Put on your thinking hat with these strategy games for Android.
We're rounding up some of our favorite strategy games on Android for the deep thinkers out there. These are more than just simple puzzles games — these require careful planning and forethought to emerge victoriously. You'll find some great replay value in games like these as well since the same strategy won't always work twice.
Strategy gamers, pop on your thinking caps and get downloading these outstanding Android games.
Running a whole country is hard, but it helps when you're a dictator and can run everything just how you like it. This is Tropico in a nutshell, a game where you step into the role of El Presidente of your own Caribbean island paradise and lead your country and its people into the glorious future.
You're put in charge of managing all aspects of life and society on the island, building new roads and structures, training your citizens with schools and military bases, managing the economy by building farms and industries while setting workers' wages and negotiating export deals with other nations. That's not to mention managing the politics of the island, keeping people happy by improving the quality of life and quelling protests before they turn into full-blown rebellions.
There's a lot of strategy involved here, as you need to be sure that the structures you build are properly staffed, which might require building better schools or bringing in specialized foreign workers. You'll also get regular updates from your advisors about issues brewing around the island that often require you to choose between a benevolent approach or a more hardline response to show who's in charge.
The scope of the game is absolutely overwhelming, which is why you'll want to start with the tutorial that guides you through menu navigation and how to control the floating camera with touchscreen controls. The camera controls, in particular, take some time getting used to, but everything else is laid out sensibly enough for mobile devices so that you should gain a firm grasp of everything by the end of your first campaign.
There are 15 campaign islands to complete that give you specific goals to complete, but there's also a sandbox mode that just lets you take charge and rule your country however you see fit. This premium title includes no in-app purchases or ads and is an especially great title for fans of construction simulators.
Tropico
As El Presidente of a growing tropical country with abundant natural resources, it's up to you whether to lead your people with compassion and fairness or with a ruthless iron fist.
Mindustry
Mindustry is a true hidden gem among the crowded tower defense games in the Google Play Store. Rather than holding your hand through preset levels, the game offers a complete and open sandbox philosophy where you're given the tools required to build up your defenses before waves of enemies give them a test. The intimidating and challenging gameplay is more robust than most mobile strategy games, and best of all, it's a free download with no ads or in-app purchases.
There's a lot of logistical thinking required to find success in Mindustry. Not only do you need to concern yourself with mining resources to build up your defenses, but you also need to maintain and protect your supply lines — conveyor belts that deliver your mined resources from the drill to your core base and defense turrets. The learning curve is quite steep when you're just starting out, but once you get a handle on the basics and start unlocking new technologies on the tech tree, Mindustry starts to open up.
The solo mode is a great place to start and practice your own strategies, but only scratches the surface of all that Mindustry has to offer. There are multiplayer modes available for custom servers or local play over LAN with the host able to fine-tune settings to tweak almost every aspect of the game. You can also create your own custom maps with the included map editor. It's an amazing game that's continued to develop and grow over the past four years while remaining free for Android gamers.
Mindustry
Mindustry is an incredible open-ended sandbox tower defense game that will blow you away with the level of depth and customization available to the player. It's best suited for tablets or phones with larger displays and is free-to-play with no ads or in-app purchases.
The Escapists 2: Pocket Breakout
Of all the strategy games that appear on this list, The Escapists 2 offers the player the most freedom for strategizing an epic prison escape. If you played and enjoyed you're sure to love the sequel which has been better designed from the start for mobile with enhanced touch controls and multiplayer features added for the sequel.
Once again, The Escapists 2 is all about the thrill of a perfectly planned prison break. There are multiple ways to break out of each prison that require you to steal supplies to craft items, earn money which can then be used to bribe guards, or just craft weapons to cause a straight-up prison riot. In your downtime, you can train your prisoner in the library or gym so that you can outsmart and outrun your captors, but you'll have to be sure to keep up with the daily prison routines to avoid suspicion.
There are five prisons to escape from — starting in a basic jail and ramping up to challenging maximum security facilities — and you're able to scheme and play with friends over local multiplayer which is one of the coolest new features added to the franchise.
The Escapists 2: Pocket Breakout
Break out of prison on your own or with friends in this brilliant sandbox strategy game. Will your perfectly planned escape go off without a hitch or will you need to improvise on the fly?
Holedown
The latest game from developer Martin Jonasson is Holedown, a frantic puzzle game that mixes in a healthy dose of strategy. The game has you mining to the core of celestial bodies — starting with an asteroid and working your way up to the Sun — using bouncing miner balls that ricochet off of colored blocks. Each brick has a number that represents the number of hits needed to destroy it. You can let gravity do most of the work by destroying a block supporting other blocks and some are bolded in place and must be destroyed.
