15 best strategy games for Android and iOS

#2 Grow Empire: Rome

Price: Free

Another Rome-themed strategy game, but this one is not only free but also much more light-hearted with its cartoonish visuals. The gameplay can be best described as a combination of tower defense and tower offense. You have to defend your capital from invaders but you can also conquer other towns to gain more resources.

Unfortunately, as with most other free mobile games, there are some premium currencies involved that can be purchased with real money, but even without them, you’ll be able to slowly grow your empire.

#3 Civilization VI

Price: $19.99

Another well-known name in the strategy genre. As usual, you start with a small town, thousands of years before Christ, and set on a journey through the ages until you’ve built a modern-day megapolis. The game might be too complex for the casual gamer but fans of the franchise will be glad to see that the mobile version is as close as possible to its desktop variant. If you find yourself with hours to kill, Civilization VI will make them pass in a breeze.

If you’re not sure if this game is your cup of tea, you can play 60 turns for free before deciding if you want to purchase the whole game or not. Unfortunately, Civ 6 is iOS only for now.

#4 War Commander: Rogue Assault

Price: Free

War commander is set in a more modern environment where you’re tasked with completing various missions with your force of elite specialists. You can train units, purchase and upgrade vehicles, and expand your base. The graphics are a bit retro but the game is entertaining nonetheless. 

 

#5 Age of Ottoman

Price: Free

Speaking of graphics, Age of Ottoman won’t wow you with its visuals at least they provide plenty of entertainment combined with the voice acting. The game is good where it counts, which is the battles. You won’t see hundreds of units marching in order, instead, your few trusty warriors will have to be used optimally in order to complete the mission at hand.

#6 Dawn of Titans: Strategy Game

Price: Free

Dawn of Titans is on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Age of Ottoman. The graphics are impressive for a smartphone title and not only do you get to control legions of units, but you also have a titan on your side, equipped with unique skills and abilities. There are many aspects to this game, including developing your town and keeping an eye on what other players near you are up to.

#7 DomiNations

Price: Free

DomiNations is a pleasant looking game that follows a familiar concept. You build up your town, send troops to destroy and loot other towns so you can train more troops, upgrade buildings and unlock all sorts of goodies. You have more control over the battles than usual with this type of game, so there is definitely some skill involved. This game is not just about waiting for timers so you can amas the needed resources for the things you want to do.

#8 MechCom 3

Price: $0.99

MechCom 3 is a real-time strategy with a simplified unit design and gameplay that reminds you of StarCraft. You gather resources, build factories and units and try to outmaneuver your AI opponent that’s doing the same somewhere else on the map. From micromanaging units to choosing tech trees, this game provides everything you can expect from an RTS. The best part is that despite costing only a dollar, this game has no ads or in-app purchases.

#9 Iron marines

Price: $4.99

Another StarCraft-inspired RTS game with a cool-looking cartoonish graphics. The main campaign offers 21 missions that get progressively harder and more challenging. The game will require you to come up with creative strategies if you want to complete all of the available content. Iron Marines will provide you with many hours of entertaining gameplay and the developers keep making improvements to it.

#10 BattlePlans

Price: Free

BattlePlans takes you to a well-designed mythical world where you fight for control over islands, traversing between them on the backs of huge turtles. You assemble your squads, choose a destination to conquer and set out to destroy the enemy’s defenses. After that comes the best part, getting the loot and deciding how you want to use it.

As you move on, the battles will become challenging and victory harder to achieve, so you better be smart about how you’re developing your army!

#11 Badland Brawl

Price: Free

Badland Brawl is stretching the definition of strategy games a bit but it’s fun to play so we threw it in the selection as well. Using a combination of gadgets and units your goal is to destroy your opponent’s tower before he does the same to yours. Upgrades and ammunition can be obtained by opening eggs (essentially loot boxes). While the game has a simple concept, you’ll have to be quick and accurate with your moves and have a solid strategy prepared beforehand if you want to bring devastation successfully.

#12 Plague Inc.

Price: Free on Android, $0.99 on iOS

Sick of pretty, colorful game worlds with upbeat music accompanying your every move? Well, Plague Inc. is a stark contrast from all that. Your goal is simple: kill everyone on earth. How? By creating the ultimate deadly disease. With all sorts of pathogens and mutations available at your disposal, bringing death to humans worldwide is way more entertaining than you’d have imagined.

#13 Incursion Tower Defense

Price: Free

As it becomes clear from the name, Incursion Tower Defense is part of the ever-popular tower defense genre. Besides just placing towers and waiting to see what will happen, however, you also get to command your main character and his trusty puppy, alongside various other units that can move across the map and help in a pinch. The levels are diverse and well-designed so it should be quite hard to get bored.

#14 Auto Chess

Price: Free

Auto Chess exploded in popularity in 2019 and from its success sprung a whole new subgenre of strategy games. By creating combinations of heroes and formations and placing them on a classic 8 by 8 chessboard, you spar against one of your 7 opponents each round. That’s when the “auto” part comes in, as units fight on their own until only members of one team remain. Of course, there is some luck involved but each player’s strategy is what will ultimately bring success or failure.

#15 Dota Underlords

Price: Free

Just like Dota was first a Warcraft 3 mod, so was Auto Chess created as a mod for Dota 2 initially. Once the developers created the standalone Auto Chess, Valve was quick to create Dota Underlords. The games are similar but Valve has brought some unique features to Underlords and of course, it uses the familiar heroes and skills from Dota 2.

Both Dota Underlords and Auto Chess are extremely popular right now so opponents are easy to find and your games will start without much delay.