Top 5 best strategy games on Android (2010)

As shameless clones go, Robo Defense takes some beating. That’s true not only in the “it really is quite similar to Fieldrunners” sense, but in the “it really is quite good in its own right” sense too.

Like Subatomic Studios’s classic tower defence title, Robo Defense tasks you with defending against swarms of opposing units using an almost endless supply of defensive gun turrets.

Robo Defense isn’t without ideas of its own, though, with an involved tech development tree adding a surprising degree of flexibility to proceedings. While it isn’t as slick as its inspiration, Robo Defense puts up an admirable fight with its more varied armaments.

Like Robo Defense, Battle for Mars borrows heavily from a previous portable strategy hit. This time it’s Intelligent Systems’s highly esteemed Advance Wars that’s being cribbed from. If you’re going to steal, you might as well steal from the best.

Not that you could tell to look at it. Battle for Mars has a vibrant, kitsch 1950s sci-fi style all of its own. The graphics are highly detailed and beautifully animated, and the whole game bursts with character.

The turn-based Martian-bashing is delightfully realised, too. Forming units, taking over buildings and engaging in interplanetary warfare is as tactically satisfying as it is good to look at.

Military Madness may look like another game that’s been reading Advance Wars’s notes on turn-based strategy, but it’s actually an update of a classic TurboGrafx-16 console game.

The principle remains the same, though – engage your enemy in grid-based warfare, using each turn to advance your futuristic forces. While it’s based on a 20-year-old game, Military Madness isn’t lacking in advanced tactics.

In particular, the way your units’ attack power increases when positioned next to an ally makes for some fascinating exchanges.

Something of a cult classic to begin with, this Android version only enhances the reputation of this Hudson Soft gem.

Guns ‘n’ Glory proves that there’s plenty of life in the tower defence genre yet. The game is set in the wild west, and you take control of a gang of bandits as they attempt to stop the safe passage of a bunch of troublesome (read: 'harmless') settlers.

While the premise is of questionable taste, the game design most certainly isn’t. In a break from the norm, you can manoeuvre your defences at will, taking direct control of each bandit to shore up any exposed areas.

This Android version is arguably the finest one yet, thanks to a custom touch-and-drag control system and lovely crisp graphics (provided you play it on a decent handset).

You can even pick it up for free, if you don't mind the odd ad banner popping up.

Everlands stands out as being completely different from any other game on this list. For one thing, rather than futuristic tanks and gun-wielding marines you’re pitting members of the animal kingdom into battle.

Also unique is the game's format. Everlands sits half way between a turn-based strategy title and a game of Top Trumps, with the battlefield taking the shape of a hexagon-based game board.

If that sounds dull, it isn't. Each animal ‘card’ has its own readily identifiable attributes. So the snake can sneak in for an advanced strike, while the warthog increases in ferocity when provoked.

What’s more, each battle takes place as part of an unusual fairytale story. Somehow, the iffy translation gives it an affectingly poetic feel, driving you to see the story’s conclusion. Not that you’ll need an excuse.