Games like Travian and OGame in 2026, and one without pay-to-win

Old Light is a slow space strategy game where every player grows an empire of star systems in one shared galaxy, and it comes from the same browser tradition as OGame and Travian. Those classics built a whole genre on shared worlds you checked between other things, and they and their descendants are still online with real communities.

They also still ask a lot of you. You wake up for overnight raids and play around a storefront that sells the advantage you were supposed to earn. Below are ten games in that tradition, each with its publisher and launch year, followed by a table that sets them side by side with Old Light.

What are the best games like OGame and Travian?#

Tribal Wars and its 2014 sequel are the natural next step, and the wider Gameforge and InnoGames catalogues are full of the same shared-world, real-time strategy. Grepolis, Ikariam and Forge of Empires come from those catalogues, and they get their own write-up. For castles there is Goodgame Empire or Stronghold Kingdoms, and for space there is Astro Empires or Neptune's Pride. Old Light takes the formula somewhere gentler. It is free in a browser and runs one shared galaxy, without the odd-hours logins or the pay-to-win the classics lean on.

The three classics#

OGame#

Gameforge, 2002. Premium currency: Dark Matter.

The space original. You settle planets, mine three resources, and build fleets that take real hours to fly between targets. Decades of refinement and a huge playerbase make for real depth and serious competition.

The catch is the clock. Surviving in OGame at a high level means fleet-saving and counter-sniping at odd hours, and the premium currency, Dark Matter, sells boosts that a paying account leans on hard. The game is brilliant, but keeping up with it is close to a part-time job.

Travian#

Travian Games, 2004. Premium currency: Gold.

Ancient-world real-time strategy with some of the tightest alliance play in the genre. Travian runs in fixed server rounds that build toward a single contested endgame, which gives it a momentum the endless games lack.

It is also famous for being brutal on your time. The competitive endgame is a byword for sleepless nights, and Travian Plus and the Gold perks sit between you and the smoothest version of the game.

Tribal Wars#

InnoGames, 2003. Premium currency: Premium Points.

Medieval villages and a loop that is very easy to fall back into. Tribal Wars is the simplest of the three to pick up, though mastering it is another matter, and it has communities that have run for years.

The demands arrive later. Conquering villages and defending them turns into attack timing measured in milliseconds, and Premium Points smooth the parts the free game leaves rough. If the map is what you want out of it rather than the setting, Tribal Wars in space is a closer look at that.

The common thread#

All three are good at what they do and built around the same two things: constant attention and a store. The defining frustration of the genre is that the game punishes you for having a life away from it.

More games like Travian and OGame#

Tribal Wars 2#

InnoGames, 2014. Premium currency: Crowns.

Tribal Wars 2 is the successor to the original, with apps for Android and iOS that followed its 2014 beta. Tribes on each world compete for Victory Points until the world ends and the tribe holding the most wins. InnoGames' support pages state that Victory Points cannot be bought with Crowns.

Grepolis#

InnoGames, 2009. Premium currency: Gold.

Ancient Greece on a map of islands, with gods whose favour feeds spells and mythical units. Grepolis worlds finish in an alliance endgame, either a race to build World Wonders or a Domination phase where alliances fight to hold a share of the cities, and the world closes afterwards. It gets a fuller treatment in games like Grepolis, Ikariam and Forge of Empires.

Goodgame Empire#

Goodgame Studios, 2011. Premium currency: Rubies.

A medieval castle builder that went into beta in August 2011 and celebrated its tenth year in 2021. Goodgame Empire is the browser version, and Empire: Four Kingdoms brought the same game to phones in 2013. Rubies are its premium currency, sold in packs for real money.

Imperia Online#

Imperia Online JSC, 2005. Premium currency: Diamonds.

A Bulgarian browser game of medieval kingdoms whose first realm went live in August 2005. Imperia Online sells Diamonds as its premium currency, and a premium account is sold alongside them.

Stronghold Kingdoms#

Firefly Studios, 2012. Premium currency: Crowns.

The MMO branch of the Stronghold castle series, out of beta on PC in 2012 and later on phones as Stronghold Kingdoms: Castle Sim. Stronghold Kingdoms adds strategy cards that modify things like a building's production or a wall's strength, and Crowns buy card packs and Premium Tokens. Those tokens unlock build queues and automated trading. In 2013 Firefly opened a Domination World with a fixed lifespan of 100 days.

Astro Empires#

Cybertopia, 2006. Premium: a paid account upgrade.

The closest space game to OGame on this list, and one of the longest running. Astro Empires spreads its players across separate servers, each made of many galaxies of stars and planets, and new servers have opened over the years. A free account can build up to nine bases, and a paid upgrade removes that cap, which makes the upgrade a direct lever on how far an empire can grow. There is more on it in games like Astro Empires and Anacreon.

Neptune's Pride#

Iron Helmet Games, 2010. Premium: a membership.

A space game played as a single match, where carriers crawl between stars in real time and the first empire to hold a set share of the galaxy wins. Neptune's Pride games run for weeks, and the 2013 edition, Neptune's Pride 2: Triton, added phone and tablet support. Free players can join two games at once, and a Premium Membership lifts that limit and opens games reserved for premium players. When someone wins, the match ends and the galaxy goes with it. Games like Neptune's Pride covers that branch of the genre.

