The 13 best mobile strategy games for iPhone and Android
Thirteen strategy games that work on a phone screen, grouped by the kind of thinking they ask for, with what each one costs.
A good strategy game on a phone has to survive your commute. You put it down in the middle of a battle, pick it up ten minutes later, and still know exactly why you were losing. Plenty of big PC strategy games fail that test on a small screen. The thirteen below pass it. Prices are regular US prices on the App Store and Google Play on the day we checked, and every card links to the store.
They're grouped by how you like to think. Some players want one careful move at a time. Some want quick decisions while the clock runs. Some want everything settled before the fight even starts. That last kind is the one we're making, so expect opinions, including where our own game is the wrong choice.
Best mobile strategy games: quick picks
Every game on this list runs on both iPhone and Android.
| If you want | Play |
|---|---|
| One free game to start with | The Battle of Polytopia |
| An empire, turn by turn | Civilization VI |
| Deep turn-based tactics | XCOM 2 Collection, Into the Breach |
| Huge real-time battles | Total War: MEDIEVAL II |
| PC real-time strategy, rebuilt for touch | Northgard, Company of Heroes |
| A live duel against another player | Clash Royale |
| Build a team and watch it fight | TFT, Super Auto Pets, Path of Orren (ours, not out yet) |
| Something that isn't a war game | Bloons TD 6, Slay the Spire, Plague Inc. |
Our game
Path of Orren
- Free, coming soon to iPhone and Android
- Join the waitlist
Full disclosure: this one is ours, so it isn't ranked. If you want to move every soldier by hand, Path of Orren is the wrong pick, because you don't control anything during a fight. The strategy happens before it. You choose which heroes join your party, where each one stands and what each one carries, and then you watch your plan hold or fall apart. It's a free dark-fantasy party roguelike for iPhone and Android: you take your heroes down a three-act road of fights, forges and strange events. Finish a run and your survivors become a company that meets other players' companies in the Arena. No ads. It isn't out yet: join the waitlist to play it first.
4X games: grow an empire on your phone
You start with one city and end with an empire, or with nothing. On a phone, the real question is whether a whole game fits in a lunch break.
1The Battle of Polytopia
- iPhone
- Android
- Free, with in-app purchases
- PC: $14.99
Yes, in this one. It's a 4X game cut down to its best parts: a small map, a few tribes, cities that grow fast, and a full game you can finish on a lunch break. It came out on phones first, years before the PC version, and it shows in every screen. The base game is free with no ads, and extra tribes are sold separately. If you want one free strategy game, start here.
2Sid Meier's Civilization VI
No, and that's the point. It's the full Civilization VI, with its long campaigns and dense menus, and it asks for evenings rather than lunch breaks. You can play the first 60 turns for free, then pay to unlock the rest. It's much happier on a big screen, so think of it as an iPad game that also runs on a phone. Civilization VII is on iPhone too, but only through an Apple Arcade subscription.
Turn-based strategy games on mobile
Turn-based games are the most natural fit for a phone. Nothing happens until you move, so you can stop in the middle of a battle when your stop comes up.
3XCOM 2 Collection
- iPhone
- Android
- $14.99, no ads
- PC: $19.99
The deepest tactics game you can put in your pocket. You lead a squad of soldiers against an alien occupation, one turn and one percentage at a time, and a soldier you lose stays lost. The Collection includes the War of the Chosen expansion and four extra packs, with no in-app purchases. It's a 3.7 GB download that needs about 11 GB free on iPhone, so check your storage before you buy.
4Into the Breach
- iPhone
- Android
- With a Netflix subscription
- PC: $14.99
Giant mechs, small maps, and every enemy attack shown before it lands. Each turn is a puzzle with a clean answer if you can find it: push this monster into that one, block the shot, save the city. It's free for Netflix members on both stores. For more runs like this, see our list of the best roguelikes on iPhone and Android.
Real-time strategy games on mobile
Real-time strategy means the clock never stops. These are the games that best survived the move from mouse to fingers.
5Total War: MEDIEVAL II
- iPhone
- Android
- $14.99, no ads
- PC: $19.99
Two games in one: a turn-based campaign across three continents, and huge real-time battles whenever two armies meet. The battle drops into slow motion while you give orders, which is what makes it work on a touch screen. It's sold once, for $14.99, and the only extra for sale is the Kingdoms expansion. If you'd rather start cheaper, ROME: Total War is the same idea in the ancient world, for $9.99 with no in-app purchases.
6Northgard
- iPhone
- Android
- $8.99, no ads
- PC: $34.99
A Viking clan, a new land, and a winter that can end everything. You claim territory one area at a time, put your clan to work as farmers, warriors or sailors, and prepare for the months when food runs short. It's slower than a classic RTS, which suits touch controls well. It costs $8.99 on both stores.
7Company of Heroes
- iPhone
- Android
- $14.99, no ads
- PC: $36.99
The real-time pick for players who want war, not empires. You command squads across Normandy, use cover, flank machine guns and choose where to take ground, with a command wheel built for touch screens. It costs $14.99, and online battles against other players need both expansions, Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor, sold separately.
