Top 5 action strategy games on mobile

A long time ago on a platform far far bigger than your mobile phone, strategy games were split into two broad factions.

They were either turn-based (politely trading blows with an opposing army) or real-time (blowing each other to bits in the here-and-now), and that was that for aspiring armchair generals.

On mobile – as with other platforms – it’s become a little more complicated over the years. There are all kinds of sub-genres and offshoots, to the point where ‘turn-based’ and ‘real-time’ just aren’t particularly useful terms any more.

Take Worms, for example. That’s turn-based, but it’s about as in depth and cerebral as The One Show. Fun though.

So we thought we’d continue our Top 5 sub-genre series with a look at what we’re calling ‘action strategy games’. That basically includes any game where tactical thinking is the main element, but where blowing stuff up comes a close second, and namby-pamby concepts such as ‘resource management’ barely warrant a mention.

We’ve mentioned it already, so let’s start off with the quintessential action strategy game. Worms 2010 is perhaps the purest example of the form on this list, with its unpretentious, fat-free mixture of tactical manoeuvring and wanton destruction.

It’s a simple matter of taking it in turns to move one of your wriggly troops into position, using the remaining time to take a shot at an opponent. On this front it’s total, gleeful overkill, with everything from rocket launchers to exploding sheep available to you.

Worms may not be subtle, or particularly original, but it’s never less than a hoot to play.

At the other end of the scale we have the ultra-serious space-strategy game UFO Afterlight. Despite the difference in location and perspective (from side-on to top-down), the goal is the same - to outmanoeuvre and outgun your opponents using a compact and heavily armed team.

Where UFO really distinguishes itself is in the clever use of cover. If you attack your opponents from behind a rock, say, then you’ll be able to deal damage while remaining relatively protected.

UFO Afterlight expertly deconstructs close quarters squad dynamics, creating a game that’s thoroughly compelling and pretty much unique on mobile.

You can’t talk about mobile action strategy titles and not mention tower defence. Frankly, I’m startled I managed to get this far in the article without giving it a nod.

Dictator Defense is the first of two such titles on this list, and it’s a beauty. You must arrange banks of defences as swarms of enemy soldiers advance on your position.

It’s all handled with charm and a great deal of humour. At the end of each skirmish, for example, you have to face a giant parody of a well known leader (including a certain ‘Big George’).

War has rarely been so much fun.

Here’s another game that mingles the serious theme of war with a good dose of humour.

Army Men: Mobile Ops places you in control of a squad of plastic army toys. As you might expect, given the nature of your soldiers, war is waged not on ravaged landscapes but on bathroom floors and kitchen tables.

This light-hearted approach doesn’t mean that the strategic side has been compromised, though. You must make wise decisions as to which soldiers to take on each mission, switching between each member as the situation dictates.

The action belies the playful theme in being memorably intense, with each winding level throwing everything including the kitchen sink (literally) at you.

The second tower defence game on this list is also our number one mobile action strategy game. Fieldrunners has been a runaway success on other mobile platforms, and the Java version is equally accomplished.

It’s a familiar set-up – establish a winding path of defensive gun turrets that simultaneously diverts and pulverises successive waves of enemy soldiers.

Where Fieldrunners gets it brilliantly right, though, is in the balance of the units and the tactics they encourage. It’s all about utilising the width of the battlefield while keeping a strong spine to repel any aerial attacks.

As a seamless combination of action and strategy, Fieldrunners on mobile is peerless.