12 best strategy games on the iPhone

by Ryan Rigney
February 08, 2010 09:32 AM PST

We take a comprehensive look at a dozen of the best strategy video games available on the iPhone, including everything from RTS games like Red Conquest to turn-based strategy titles like Uniwar.

As Advance Wars: Dual Strike proved when it was first released for the Nintendo DS in 2005, turn-based strategy games are a genre made for touch screen controls. Savvy developers quickly realized the iPhone's potential for delivering games of that nature, and there have been tons of high-profile strategy releases for the platform in the year-and-a-half since the App Store's launch. The RTS is another subgenre of the overarching "strategy" label that has been traditionally reserved for PC gamers, but a bit of creative thinking and intuitive control scheme design has led to the creation of a number of quality RTS iPhone games as well, proving that if there's a will to make something work on the iPhone, there's probably a way.

It's important to note that this is not a list ranked in order of quality; this list is in alphabetical order. We have taken an extra step in helping to get these games to you painlessly, so we've linked each game to their respective pages in the iTunes store. All you have to do is click the name and your browser will (probably) ask you for permission to launch iTunes, and once you agree you'll be right at the game's page on iTunes.

Originally released in June of 2003, Wesnoth is an open-source turn-based strategy game (downloadable here) for the Mac and PC. Wesnoth's developer, David White, made the game free to download and easily accessible with a simple ruleset. The game's action takes place on a hexagonal map where players must take into account terrain advantages and disadvantages, a day-night cycle that grants bonuses to units based on their moral alignment, and an RPG-esque leveling up system to effectively conquer the game's potentially unlimited user-created campaigns.

Cross-platform multiplayer has always been a big part of Wesnoth's appeal, and with Kyle Poole's release of Battle for Wesnoth, the official iPhone adaptation of the game, one more platform has been granted access to Wesnoth's online community. Players of the iPhone port can play online against owners of any other version of the game without any disadvantages (aside from the slightly cramped interface that has seen some post-launch improvement through regularly released updates). More campaigns are constantly being added to the iPhone version to bring it up to par with its keyboard/mouse-based counterparts, and the game is surprisingly easy to pick up, so both longtime Wesnoth junkies and newcomers should give Battle for Wesnoth a try.

2
Catan

When Klaus Teuber set out to create a simple, enjoyable game to play with his wife and kids, he never imagined that his idea would one day manifest itself as one of the first German board games to achieve notoriety outside of Europe. Die Siedler von Catan was first published in Germany in 1995 and has gone on to sell over 15 million copies across the 30 different languages into which it has been translated, eventually arriving in the United States as The Settlers of Catan.

Players cannot be eliminated and there is always a possibility of a comeback for those who find themselves doing poorly, making Catan a game that's fine-tuned for multiplayer. That being said, the iPhone version's lack of online multiplayer is disappointing, but local hot seat multiplayer and intelligent A.I. opponents in single player mode make Catan's App Store debut a worthwhile purchase.

Sid Meier's Civilization series has long held a special place in the hearts of many gamers, almost all of them PC players. When 2K's console port of the legendary franchise, Civilization Revolution, drew nearly universally positive reactions from critics upon its release in 2008, it became apparent that Civ can be done well on platforms other than the PC. With a set of features comparable to the console version and controls superior to the DS version, Civilization Revolution's iPhone adaptation is arguably the best version of the game.

2K hasn't let the iPhone version of Civ Rev stagnate, regularly updating it to address player complaints. The considerable number of playable civilizations, scenarios, and strategic options for both attacking and defending make the ultra-portable release of the game a complete port that won't disappoint fans of the console edition. Zoom-pinch camera controls take advantage of the iPhone's superior touch screen and the game looks great in the high-resolution in which it's displayed. PC gamers with fond memories of the Civilization games should definitely check this one out, and tutorials should be enough to familiarize newcomers with the game's deeper concepts.

4
Mecho Wars

After a failed attempt at creating a gruesome educational game about the Holocaust for the DS (and despite declaring an early retirement from the games industry), British game developer Luc Bernard found some success and public acceptance with Mecho Wars, a turn-based strategy game for the iPhone. Mecho Wars first saw release on the App Store in the summer of 2009, but WiiWare, DSiWare, and PSP Minis versions have all been announced for future release, and will hopefully live up to or even surpass the quality of the iPhone release.