8Clash Royale
Built for live duels: one opponent, about three minutes. Eight cards, three towers, and the strategy is in your deck and in spending your elixir better than the other player. It's free to play, and it's the pick here where money most clearly changes a match, because spending speeds up card upgrades. We kept it because nothing else does live duels this well. If you're tired of it, we wrote a whole list of games like Clash Royale.
Auto battlers: plan it, then watch it fight
This is the genre we work in, and our list of the best auto battler games goes much deeper. Two to start with:
9TFT: Teamfight Tactics
The biggest auto battler: eight players, a shared pool of champions, and a game that rewards you for reading what everyone else is building. Riot replaces the champions and rules with a new set every few months, so the game you learn now isn't quite the one you'll play six months from now. It's free to play, and the shop sells Little Legends and arenas, not power.
10Super Auto Pets
The friendliest way into the genre. You buy pets, line them up, and watch them fight another player's team, and each pet's whole ability fits in one line of text. Arena mode has no timers, so you can play a few turns on a short break and pick it up later. It's free, with packs of extra pets for sale.
Strategy games for iPhone and Android that aren't about war
Not every strategy game needs an army. These three ask you to plan just as hard, against balloons, a spire and the whole world.
11Bloons TD 6
- iPhone
- Android
- $6.99, no ads
- PC: $13.99
Tower defense is the genre where you build your plan and then let it run, and Bloons TD 6 is one of the highest-rated tower defense games on the App Store: 4.9 stars from about 350,000 ratings. You place monkeys along a track and pick two of each one's three upgrade paths, only one of which can go all the way, and harder modes like CHIMPS punish a lazy plan. It costs $6.99 and plays offline. It also sells Monkey Money, powers and other extras, up to $49.99 on Google Play; you can ignore them and still finish every map. Netflix members can play Bloons TD 6 NETFLIX for free, with no in-app purchases.
12Slay the Spire
- iPhone
- Android
- $9.99, no ads
- PC: $24.99
A deckbuilder rather than a war game. You climb a spire, pick one of three cards after each fight or skip them all, and plan every turn around each enemy's intent, the move it shows you before it acts. It's sold once, for $9.99. If this is your kind of strategy, see our list of games like Slay the Spire.
13Plague Inc.
The odd one out: your enemy is the whole of humanity, and your weapon is a disease. You choose how it spreads and how it hides, and you race the world's cure. It costs $0.99 on iPhone and is free with ads on Android.
Free to play mobile strategy games, and the pay-to-win question
Look at the strategy chart on either store and you'll find kingdom builders near the top: Whiteout Survival, Last War: Survival and Clash of Clans are the names you'll keep seeing. They're free to download, and their buildings and troops take hours to finish, which you can pay to make shorter. Whether spending decides who wins depends on the game and the server, but the kingdoms that grow fastest usually belong to players who pay. We left them out of this list, since you'll find them without our help.
If you want strategy where only your decisions count, the safest choice is a game you buy once. XCOM 2 Collection and ROME: Total War have no in-app purchases at all. Northgard, Company of Heroes and Total War: MEDIEVAL II sell expansions with new clans and campaigns, not shortcuts. Among the free games, Polytopia is the cleanest: the base game is complete, and the tribes for sale are new ways to play, not stronger units.
Path of Orren is for the third kind of player: the one who would rather win the fight before it starts. Join the waitlist, and bring a plan.
Questions
What is the best strategy game on mobile?
The Battle of Polytopia is the best place to start: it is free on iPhone and Android, a full game fits in a lunch break, and it is built for a phone screen. XCOM 2 Collection is the deepest pick for turn-based tactics, and Total War: MEDIEVAL II is the biggest, with real-time battles inside a turn-based campaign.
What is the best free strategy game on mobile?
The Battle of Polytopia is the best free strategy game on mobile. The base game is free with no ads, and extra tribes are sold separately. Clash Royale, TFT: Teamfight Tactics and Super Auto Pets are also free to play, and Into the Breach is free for Netflix members.
What is the best real-time strategy game on mobile?
Northgard and Company of Heroes are the best real-time strategy games on mobile. Both are full PC strategy games rebuilt for touch screens and bought once on iPhone and Android, Northgard for $8.99 and Company of Heroes for $14.99, with expansions sold separately. Online play in Company of Heroes needs both of its expansions.
Are there mobile strategy games that aren't pay to win?
Yes. XCOM 2 Collection is bought once and has no in-app purchases, and Northgard, Company of Heroes and Total War: MEDIEVAL II only sell expansions. The kingdom-building games that top the store charts, such as Whiteout Survival and Last War: Survival, are free to download but let players pay to build and grow faster.
What is a 4X strategy game?
A 4X game is a strategy game about four things: explore, expand, exploit and exterminate. Players grow an empire from one city by scouting the map, founding new cities, gathering resources and beating rivals. On mobile, The Battle of Polytopia and Civilization VI are the best-known 4X games.
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