Yes, I know, realistically things could get worse. We could be invaded by a cadre of intergalactic squid or a block-sized asteroid could yet again splash down in the Yucatan, or we might just suffer the sort of global tidal wave that years ago kept my 6 year-old son awake at night (Thanks, YouTube). But barring the above—and I do mean specifically the above—2021 is the year where things will just have to get better. And whether you’re staring bright-eyed into that future or licking your 2020 wounds, Hardcore Droid has got your back, with the following list of mobile gaming goodness to augment this no doubt auspicious year—our take on the very best Android Strategy Games as of jje-boutique.com 2021.10. Iron Marines
Next to Company of Heroes, Ironhide Studios’ Iron Marines represents the best RTS on mobile. What’s more, it is decidedly a made-for-mobile title. While that is often a backhanded recommendation, it isn’t here. You can play Iron Marines in short spurts, yet it still possesses enough depth to keep strategy fans engaged. A sort of cartoonish pared-down StarCraft, Iron Marines offers up a bevy of cool battles and well-designed missions. What’s more, like Ironhide’s excellent Kingdom Rush games (listed below), there is enough nuance under the hood for gamers who require an extra measure of complexity. While the release of Company of Heroes does push this title into the penultimate mobile RTS position, second place atop the vast heap that is Android gaming is rather impressive, as is this excellent strategy title.
9. Tropico
Time has been kind to Tropico, especially within the sphere of Android strategy gaming. Gathering of Developer’s superlative banana republic city builder is every bit as rich and engrossing as it was when it was released for PC in 2001. While not especially user-friendly in terms of game mechanics and the inherent imperfections of its touch controls, Feral Interactive’s port remains a wonderfully comprehensive city builder simulation in the mold of the best of that aliran. To that end, you may wish to fool around a bit with sandbox mode after you’ve completed the tutorials as the campaign waxes unforgiving to noobs. However, once you’ve tucked the game’s systems under your belt, Tropico is an absolute blast to play. Considering the ocean of mobile sim detritus, Android gamers who are building sim fans will be in their absolute glory.
8. Plague Inc.
We’ve got a lot of nerve throwing this dunia pandemic simulator up on our list. In a very interesting and strangely fitting turn of events, Miniclip’s Plague Inc. saw a huge resurgence beginning last spring. For the uninitiated, in Plague Inc. you control a deadly virus. Your central task, is to shepherd said virus’s evolution from a relatively harmless microorganism to an invulnerable apocalyptic disease. Aside from being a scientifically accurate simulation, one that demonstrates how diseases evolve and spread over time, Plague Inc. is a brilliant and entrancing simulator. And one could safely argue that not only does it illuminate the nuances of a dunia pandemic, it also provides a startling argument for perhaps maybe listening to those folks responsible for stuff like space flight over, say, pundits and politicians.
7. Conquest of Elysium tiga
Illwinter Games has carved a niche for itself among hardcore strategy gamers. Most of Illwinter’s titles sacrifice high-end production values for radical depth and complexity. At first glance, Elysium tiga seems to be in another category. You don’t need a manual, for example, to get in and start playing. However, complex mechanisms are buzzing away below its simple interface.
In Elysium 3 you cobble together and command a highly-variegated force of high fantasy races in an effort to conquer the map du jour. While you contend with a multitude of elements: heroes, a variety of martial units, races, and skill sets, it remains not at all hard to grasp. And once you’re in, gameplay waxes hypnotic. What’s more, it’s an ideal strategy game for those looking to get in and out quick as most games are relatively short by strategy gaming standards. The low-end graphics might give some strategy fans pause. If you love mobile strategy, however, keep it to a pause as Conquest of Elysium tiga is one of the finest strategy games you can play on Android.
6. Kingdom Rush Series
It’s a frickin’ cartoon you say. Childish drivel you say. Yes. Yes it is. It’s also an absolutely superb and well-balanced strategy game. There’s a reason Ironhide Studios’ Kingdom Rush series has garnered legions of fans, no small feat for a premium mobile strategy game. While all of the games in the series are basically the same salad with a different dressing, they are all fun, fast-paced, smartly-designed tower defense titles, in which your towers and defensive units are finely counter-balanced against the invading hordes of baddies. And the cartoony towers, units and monstrosities are not only rather tiny and charming, they are also wonderfully detailed both in terms of its aesthetic and its thoughtfully fleshed-out underpinnings.
lima. Civilization VI
Firaxis’ Civilization VI is undoubtedly a seminal strategy title on any platform and by any standard. It is only listed as number five here because it only works on like three devices, and touch controls are less than perfect. While the latter is always true and they are not God-awful here, they do detract from the experience. In short, forgive us Civ Gods. We are only human.
All of the above said, it is, as Civilization has always been, a landmark strategy title, a crackishly addictive game that is at once easy to learn and challenging to master. For those of you raised on an ice floe, Civilization VI sees you developing a civilization, of all things, from its beginnings in the Stone Age step-by-step into the Space Age. Along the way you’ll research every imaginable facet of a developing nation from political ideologies to a bevy of resource types; from i-yankees.com/ arms and armaments to arrays of technologies. The way these multitudinous elements alter your unfolding civilization in terms of how you manipulate the world around you is mesmerizing. Relatively speaking, it is a game for which the term deep falls woefully short.