There are about hundred of custom maps in the Starcraft 2 Arcade Mode. Many of these maps that people made might not have been played, since everyone are always playing the same custom game maps. Never hurts to give new custom maps a chance. After digging around and trying out many different custom maps, I found 10 custom maps that I enjoy playing which I believe you should try at least once.

1 – Monobattles

Genre: Other

Players: 8

Enjoy playing Starcraft with different unit types? Then how about playing a game of Starcraft with only one unit type? In Monobattles, players start off by selecting one unit that they will build throughout the whole game. Then battle it out with the enemy, who also only select their own single unit. This leads to chaotic and interesting matches, where conventional builds will no longer work, when your task is to build a single unit throughout the whole game.

2 – Micro Macro

Genre: Strategy

Players: 8

Can you trust someone else to micro or macro for you? In Micro Macro, four players are pitted against each other in a normal game of Starcraft, but with a twist! One person takes on the role of micro, while the other player takes on the role of Macro. In order to win, both players need to work together. This is fun and also good practice for regular Starcraft 2 games, as it allows players to work on improving their macro and micro skills.

3 – Squadron Tower Defense

By: Swentz and Celois

Genre: Tower Defense

Players: 8

Currently the top played custom game in Starcraft 2 arcade in NA, but for good reason of course, since Squadron Tower Defense is a new interesting way of playing tower defense. Instead of building towers that stand still that doesn’t really move. Each round, the player’s towers become a unit that moves and attacks the enemy. So building the right towers and tower placement is important. Also, having many different types of builders and towers to explore,helps make Squadron Tower Defense easily a addicting game to play.

4 – Nexus Word Wars

By: Rodrigo

Genre: Tug Of War

Players: 6

The goal is quite simple. Destroy the enemy Nexus to win. But it’s not always that simple, when it comes to custom games. In Nexus Word Wars, your biggest weapon is your keyboard and mind. Since the only way to stop the enemy advance toward your Nexus, is by typing the characters that appear above their heads. If you are able to type really fast, this wouldn’t be much of a challenge for you. In the swarm of letters, there are also difficult math problems that you need to solve. Do you think you can survive when enemy is sending swarms of difficult math problems at you?

5 – Desert Strike

By: Squarely

Genre: Tug Of War

Players: 6

In Desert Strike, players will have to build structure that helps produce units at a given time period. The more structure and higher tech structure a player has, the bigger their army will appear in the battle arena. In order to destroy the enemy base, players have to overcome the opponent’s army that stands before them. Building the right units to counter the enemy is the key to victory, because using a single type of unit isn’t really effective once the enemy starts to counter your army. It’s best to mix-up your army composition and save your specials for the right moments.

6 – Haunted Forest

By: Bounty

Genre: Survival

Players: 6

Inspired by the game of Slender, players must work together to gather all the crates and avoid eye contact with their pursuer. Instead of an overhead view, the player is placed into a first person view. This game is best played with friends, since communication is very important and also it’s always funny to hear your friends scream, when they are taken by their pursuer. It’s best to play the game in the dark with headphones, just to build the correct atmosphere. A good important tip to follow, never look behind you when you know you’re being followed.

7 – Nexus Wars

By: lilman

Genre: Tug Of War

Players: 8

The idea for Nexus wars is simple, like any other tug of war game. You must build units to destroy the enemy Nexus to win. There are many different methods a person could use to reach victory. Each player is given one defensive nuke to use and a worker that allows them to build from three different races. This makes Nexus Wars a quick and simple addicting custom game.

8 – Kobold Tribes

By: Qancakes

Genre: Other

Players: 10

Two Kobold tribes are fighting for control over the land. Players will play the role of a Kobold. As they try to survive the hash life. Whoever tribe is the last one standing is the victorious. What makes Kobold tribe so addicting is the survival aspect, since player needs to explore around for resources to build their own village and also be aware of their own Kobold health and condition. The moment you are not paying attention to the condition of your Kobold, nature might just end up claiming the life of your Kobold.

9 – Desert Tower Defense [TD]

By: mouzCCMorroW

Genre: Tower Defense

Players: 8

A classic take on tower defense, from the old Warcraft 3 custom maps. Players build towers in their lanes to prevent the enemy from reaching the center of the map. With the total of 50 lives, players will need to defend themselves from air units and ground units. By using different combination of towers in stopping the enemy of different types, having the right placement of towers becomes a key factor in building a solid defense and also keeping up with the tower upgrades. This isn’t really a beginner friendly map, but after playing it multiple times, you’ll soon find yourself getting better overtime.

10 – Marine Arena 2

By: Roman and Josin

Players: 8

In Marine Arena, players control their own group of Marine units and try to overcome their opponents with upgrades and their micro control. From the classic game type in Broodwars and Warcraft 3, Marine Arena is a competitive custom game that is fun to play with friends. Since many of the battles can become chaotic overtime, there might be moments when there are too many units on the screen that it causes lag. So it’s best to play this game with a lower setting to avoid lag. Overall it’s a fast and fun custom game to play.

Conclusion

There are many custom games in the Starcraft 2 Acrade, which I have yet to explore. But these are my favorite types of games to play with friends or alone. There are always new and interesting custom games being added to the arcade. Finding a good one is always hard, but it never hurts to give these custom game maps a try.