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Cromulent

macrumors 604
Original poster
Oct 2, 2006
6,816
1,101
The Land of Hope and Glory
I was looking to play a few games here and there and wondered if anyone could recommend some decent strategy games for the iPhone?

I'd rather they be free, but I don't mind paying for excellent games.
 

Juicy Box

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2014
7,580
8,920
You didn't really say what kind of strategy games, but there are a few strategy board games that I like.

RISK: Global Domination​

It is for iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS. It used to be one of the most popular games on tvOS, but the developer, SMG, dropped support last summer due to the lack of tvOS SDK support from Apple.

I haven't played any of the non-tvOS versions, but I think they are all very similar.

Risk is a good balance of strategy and chance, but with the game modifiers, you can make it a lot more strategic, such as manual set up, versus automatic.

If you like RISK, you will like this version. It has pretty good AI and you can play online PVP (I never used online). Plenty of Maps, classic ones, with brand new ones of real and fictional places. There are traditional modifiers to change the gameplay, with some new ones such as adding a zombie plague to make things more challenging.

There is a strategy learning curve to this game, but really only matters for the harder AI levels, or PVP. If you are unfamiliar with RISK, you can start with the tutorial, and play the easy UI until you develop a strategy.

I played this game more than any other game on tvOS. Literal hundreds of hours. It is really fun. I think I paid for the app, which included unlimited plays. I have also purchased every map pack, up until last summer when the developers pulled the game from the tvOS App Store. I was thinking of trying the Mac version, and use Steamlink to play it on my ATV, because I really miss playing this game.

Mancala​

Another strategy board game. This is pure strategy, no chance involved. The rules are pretty simple, but there might be a very slight learning curve.

There used to be a "lite" version of this game to try it, and you pay for the harder AI levels and other options.


Stratego​

I haven't played any digital version, but Stratego is one of the best strategy board games. Nothing left to chance, no one just getting lucky, just pitting one's strategy against another's. There are some Stratego apps in the App Store, I was thinking of trying some myself. If I do, I will report back.
This one is $2.99, but I might give it a try:
 
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