Top 15 best free strategy games for Android phones and tablets

Polytopia ticks all the boxes for the 4X strategy genre - explore, expand, exploit - whilst brilliantly distilling the formula for mobile.

Here you have to pick one of many tribes and develop a civilization. To do that successfully, explore and control the map to gather various resources for upgrades and new technologies that will help you win. And if you are looking for more information about this game, we have a few The Battle of Polytopia guides for you.

Plague Inc. totally flips the usual heroic script of saving lives, and instead asks you to wipe out vast swathes of humanity. It's no psycho-sim, but rather a darkly alluring tactical war room simulator all about forming and spreading viruses.

There are plenty of different ways to wipe out humanity, you can use a virus, parasites, bacteria, etc. Create the most dangerous virus and destroy humanity before it develops medicine. By the way, here we have tips and tricks that will definitely help you eliminate everyone in the world.

An addictive city builder that captures that classic isometric SimCity magic, but with the speed and intuitiveness you'd hope for in a mobile game.

In Pocket City, you can try the role of the mayor and build the most comfortable city. You can complete quests to gain resources for future upgrades, increase your level to unlock new types of buildings, prepare exciting events for your citizens, and many more. Also, if you want to know more about the game, we have created a Pocket City review for you.

Warpath looks like a common real-time strategy for mobiles like Rise of Kingdoms, for example, but it does have a twist! The thing is, in other similar strategies, it's horrible when your base gets attacked because you'll lose most of your progress. In Warpah, that's not the case, all you'll lose is your army. Your resources and buildings don't get pillaged, which is much more newbie-friendly.

Other than that, it's a modern-day strategy, with tanks, aircraft and other very familiar weaponry. You'll get to pick one of three camps, where most units are similar, except for a few that are different for each one. Then you'll need a commander to lead your armies, and you can't just go ahead and pick the first one. Look at what are the strengths of your army and try to enhance them further through the commander's active and passive skills. If you decide to give it a go, use the codes for Warpath, as they will earn you some resources and other gifts.

The very presence of Clash of Clans on this list may make strategy game die-hards vomit with rage. But its brand of casual city building has been hugely influential, and rarely matched. We have talked a lot about hacks in Clash of Clans, and if they are real. Players are really interested in how they can get ahead of their adversaries, so it's only natural. If you've already tried the game, and you liked it, you should really take a peek at the list of games like Clash of Clans.

Guide a pint-sized Spartan warrior through hex-based gridded levels, out-manoeuvring foes with a small but diverse range of abilities. Hoplite is one of the purest strategy games on mobile.

You will learn pretty fast how to play the game, however, as you move forward, each level becomes more and more complex. Therefore, you need to think twice before you make your move, upgrade your abilities, or start fighting. Luckily, we have some tips to help you master this game even faster.

Just like Clash of Clans, Clash Royale rarely gets the purist vote, but it's been hugely influential. Part tower defence, part MOBA, part card battler - all entertaining strategy game.

Players that are interested in the game should first take a look at which cards to collect, so they won't waste any valuable resources. Our Clash Royale tier list will help you pick the right cards that suit your playstyle.

One of the newer strategies on mobiles that grabbed a vast audience at once is Call of Dragons. Did we mention that the whole setting is high fantasy? You'll be managing a vast kingdom, training all different sorts of monsters and then using them to defend or attack other players. However, you'll have your alliance buddies, so that should lighten the load a bit. Gameplay is a bit slow-paced later on, but it's not too demanding. Perfect for players that have some free time to relax once or twice a day.

You'll love the colourful artwork for sure, in case you're not one of those goths that only like dark-world settings. It'll remind you of Rise of Kingdoms instantly.

A 4X mobile strategy game without the hardcore demands on your time, Star Trek: Fleet Command makes brilliant use of its sci-fi license for a deeply immersive tactical experience.

For the fans of Star Trek, this should be a no-brainer. They will find good use of our Star Trek Fleet Command best crew combinations guide, so there will be no mistake of who owns the space!

Mixing tense Rock Paper Scissors battling with a refined JRPG universe and a real time PVP mode, Langrisser Mobile covers a number of bases. It's packed full of tactical content.

The multiplayer is one of the most exciting things about this game. You can face various dangerous bosses together with your friends, join a guild and compete with other players for some incredible rewards, and do many other awesome activities. Also, the game has a pretty interesting upgrade system where each character has a personal upgrade tree.

The stakes might be relatively low on Motorsport Manager - you're managing an F1 team, not conquering a country - but the strategic action is no less tense or cerebral for that fact.

Here you will find all 2022-2023 Formula drivers, as well as many unbelievably fast F1 cars. Pick the best car and compete with other players. Make it to the top of the leaderboard and get some cool rewards. And if you are looking for more on the game, feel free to check out our Motorsport Manager review for additional information.

OK, so Command & Conquer: Rivals isn't the epic RTS game that you might remember of the brand. But it is a finely honed-for-mobile take on the genre with a deceptive level of depth.

In this game, you will have to pick a commander who will be in charge of your military base. Also, you can use many powerful units to create a strong army and destroy your opponents. And while you're here, why not check out our Command and Conquer: Rivals review to learn more about the game.

One of my personal favourite RTS games on mobiles is Stronghold Kingdoms. But it's not on this list because I love it, it's because millions of other players back me up with their reviews. This medieval strategy will have you pick a country to begin and a county. Both will be historically accurate. After that, you'll begin growing your settlement, and try to defend it against other players. Of course, the game is PVP-based, and it's unforgiving. You'll have to be a part of a bigger alliance in order to survive.

As for the gameplay, you'll have two modes. One is a strategy map where everything except the battles happen. The other one is a battle map, and it's usually a siege of the stronghold. You'll be able to set up your defences, and that will heavily impact the outcome of any battle, so that's a nice change compared with other similar titles where you can only see numbers, and the one with bigger numbers wins.

So, you're a fan of Warhammer (I mean, who isn't, just look at Henry Cavill) but sometimes you don't have a few hours to set up the game and play properly. Well, the next best thing would be Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus. A lot of your favourite characters and champions are available, and their models look really vivid and brutal as they should.

The gameplay is turn-based, so you'll have enough time to strategise, like you usually do on the tabletop. Of course, you'll have to demonstrate your tactical superiority in order to win skirmishes, there is no way around it.

It won the GOTY award as the best mobile game of 2022 by player votes, which speaks volumes even if you're not a fan of the Warhammer universe.

Strategy for Android in the best traditions of Clash of Clans, but with a historical twist. The player gets a settlement on the global map, which has to be rebuilt and developed in every possible way. There are no isolated battles on separate maps. In this game, units march and fight in real-time, and the camera moves freely from a bird's eye view to a distance that allows you to distinguish the uniforms of the soldiers.

We can help you pick the best civilization in Rise of Kingdoms, and there are Rise of Kingdoms codes that you can redeem and get golden keys, speedups and other free gifts.