Browser strategy on a slower clock#

A slower kind of browser strategy game has grown up in response. It runs in hours rather than seconds and keeps building while the tab is closed, so a move rarely comes down to the millisecond and nothing needs you at three in the morning. You play in short sessions and the world keeps turning while you are gone.

These are the Travian and OGame alternatives worth looking for if the classics burned you out. The shared world and the rivals are still there, on a pace that fits around the rest of your day.

Games like Travian without the pay-to-win#

The stores are the other half of why people leave. Travian Gold, OGame's Dark Matter and Tribal Wars' Premium Points all sell the same thing: a shortcut past the grind the free game hands you. Spend weeks on a round and it can still turn on someone's credit card instead of their play.

A fair version of the same game takes that lever away. Everyone accrues at the same rate, and a building costs a paying account what it costs a free one, so the only advantage available is the one you earn playing. Old Light is built the same way, with no pay-for-power in it and no plan to add any.

Where Old Light fits#

Old Light takes that slower model into space, younger and leaner than the games above. The fleets are where the contrast lands first: an OGame fleet can spend real hours crawling toward a target, while here the fleets you send to defend or conquer cross the map in a more forgiving window. Around that sit the parts you already know: one shared galaxy, public ownership and borders you can read across the whole map, rival composition you uncover by scouting with probes, and sectors worth holding. The difference is pacing. Builds take minutes to hours and the early game is forgiving.

Old Light is young, so its galaxy is not as crowded as a game that has run for twenty years, and the slow pace will not suit anyone who wants minute-to-minute action. What it offers is the genre's feel in short sessions, with every empire on the same clock, which suits people who loved these games and then aged out of the logins. There's a beginner's guide if you want your first days mapped out before you commit.

How they compare#

OGame has been online since 2002 and Travian since 2004.

Which one to pick#

For the deepest, most populated version of the classic grind, start with OGame or Travian, as long as you don't mind the store and the odd-hours logins. If you want something gentler to dip into, Tribal Wars is the easy on-ramp. Space players who want a match with a finish line should look at Neptune's Pride, and those who want a long-running server should look at Astro Empires.

For a shared galaxy you can check a couple of times a day, where nobody can buy their way ahead, try Old Light.

Common questions#

What is the best alternative to OGame?#

Travian and Tribal Wars are the closest classics, running the same shared-world strategy on a real-hours clock in a different setting. If what pushed you off OGame was fleet-saving at odd hours or Dark Matter, a slower game like Old Light keeps the shared galaxy and leaves both out.

Are there games like Travian without pay-to-win?#

Travian, OGame and Tribal Wars all sell an advantage through Gold, Dark Matter and Premium Points. Old Light sells nothing that makes an empire stronger, so a round turns on where your fleets are and how many you built.

Travian or Tribal Wars: which should I play?#

Travian runs in fixed rounds toward a contested endgame and has the deeper alliance play, which is also what makes it harder on your sleep. Tribal Wars is the gentler start, though its late game turns into attack timing measured in milliseconds.

Can you play OGame or Travian on a Chromebook?#

Yes. Both run in the browser, so they work in Chrome on a Chromebook with nothing to install. The same goes for Old Light. For the Android and cloud options too, see the best strategy games for Chromebook.

Is there a single-player game like Travian?#

Not in the same form. The genre is built on a shared world, and rivals moving while you are away is what the whole game turns on. Old Light is multiplayer as well, so it will not fill that gap. Its galaxy does mix NPC empires in with the human players, and the slower clock means nobody needs you at a set hour, which covers a lot of what people mean when they ask for a solo version. If you want a game with nobody else in it at all, an offline 4X is the closer match.

Which of these games work on mobile?#

Tribal Wars 2 and Stronghold Kingdoms have their own apps, and Goodgame Empire reaches phones as Empire: Four Kingdoms. Neptune's Pride 2: Triton runs in a phone or tablet browser. Old Light plays in a phone browser with nothing to install, on the same galaxy map as desktop, with a bottom bar for moving between views. The controls guide has the touch gestures.

How much time per day do these games take?#

OGame asks you to save your fleet before you log off, and the Travian and Tribal Wars endgames reward players who can answer an attack at any hour. Neptune's Pride keeps you busy for the length of a match, which can run for a month or longer. Old Light is built for a few short checks a day. Builds take minutes to hours and keep going while the tab is closed, so twenty minutes spread across a day is enough to keep an empire growing.

Do the servers end or wipe?#

It depends on the game. Travian rounds and Tribal Wars and Grepolis worlds all end, and you start again on a new one. A Neptune's Pride match ends when someone wins. Astro Empires servers run continuously with no planned end. Old Light runs a single persistent galaxy with no rounds and no reset.

Is OGame still worth playing?#

Yes, if you have the hours for it. Two decades of refinement and a large playerbase make it the deepest game of its kind. The cost is fleet-saving at odd hours and a premium currency that paying accounts use to pull ahead.