For a lot of people, touchscreens are now the best way to experience strategy games. We’ve had great original games like Reigns and Cinco Paus, and also superlative ports like Tropico and Civilization VI. Here are the best strategy games for iPhone and iPad.

Armello, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – League of Geeks finally brought Armello to iOS earlier this year and I was pretty floored by how much fun I had playing it. In a lot of cases, board games and card games work best on touch and League of Geeks combined the feel of tabletop games with grand RPGs here. The port is very good and it is pretty generous as a free download with in app purchases available for unlocking more content. If you enjoy board games and have wanted something that brings tabletop RPGs to life and one that plays well on iOS, you need to try this as soon as possible. -MM

Void Tyrant, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – What would you get if you blended a deck-building card game, a roguelike dungeon crawler, and combat based loosely around the rules of blackjack? Well, if you’re reading this then chances are you already know the anser… you get Void Tyrant, obviously. The crazy thing is just how well that blend of odd mechanics works into something that is easy to play in tiny bursts but is also hard to put down and can be played for long stretches of time. As someone who doesn’t really love deck builders, the deck building in Void Tyrant is just the right blend of simplicity and depth, and the exploration and light RPG elements are right up my alley. The real cherry on top though is that blackjack-esque combat, which is based around both strategy and luck and can be a rollercoaster of highs and lows, just like real blackjack! -JN

Brawl Stars, Free – [Guide] – [Forum Thread] – When Brawl Stars soft launched last year, it was the talk of the town among the TouchArcade community. In fact, it stayed soft launched for so long it seemed like everyone around here got a chance to play it so much they got tired of it and moved on to other games- Making the reasonable assumption that the game had just been cancelled by Supercell. It was eventually released globally late this year, and like most Supercell games, has staked a claim near the top of the App Store charts. Brawl Stars is best described as a mobile MOBA that has been stripped down to as close to a bare bones experience as possible to make it work both with simple touch controls and with short session times. Assuming you never played it during the soft launch, it’s very much worth checking out now that it’s officially released. -EH

Brew Town, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Brew Town is a bit of a mix between a clicker-style progress game and a … city builder, of sorts, except you’re building the ultimate brewery to unleash the best craft beers into the world. While the gameplay is sold and the premise amused us, what really took this game to a whole new level is the absurdly detailed label creation engine, as everyone knows the most important part of releasing a beer is naming it and coming up with the label. If you’re a craft beer nerd, you need this game. -EH

Sid Meier's Civilization® VI, Free - Review – Forum Thread – The biggest surprise for us this holiday season was the sudden appearance of a full-blown iPad port of Civilization VI. It’s the real deal game, with nothing missing short of online multiplayer. Better yet, it’s totally free to try for the first 60 turns, which is more than enough to go through the entire tutorial and get a feel as to whether or not you like the game. If you want to play more, the full game unlock is $59.99 (although as of this writing it’s on sale for $29.99). -EH

Cinco Paus, $9.99 – [Review] – [Game of the Week] – [Forum Thread] – You have to go back more than a year to when Cinco Paus hit the App Store quietly on Christmas Day 2017, but since it technically released after our Best of 2017 coverage was posted it qualifies for this year’s running, and it most certainly deserves a spot on the list. Developer Michael Brough is known for making highly strategic roguelike games with incredible depth and emergent gameplay, and Cinco Paus fits that bill. The game has you negotiating through single-screen dungeon rooms collecting treasure and dealing with various types of enemies. The twist is your selection of five magical wands which do a variety of things, and can each only be used once per room. It’ll take some careful planning as well as some good old fashioned luck to be successful, which is something we love about all of Brough’s games. – JN

Element - RTS, $2.99 – [Announcement] – [Forum Thread] – While we love it when a full-blown AAA port of a bonafide Real Game hits the App Store, another thing we like just as much is when a developer takes a genre that’s typically reserved for the PC and manages to release a mobile game that pushes almost all the same buttons without the immense time requirements or complication. Element does all that and more with a realtime space strategy game that is surprisingly complex while never feeling overwhelming. It’s really cool how you can get so much done in such a short amount of time without ever getting annoyed with the game’s controls as well. -EH