Mecho Wars is essentially a standard turn-based strategy game, but the element of time is an important gameplay factor. For every turn that goes by, one in-game hour passes. Several things can happen depending on the time of day, like water freezing over and becoming traversable at night. One interesting aspect of the game is its inclusion of two campaigns, one starring the "Landians," and one focusing on the mortal enemies of the landians, the "Winged Crusade." A sweet, airy soundtrack and a fully-featured online mode act as icing on the delicious cake that is Mecho Wars' campaign mode, creating a complete package that feels more like a full-price DS game than a $3 download.

Although its initial debut on the PC Engine/Turbo Grafx-16 was not a big seller, Military Madness earned a place in the hearts of many by being one of the first ever turn-based strategy games. After a 3D re-release for the PlayStation in the '90s and yet another update for WiiWare, XBLA, and PSN in 2009, it became apparent that while Hudson had no plans to ever create a serious sequel for the game, they hadn't forgotten about their franchise. With the release of Military Madness: Neo Nectaris for the iPhone, the franchise now has releases across four decades.

The iPhone port of the strategy classic is a bit of a no-frills edition, passing up on the updated visuals of recent versions of the game to deliver graphics true to the original game. Touch controls are a natural fit for Military Madness, which might make the iPhone version one of the best ports yet. The best news for fans of this franchise is that the 48 levels here are all-new; you won't have to play through those original 32 stages again. We're a bit disappointed at the omission of online multiplayer for this release -- it was included in the 2009 remake of the game -- but this is nonetheless a classic game that has aged quite well.

With a name as nonsensical and nondescript as Rebirth of Fortune, you'd think that this would be a Square-Enix game. While that's not entirely accurate, it's also not far from the truth, as the game admits to "borrowing" heavily from Final Fantasy Tactics right in its App store description. There is literally no story in the game; you're simply supplied with a handful of soldiers, archers, and thieves to wreak destruction on people who have committed no crime other than being differently colored than you.

There isn't much variety in the game's stages since every map is styled after a giant chess board, which is disappointing given the high quality of the art style, and after being exposes to the dialogue it seems that the game was translated by someone with about 45 seconds of experience with the English language. Obviously, there are more polished games on the App Store, but there's definitely enough fun to be had here to make the game worth its discount price point.

7
Red Conquest

John Kooistra is the developer of iPhone cult hits Blue Defense and Blue Attack. When Kooistra announced his plans to create a real time strategy game that tied together the stories of his other releases, anticipation and expectations shot sky high. Reception for Red Conquest after its initial launch was mixed, largely due to the intense difficulty level and convoluted control scheme that soured what was an otherwise excellent game, but Kooistra acted quickly and hit hard with an update for the game that addressed nearly all of the issues that players had with the 1.0 release.

Naturally, Red Conquest utilizes a unique control scheme and UI layout to make a genre as complex as the modern RTS work on the iPhone and its relatively small screen. The game cleverly uses multitouch and threaded on-screen menus to allow for literally any sort of manuevers that you'd want your units to pull off, and although it'll take a bit of practice, anyone will be able to figure out the game's inner complexities. All the usual RTS units types (resource collectors, combat units, and support units) have been stuffed into Red Conquest, and the upcoming addition of online multiplayer will make the game even more like a complete PC RTS: a feat that's incredible given the supposed limitations of the iPhone.

The original Reign of Swords was a critical darling that was later plagued by bug-filled updates that caused major control and performance issues, but its sequel set its sights high and hit its mark. Reign of Swords: Episode 2 allows owners of the first game to import their customized army for even more strategic goodness, offering dozens of new missions (with more added regularly via updates) and countless improvements to the previous game's online multiplayer featureset.

Reign of Swords isn't the most unique turn-based strategy game to ever grace the gaming industry, but we found ourselves forgiving the game's tired fantasy setting as we delved into its surprisingly deep, large-scale battles. They might have screwed up a bit with their updates for the first Reign of Swords, but you have to hand it to Punch Entertainment for trying; they've made quite a name for themselves as a team of developers who pay special attention to their fans, banging out updates and fixes for everything they can to provide the best experience possible for their customers. Here's to hoping they get around to finally fixing the first Reign of Swords sometime soon.

