet of the coming destruction, leads his people across the sea to the forgotten continent of Kalimdor in search of a new home. And Tyrande Whisperwind, leader of the ancient Night Elves, must defend her sacred lands from both the newcomers and the demonic invasion that follows. As the Burning Legion marches toward a source of power that could corrupt the entire world, these three factions must decide whether old hatreds or survival will define them.
Reference
At a glance
- Released
- July 3, 2002
- Platforms
- PC, macOS
- Genre
- Strategy
- Play modes
- Single Player, Multiplayer
- Age rating
- ESRB T
Media
Screenshots
Click any screenshot to view it full size.
Playing together
Multiplayer & game modes
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos offers various play modes for different gaming experiences.
Play Modes
Single Player • Multiplayer
Content
Age ratings
How rating boards around the world have classified Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos. Open a board for its content descriptors.
ESRBT
- Blood
- Violence
GRAC15+
- Violence
PEGI12
- Violence
The content of this game is suitable for persons aged 12 years and over only. It contains: Non realistic looking violence towards fantasy characters.
USK12
Also in our guides
Often listed alongside Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos
Titles that appear in the same guides on this site. Grouped by where they show up, not by recommendation.
Coverage
Featured in our articles
This game appears in 1 article on this site.
#9
Game data and imagery provided by IGDB.com
