From chess to RTS: a brief review on strategy games for mobile devices

by Peter Warrior
in Appszoom
— 4 Dec, 2013

Strategy games have been popular roughly since monkeys went down the trees and thought it might be a good idea to sketch a plan on the muddy ground before hunting down a beast peacefully slurping water from a pond.

Strategy games are domestic recreations of little facets of reality, conveniently shaped after mundane objects and simple symbols. It’s a simplistic way to explain it, but if I may, let me tell you that the idea caught on and a few million years later everybody loves wits warfare in a way or an other. It helps to improve cunning, resource management and teamwork, among umpteen other advantages, and are suited for all ages and target audiences.

The computing era brought the consolidation of strategy games, and new varieties arose giving birth to several genres and multiple sub-genres. Let’s take a glance to this hastened overview and, as soon as you find and tap on one of your liking, don’t forget to look at the “related apps” suggestions, because we have only handpicked a few to be featured here, but the amount of jewels unseen at simple sight would be endless to be listed within a blog post.

CHATURANGA

Chaturaji , also known as “Indian Chess”, was a popular board game played by viziers and noble men in the medieval India, heir to an older game called Chaturanga which laid the foundations of chess. It’s a four player game and one and is played with dice ruling which piece are allowed to move next, so you can’t ever consider a game for won till the very last move.

Review and download Chaturanga for Android.

How the term “battle royal” was born

TRIAD CHESS

Chess games are a dime a dozen, but there have always been people wondering how to improve such a unimprovable game. One neat example is this three sided chess that can make chess players feel like learning how to move the chessmen for the first time again.

Review and download Triad Chess for Android

Review and download Triad Chess for iPhone and iPad

The menage-a-trois of chess, so to speak

EVERLANDS

In fact, hexagonal grids are like the discovery of the wheel for strategy games. Hexage pushed it further and added little cute animals, good and evil sides and a happy ending to make a game with endless possibilities.

Review and download Everlands for Android

Review and download Everlands for iPhone and iPad

The evil twins of the otter and the ‘gator are scary indeed

GREAT BIG WAR GAME

Oh, c’mon! How could you resist a game called that way? GBWG is one of the most acclaimed mobile games ever and for a reason: it has everything you would expect, including but not limited to beautifully animated tanks, battleships and cigar smoking generals. The nirvana of strategy, to put it short.

Review and download Great Big War Game for Android

Review and download Great Big War Game for iOS

Perhaps it isn’t as big as it claims, but it’s undoubtedly great!

STRATEGY AND TACTICS WWII

Hey, hey, hold on. If board games represent warfare of any sort, why should we limit it to a battlefield when we can take the whole map over? And why should we recreate fictional battles when, heck, you can (re)play historical events and create your own set of “what ifs”? Games like S&T WWII serve this purpose, and do it pretty well, working as sophisticated and realistic Risk games.

Review and download Strategy & Tactics WWII for Android

Review and download Strategy & Tactics WWII for iOS

That part of the “board” looks familiar, doesn’t it?

COMBAT MONSTERS

Strategy games haven’t been unaware of other flourishing genres, and some have included tactic elements from collectible card games (CCGs) and role playing games (RPGs), essentially the collector’s infatuation from the former and the unit upgrade system from the latter. Spice it up with monsters and spells at your whim.

Review and download Combat Monsters for Android

Review and download Combat Monsters for iOS

Up to 6 players and a looong solo campaign. Farewell, productivity

RAVENMARK MERCENARIES

Witching Hour Studios‘s game takes all the basic elements of strategy and packs them with a beautiful red lace called storyline for hours of gameplay about princesses, archers and brave chevaliers struggling over the burning ashes of three once great empires of yonder. The pinnacle of tactical thinking, where every stage can be replayed several times and won (and lost) in many different ways. As all outstanding strategy games, you can always challenge a friend just by sending him an owl (function temporarily unavailable, sorry for the inconvenience) or an online invitation.

Review and download Ravenmark: Mercenaries for Android

Review and download Ravenmark: Mercenaries for iOS

It’s as cool as it looks like. Period.

STRIKE FLEET OMEGA

As in Space Odyssey, we started with monkeys and we’re going to end with spaceships. Strike Fleet Omega brings digital war to outer space and allows to command squadrons in real time, leaving behind the turn based rules and adding skill and reflexes to management and tactical prowess.

Review and download StrikeFleet Omega for Android

Review and download StrikeFleet Omega for iOS