Best turn based strategy game on Android?

Hey all! Looking to buy some Android games for my phone over the holidays and am coming up short on Google, lots of lists where you have to click through to a new page for every item, one of the things that’s ruined the internet experience. Anyway, old man rant off.

I loved UniWar on iOS, and loved games like Warlords back in the day. Talk of that game has got me thinking there must be a good Android turn based strategy game.

Any recommends?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.sarahnorthway.rebuild2

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.battlefront.cmtouch

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.psidevelopment.pacificfleet

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rubicon.dev.gbwg

Through the Ages is very good.

Sure. You won’t find many exclusives, but there are plenty of enjoyable options.

Cory Trese has a whole line of games with rough presentation but gameplay hearkening back to PC strategy classics. I’ve enjoyed Templar Battleforce and Heroes of Steel in particular.

Polytopia is a fun Civ-lite.

Atlantic Fleet is a neat light wargame mixed with gunnery sim.

Ravenmark is my favorite of the original-to-mobile tactics games I’ve played, but there’s also the Great Little War Game, Demon’s Rise, Braveland, and Kingturn series that have each had several reasonably well-reviewed titles.

XCOM: Enemy Within, King of Dragon Pass, Banner Saga, Skulls of the Shogun, Rebuild, Battle for Wesnoth, Chroma Squad, Spaceward Ho, and Ironclad Tactics you’re probably already familiar with from their PC versions, but they work great on Android.

And if you’re open to TBS-adjacent genres like board/card games (Through the Ages, Star Realms, Age of Rivals), CCGs (Hearthstone, Eternal, Elder Scrolls Legends), or roguelites (Crowntakers, Hoplite, Enyo, Desktop Dungeons), those are well represented as well.

And if you’re open to emulation, there are wrappers for various classic PC games including HoMM3, and Drastic is a fantastic way to play DS touchscreen-based games like Fire Emblem or Advance Wars.

Battlefleet Gothic: Leviathan is a 100% accurate conversion of the table top game.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=illwinter.CoE3.game

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.WastelandsInteractive.PlanarConquest

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chilli.revenge

Shut up, Planar Conquest finally turned into an actual game?

It’s been out a while, and even ported to PC. The PC version betrays its mobile roots and thus has poor reviews. But I think that as a mobile game it’s fine, and certainly it’s the closest you can get to playing Masters of Magic on your phone.

Just got Combat Mission. I must have put 1000+ hours into CMBO and CMBB. Cool!

The one touch interface of the Trese brothers’ Templar Battleforce is super impressive, on par with all of @Thraeg’s great recommendations. There is a demo of it, I think.

Xenowar is pretty good. I like the combat. But I haven’t mastered the strategic aspect of the game.

http://xenowar.net/

How is Rebuild vs Rebuild 2 or 3, etc? Is the latest one the best?

Yes. Gangs of Deadland or whatever is what you’re looking for.

Holy crap these games are cheap. Already playing a few recommendations. But how the hell can they make a profit at $.99? No wonder in app purchases and timed stuff is so popular, and that design is bleeding over to PC and consoles.

Also, if you like the squad based “tactical” combat of the Gold Box series of RPGs, you might like Iceblink.

http://www.iceblinkengine.com/

The basic gameplay is fine. But the scenario I tried has the problem where your entire party is sometimes stuck in a 1 tile wide hallway and only the first character in the line can act. And the room you’re trying to enter has spiders casting Web. So, bad level design.

Did Great Big Wargame have another title before? I swear I played an almost exact same game before, same art style, units, etc.

Great Little Wargame was the previous iteration.

This thread made me check the Rubicon site and it turns out Epic Little Wargame is out now for Steam so I picked that up. Also on iOS and Android. Also, they have a new title Great Little Wargame 2 out now for Android.

These games are all pretty similar but I enjoyed both Great Big and Great Little versions.

Are there any good tactical RPGs on Android? I have Fire Emblem Heroes installed, but there are so many menus and alerts and gimmicks and IAPs I have no idea what is going on! (Angrily shakes old man fist at youngsters!)

The previously mentionned Templar Battleforce is really a tactical RPG. On top of it, it is 10000% more mature than anything Japan ever produced (that may not be saying much, I concurr), and the cutscenes and exposition don’t waste hours of your time. On the downside, the 10 seconds music loops may be a bit annoying (which is a shame, since the music is dynamic depending on the situation).
There is a try before you buy version you can find here.