
Pure battlefield tactics, with the expansion and no base-building tax.
Owning Ground Control Anthology unlocks the games, editions, and mods below.

The complete GOG Anthology with its surviving eight-player LAN mode carried across the internet.
ArcadeStrategyRTSClassic
$5.99
PlayBound does not sell this game. Once you own it, install the PlayBound edition from the header or the Install tab.
That One Thing
Every unit matters because there is no base behind you printing replacements.
Ground Control Anthology strips strategy down to positioning, timing, and combined arms, then lets PlayBound Connect carry its surviving LAN mode across the internet.
Worth the cost
Free, or regularly available for $15 or less. Good developers deserve to be paid, and optional cosmetics, expansions, and premium extras are welcome. But we won't list games that sell competitive advantages, disguise a trial as free, or charge again to finish the core experience.
Ready to play
Playable and satisfying today. It can be unfinished; it cannot be unfun. We love supporting indie developers, but prototypes, broken releases, and promises of a future game do not make the cut.
Tested by PlayBound
We install it, launch it, and play it ourselves. We've spent hours building definitive editions and making multiplayer work, because a store-page claim is not the same as a game we can confidently put in front of you.
That One Thing
Every game needs that one thing we'd excitedly tell our friends about. It might be the mechanics, story, art, soundtrack, controls, community, or the way it brings people together. If it doesn't have one, it doesn't make the catalog.
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Ground Control is real-time tactics with the economy removed and the battlefield left exposed. You arrive with a chosen strike force, use terrain and line of sight to create advantages, and live with every bad engagement. There is no worker queue, no resource rush, and no safe half-hour of building walls. The result feels closer to directing a military operation than managing a conventional RTS base.
The Anthology pairs the original campaign with The Dark Conspiracy expansion, adding another faction and a substantial run of missions. The 3D terrain still matters mechanically: elevation, cover, facing, reconnaissance, and coordinated air support decide fights. It is old enough that the interface and compatibility need patience, but the underlying battlefield design remains unusually focused.
The public WON.net service is gone. We do not pretend otherwise or point people at a dead Internet button. The LAN mode still works for up to eight players, and PlayBound Connect gives that mode a private shared network across ordinary home connections. The leader creates a LAN game, everyone else joins from the LAN browser, and nobody forwards a port.
This Testing entry is for groups willing to work with a classic Windows game. GOG does not certify it for Windows 10 or 11, so the modern compatibility pass remains part of testing.
We picked Ground Control because it is a pure expression of real-time tactics: no base-building padding, no disposable armies, and no substitute for reading the ground. The DRM-free GOG copy is inexpensive and complete, while PlayBound Connect gives its abandoned but functional LAN multiplayer a useful modern route back to friends.
Great if you want
Look elsewhere if
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Minimum
Windows XP through 8.1 · 1.8 GHz CPU · 1 GB RAM · DirectX 9 graphics · 4 GB storage
Recommended
Windows 7 or 8.1 compatibility mode; modern Windows remains in PlayBound testing
No. The DRM-free GOG master normally costs $5.99 and includes Ground Control plus The Dark Conspiracy.
The original WON.net service is gone. The surviving LAN mode works, and PlayBound Connect carries it over a private party network.
Up to eight players can join competitive or cooperative LAN games, depending on the map and mode.
No. Use GOG’s DRM-free offline installer; Galaxy is optional and Steam is not used.
Community
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