It's easy to pick up and play this game, but that's when the strategy comes in. All the bricks are curved, allowing you to set up tricky bank shots to clear out massive sections of blocks in one go. This will become quite important as the screen move up one row after every shot. If the blocks reach the top of the screen, it's game over.
Along the way, you will collect crystals which are spent on upgrades that give you more balls per shot, and more shots per round. These upgrades are crucial to completing the later planets but also let the earlier levels become more of a mindless distraction for your subway commute.
If you're a fan of physics-based puzzle games and are looking for a new obsession, Holedown is well worth your money!
Holedown
Holedown is a clever take on the ball and brick genre where you launch balls to excavate down to the core of asteroids, planets, and stars. It offers simple gameplay while delivering an endless challenge mode.
Civilization Revolution 2
Based on arguably the best strategy franchise of all time, Civilization Revolution 2 is a simplified version of Sid Meier's epic turn-based game based on world domination.
In Revolution 2, you play as an infamous world leader as you try and build an empire by increasing production, building out armies, and conquering your enemies. There are four ways to win each match: dominate your opponents by capturing their capitals, get an economic win by collecting 20,000 gold and building the World Bank, acquire 20 converted cities, wonders, or great people and build the United Nations for a cultural win, or be the first to launch a ship into space for a science win.
It lacks some of the polish of the latest Civilization games and has been optimized for mobile, but since it's a paid game you also won't have to deal with ads slowing down the flow of the game or greedy in-app purchases.
Civilization Revolution 2
This is a premium mobile adaptation of Civilization, and while it's not as featureful as the PC version it does a good job scaling down the Civ gameplay for your phone with no ads or in-app purchases.
The Battle for Polytopia
If you're a fan of the Civilization franchise, you just have to check out The Battle for Polytopia. This indie game features polygon tribes battling for control of the battle arena. The game features simple turn-based gameplay that's quick and easy to pick up and play. Each turn, you collect stars based on the number and size of the cities you control, which you can spend on upgrading your tribe's technology tree, building troops, or collecting resources. You must be wise with how you spend your resources and position your troops on your turn.
There are multiple ways to play. For solo play, you can create a custom game that either ends after 30 turns or until only one tribe remains. There's also the rarely seen pass-and-play multiplayer option, which lets you set up a custom game among friends and even keep them saved so you can play the same game over time. If you aren't able to play in person with friends, the AI offers a pretty decent challenge with difficulty levels ranging from easy to "crazy". There are four tribes available to you when you download the game, with six others available via in-app purchases.
The Battle for Polytopia
There's so much to love about this strategy game. The simplified graphics belie the rich strategy at play here that required you to build up your cities and conquer new territory.
XCOM: Enemy Within
XCOM is a celebrated turn-based strategy franchise that tasks you with stopping aliens from invading earth. As an XCOM commander, you're tasked with controlling your team of troops as they set off on missions to take out aliens.
XCOM: Enemy Within is an expansion for the game XCOM: Enemy Unknown and adds a new array of abilities, upgrades, and weapons to help you counter the alien threats. It's been out for nearly 4 years now but still holds up as one of the best strategy game experiences for Android. Each turn, you can control your troops and move them into position around the mission map to counter the advancing aliens. After completing missions, you'll head back to the XCOM HQ where you'll be able to upgrade your troops and unlock new abilities based on your success in the field.
XCOM: Enemy Within is a full game that's available for $10 from the Google Play Store.
XCOM: Enemy Within
XCOM is a must-play for fans of turn-based strategy games. This is the full port of the classic game that, admittedly, hasn't been updated in several years but still runs great on Android 10.
Mushroom Wars 2
Mushroom Wars 2 is an award-winning real-time strategy game that has you controlling tiny armies of mushroom soldiers in online or offline battles. Finally released for Android, this game features beautiful graphics and gameplay that's easy to learn but challenging to master.
Your goal is total domination, which requires you to move your troops across the map, taking over strategic mushroom huts and other structures while defending against advances from your enemy. There are four Mushroom tribes to choose from with a full campaign episode available for each, but the real action begins with the online multiplayer. You'll need to keep your wits about you as you balance your troop levels, build morale, and use special skills to dominate your opponents.
Mushroom Wars 2
Don't let the cutesy characters confuse you — Mushroom Wars 2 is a cutthroat strategy game at its core, and certainly a game you'll want to check out!