Kingdom Rush Vengeance TD Game, $4.99 – [Announcement] – [Forum Thread] – While it feels like a bit of a formality to include whatever the most recent Kingdom Rush game is in our “best of" list, the latest iteration is just as deserving as all the others. Ironhide really, really knows how to make a good tower defense game and there’s a reason why the Kingdom Rush series is so legendary. Also, it’s weirdly nice to just play a game like this that’s premium that you can just play through. It’s reminiscent of the good ol’ days of the App Store, from start to finish. -EH

Meteorfall: Journey, $3.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – In the ten years the App Store has been around, you’d think that every possible iteration of roguelike has been released, but that is definitely not the case. Meteorfall is a deck building roguelike dungeon crawler which might sound weird, but is executed unbelievably well. As you defeat enemies you’ll gain more cards for your deck and need to thin out your crumbier cards. It’s one of those games that seems almost too simple on its surface that has loads of depth which has only been improved through updates. Also, the art style is awesome, and the whole game could basically take place during an episode of Adventure Time and nothing would be out of place. -EH

MIYAMOTO, $2.99 – [Podcast] – [Forum Thread] – This was one of our bigger surprises of 2018, as when someone says “Miyamoto" we think Mario, not a shockingly well done solitaire-style board game with roguelike card mechanics and an art style that’s out of this world. The attention to detail everywhere is absurd, from the opening menu where you have to actually open the game’s faux board game box to play, to all sorts of other tiny pieces of visual flare which only add to the experience. -EH

Pocket City, $2.99 – [Review] – [Game of the Week] – [Forum Thread] – If you’ve always wanted a classic Sim City experience or basically a Sim City game on mobile that isn’t full of microstransactions and the usual f2p meters, you will want Pocket City. It manages to take the best of Sim City and brings it to mobile with an interface that works great on touch without any of the usual f2p shenanigans. I love the aesthetic and consider this an essential on the App Store right now. It doesn’t have the depth of something like Cities: Skylines on the Switch but it is a damn fine package overall and one that works great on both iPhone and iPad. -MM

Rebel Inc., $0.99 – [Announcement] – [Forum Thread] – From the creator of Plague, Inc, Rebel, Inc. is an … interesting game. This time around you’re managing insurgents, winning the hearts and minds of people, and all sorts of other complicated tasks with an interface that’s vaguely similar to Plague, Inc. I’d start on Plague, Inc and if you find yourself thinking it’s too easy or you want something more complicated, move on to Rebel, Inc. -EH

Reigns: Game of Thrones, $3.99 – [Preview] – [Forum Thread] – Another year, another Reigns game! This time around it comes absolutely dripping in Game of Thrones fan service, set with the interesting premise of looking into Melisandre’s flames which don’t always tell the truth. You’ll be doing Reigns-y swipes to make decisions playing as all sorts of different Game of Thrones characters and scenarios which would never happen in the show (or books) but are super fun. You don’t really have to be a Game of Thrones fan to enjoy it, but it certainly helps. -EH

Tropico, $11.99 – [Release] – [Forum Thread] – If you’re the kind of person who is into Real Games, you should basically just buy everything in Feral Interactive’s App Store seller account. Tropico is a full-blown port of the island management game with controls completely built for touch that flawlessly allow you to rejigger every single tiny management element of the game from the way roads are laid out to your various manipulations of public opinion. This game is the exact kind of AAA title we wish we saw more of on the App Store, and while it’s currently iPad only they’re hard at work on a universal update slated for 2019. -EH

Vandals, $3.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Vandals was released in early 2018, and got quite a bit of criticism from being a bit too much like the Square Enix Go series, which they had been rapid-fire releasing. Well, since it seems like we’re not getting Go games anymore, Vandals actually seems to take that torch and run with it in new ways that involve avoiding police and committing crimes. If you’re tired of the Go games, Vandals won’t win you over, but the addition of the sound mechanic makes it a great honorary sequel. -EH