Best 5 Top Android strategy games of 2019 so far
How do you even define a mobile strategy game in 2019? The old real time/turn-based terminology is no longer particularly helpful.
These days you'll find card games, board games, and RPGs that could all have strategy elements deep in their core. Everything's cross-pollinating right now, and we kind of like it.
It does make producing a definitive top 5 list rather tricky, though. So rather than agonise too much over it, we've simply followed our guts and selected five Android games with a vaguely strategic heart that we've enjoyed playing in 2019.
Don't agree? We'd be surprised if you did. Let us know which Android strategy games you've been playing so far this year in the comments below.
1
Santorini
A brilliantly pure abstract strategy game all about building towers. Take turns with your rival (AI or human) placing blocks and moving your little character. Throw in a few special god powers (there's a cute ancient Greece theme going on), and you have a throughly compelling, deceptively deep strategy experience. There's even a meaty single player mode to play through, which you don't always get in games of this type.
2
Evolution
By Darwin's beard, Evolution is good. It's a highly strategic card-based board game in which you must adapt a species for survival in a hostile world. It's full of agonising tactical decisions, and the player who best reads the twists and turns that nature throws at you will typically come out on top. This is a game that puts the 'mutation' in tactical permutations.
3
Langrisser Mobile
Langrisser Mobile is a highly polished JRPG with beautiful anime visuals and an epic plot. Wait a minute, it's a JRPG? Isn't this a feature about strategy games? Sure enough, right at the heart of Langrisser is a deep turn-based combat system that plays out like an in-depth game of Rock Paper Scissors. The result is one of the richest mobile strategy experiences of 2019 - provided you can overlook all the free-to-play stuff.
4
Revolve8
Revolve 8 applies a fresh spin to the Clash Royale formula, with some sharp JRPG presentation and the addition of character abilities that can must be activated independently. Otherwise you're building a deck of heroes and sending them out into real time multiplayer battles, just like in Supercell's classic. Add in a rich 3D engine, and you're looking at a remarkably appealing mobile strategy experience.
5
Dungeon Warfare 2
You don't get many tower defence games these days, so we're willing to fold it back into the strategy genre from whence it came for the purpose of this feature. Besides, Dungeon Warfare 2 is way more strategic than the rigid lane-running of Kingdom Rush, with a wide range of tactical permutations as you construct the ultimate death-filled dungeon.