Fire Emblem: Heroes
Fire Emblem: Heroes represents Nintendo's first foray into developing games for Android (ignoring last year's Miimoto app) and is the eighth title in the popular strategy-RPG franchise to be released on North American shores.
Heroes brings all of your favorite Fire Emblem characters together for a brand new story that pits the noble Askran Kingdom against the power-hungry Emblian Empire, which wishes to rule all worlds. You play the role of a mighty summoner who has the power to bring Fire Emblem's best heroes together to help defend the kingdom. Battle takes place in arenas where you must strategically move your Heroes around to attack and defend against your opponents.
Play through the Story Mode to unlock new game modes, including Special Maps, Arena Duels, and the Training Tower. Arena Duel is the multiplayer aspect of the game that will keep you busy beyond the single-player campaign.
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Fire Emblem: Heroes
Explore the lore of Fire Emblem with this hero collecting strategy game. This is a free-to-play title with in-app purchases but a must-play for fans of the franchise.
Pandemic: The Board Game
This mobile version of the popular strategic board game of the same name that provides a real challenge whether you're playing alone or with friends. Your goal: Try to cure four contagious diseases from spreading and taking over the world.
You select your characters at the start of the game, with each character performing specific roles to help eradicate the diseases. Which characters you pick will have a big effect on your team's ultimate success. This is a pass-and-play game to play with friends, and you'll all have to work together and use your teams strategically if you want to win. There's an in-app purchase available for expansions, which improves the replayability of this addictive and challenging game.
Pandemic: The Board Game
Based on the popular strategic board game of the same name, Pandemic provides a true challenge whether you're playing alone or with friends. Your goal: try to cure four contagious diseases from spreading.
Vainglory
Vainglory is the complete package, featuring all the frantic MOBA action fans of the genre have come to expect — jump into a quick match with random teammates and opponents, create your party of friends and take on all comers, or chill offline and practice your strategies against bots. There are five hero classes, featuring a total of 25 unique heroes to unlock, upgrade, and take into battle. The touch controls are smooth and easy to pick up, so you'll be able to jump right into the heat of battle instantly. As you fight your way down the lane, there's a significant upgrade system that branches out, allowing you to react and counter your enemies more effectively.
If you're new to the MOBA genre, no worries! After introducing you to the gameplay fundamentals on first launch, Vainglory also features the Academy, an extensive tutorial section that will help you bolster your skills and abilities in the game. There's also a ton of things to unlock, live events to participate in, and a bustling online community on Twitch. Jump in!
Vainglory
Vainglory is an ever-expanding MOBA that offers competitive gameplay. There are dozens of heroes to choose from, each with their own play styles to learn and master
Hearthstone
Hearthstone is a free, turn-based card game that follows a familiar formula: players summon creature cards and cast spell cards based on the Warcraft universe to defeat online opponents.
Every one of the nine heroes has their own unique special ability as well as a sizeable batch of collectible and craftable cards. Casual online games, ranked matches, wacky weekly Tavern Brawls, and grueling Arena games appeal to varying levels of commitment, as you build your deck and your best strategies.
Hearthstone is without a doubt the best free card game to come to Android. It's been around long enough to have a ton of content for newer players to discover, although there's a lot of in-app purchases for unlocking new card expansions.
Hearthstone
Hearthstone is one of the biggest digital card games you can play on Android. Based on the Warcraft universe, this is a wildly popular game with a ton of expansions available for in-game purchase.
Star Command
Star Command is a sci-fi strategy game with a retro pixel art style. Players take command of a spaceship that vaguely looks like it could have been pulled out of a Star Trek movie, and recruit a crew, upgrade facilities, and embark on intergalactic adventures that usually end in a firefight with grotesque aliens.
Battles rage between ships with different mini-games for each weapon system, or against boarding parties, where you need to move crew members into position, put out fires, and make sure your people don't get sucked out into the cold void of space when there's a hull breach. Over time, your crew increases in skills, enabling them to man the ship's various stations with increasing effectiveness.
If you're looking for a fun, light-hearted single-player experience with great writing and a lot of long-term progression, Star Command is where it's at.
Star Command
Star Command is a fun space strategy game that's steeped with references from your favorite sci-fi franchises. Well worth the purchase for fans of strategy games.
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What are you playing?
These are our picks, but we love to hear what our readers are playing. Let us know in the comments and your picks just might appear in a future update!
Updated February 2020: Added Mindustry to our list!