Instead of Zerglings and Ultralisks you hire maintenance crews and mascots. Where Starcraft would have you construct additional pylons, you construct ferris wheels and hot dog stands. You are the god of your park, and your park’s attendees are ruthless heretics intent on finding and exploiting any weakness in your amusement Valhalla.
In the RT franchise, you are the “Tycoon”, an omniscient, omnipresent force bending the land to your whims and building your entertainment empire atop a sprawling root system of specialized rollercoasters and kitschy themed architecture. I’d argue that Rollercoaster Tycoon falls into this category. While the real-time element is shared with any MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) or online FPS (first person shooter), RTS games are generally built around unit and structure management, where two or more combatants wield vast hordes against one another.
Real-time strategy games are traditionally categorized as wargames where you compete against an AI or human player in real time. But no one ever mentions the true pinnacle of RTS games, the Rollercoaster Tycoon franchise. Starcraft, Total War, Homeworld… These games are generally considered to be some of the best real-time strategy games ever released.