Robocalypse got a lot of praise upon its release in 2008 for being one of the only RTS games on the DS. The game was created by Micah Wright and Jay Lender, former writers for Nickelodeon's cartoon series The Angry Beavers and SpongeBob SquarePants. A sequel, Robocalypse: Beaver Defense, is planned for a 2010 WiiWare release. Robocalypse benefits greatly from its creator's experience making humorous cartoons; the art is bubbly and visually appealing and there's plenty of funny one-liners and jokes to be found within characters' random conversations.

The fact that the HUD takes up nearly 1/3 of the iPhone's screen real estate is an unfortunate but necessary concession to make the game playable. Despite this and some small issues with touch sensitivity, this is a fairly complete package that should be of interest to anyone who likes RTS games on the PC, even if you already own a couple other strategy games for the iPhone. As in many RTS games, Robocalypse features a number of "hero" units that are unusually powerful and can be upgraded in an RPG-like fashion over time. These hero units can be taken online for competitive play, so there's plenty of incentive to work one's way through the campaign mode before hopping online to duke it out with other Robocalypse players. A small but dedicated Robocalypse community is still active, so finding a game to play is relatively easy.

10
Rogue Planet

With its late November 2009 release, Rogue Planet was certainly not the first turn-based strategy game to see the light of day on the App Store, but its crisp artistic direction turned plenty of heads, making the game one of the first truly high-profile strategy games on the device. Imitation is what Rogue Planet's publisher, Gameloft, is all about, so finding that Rogue Planet plays like a slightly stripped down version of Advance Wars should come as a surprise to no one. A note that says "online coming soon" in the game's App Store description should bring it up to par with Nintendo's portable strategy franchise, making Rogue Planet a must-buy for strategy fans.

Rogue Planet does a few things to separate itself from the pack, most notably allowing your soldiers to become suicide bombers for your cause. What would certainly be considered controversial by many is just another option under "move" and "attack" on the action menus for the infantrymen of Rogue Planet. One complaint we have with the game is one that can be levied in Advance Wars' direction as well: too often the game falls into a repetitive loop of spamming troop creation and slowly moving them to the frontline, creating a stalemate with an opponent who's doing the same thing. Aside from that, Rogue Planet's excellent A.I. will provide a fantastic challenge for those interested in the campaign mode, so we don't recommend waiting for an update to get this game.

11
Uniwar

UniWar has all the standard trappings of a turn-based strategy game: unit-creation factories, monetary accumulation, and a grid-based field of play, among others. The game originally received a lot of attention because of the fact that it was among the first really good strategy games on the iPhone, but it's the game's implementation of online multiplayer that really made it a hit. Uniwar uses an asynchronous online system that allows players to compete in as many as 20 different games at once. If you make a move in a match, that will be reflected on your opponent's screen the next time they boot up the game. This effectively keeps players from having to work their schedule around the game, while still giving them the opportunity to complete numerous online matches for fun.

Oddly, Uniwar does not allow players to achieve a strictly military victory; all battles must be won by capturing every last one of the enemy's bases. There are three different playable races in the game, each with their own set of eight unique unit types. The Starcraft-esque balance between the three races (humans, aliens, and machines) has been extremely well-executed, and the inclusion of special units like the human engineer, who can convert enemy units by "reprogramming them," adds some nice strategic variety to the game.

12
Warfare Inc.

Warfare Incorporated was originally released for mobile phones and Palm OS in 2003 with moderate success. The game is a basic RTS set on a foreign planet where two major corporations are battling it out over a rare mineral called "galaxite," which is valuable because of its use in teleportation. The game combines certain elements of both Command & Conquer and StarCraft, and its full, pc-based mission editor allows players to create and publish their own missions for others to download.

The game comes with 20 story missions, but there are hundreds of free add-on missions for those who can't get enough. Battles are fairly complex for a mobile RTS with 22 different unit and structure types, but in our experience with the game there seemed to be a good balance between the included units. There is 2-4 player multiplayer coming soon in an update, and that combined with the ridiculous number of add-on missions makes Warfare Inc. a pretty great value. Some complaints can be had with the game's control scheme, which some users have had difficulty with, but it's impressive how well the game works on the iPhone given its high level of complexity and age.

Be sure to also read our list of 26 console game franchises on the iPhone.