Looking for free strategy games on mobile? Most are free to install, so the real choice is about style: building a kingdom, besieging castles with cards, fighting other players, joining an alliance or collecting heroes. This guide walks you through each family, what to check before installing, and where Djoox Studio's Astrakeep fits in, along with Kingdrake, still in development.
What counts as a strategy game on mobile?
A strategy game asks you to plan rather than react: what to build, which army to send, where and when to strike. On a phone, the genre has split into a handful of families that often overlap in the same game.
To see how these families compare side by side, and which games people usually start with, read our selection of the best strategy games on mobile.
The main families of mobile strategy games
Kingdom building
You grow a base or a city, upgrade buildings, and spend the resources it produces on your army. The pleasure is the long game: watching it all expand between sessions. Our page on kingdom building games for mobile covers what to look for.
Sieges and card battles
Here each fight is a short battle in which you play troop and spell cards to bring down towers and a keep. It is the family of games like Clash Royale, and of castle siege games on mobile, where attacking and defending walls is the whole point.
Raids and PvP
Many strategy games let you attack other players' bases while your own defense holds without you. Our guide to the best strategy games on mobile explains what to check in PvP, and our look at games like Clash of Clans covers Supercell's classic of building, defending and raiding.
Alliances
An alliance turns a solo game into a team effort: help, donations, chat and group attacks. Find out what you actually get from strategy games with alliances.
Heroes
Some games put named characters at the center, with roles, special attacks, levels and stars. See our guide to hero strategy games, and our comparison with games like RAID: Shadow Legends if collecting a roster is what you enjoy.
Fantasy
Mages, griffins, dragons and floating islands give every unit a recognizable look and role. Our page on fantasy strategy games on mobile looks at those worlds.
Tower defense, one branch among others
Tower defense is a sub-genre of strategy: enemies follow a path in waves, and you place towers or heroes along it. If that is what you are after, our step-by-step guide on how to play tower defense covers the basics, and our selection of the best tower defense games on Android lists genre favorites.
Which family suits you? A quick comparison
| If you want... | Look for | What to check before installing |
|---|---|---|
| Something to build between fights | Kingdom building | Whether construction keeps going while the game is closed |
| Short, tactical battles | Card sieges | Whether battles depend on luck, and how cards are obtained |
| Walls to storm and a keep to hold | Castle sieges | Whether your defense plays without you |
| Real opponents | PvP strategy | Shields, matchmaking and what a defeat costs you |
| Company | Alliances | What members can actually do for each other |
| Characters you grow attached to | Heroes | How heroes are obtained: by playing, by purchase, or by random draw |
Free, but on what terms?
Nearly every strategy game on mobile is free to install. The question is what the in-app purchases do. Check whether you can pay for random draws, whether money buys power or just time, and how much room ads take up. We go through those questions, and Astrakeep's answers, on our page about mobile strategy games without paid loot boxes.
Astrakeep, Djoox Studio's hero strategy game
Astrakeep takes place in the Kingdom of Astra, a realm of floating islands. It began as a hero tower defense and, on October 16, 2026, moved to sieges with cards and added a PvP mode. Here is what it offers today:
- Every battle is a siege: an energy gauge, a hand of 4 cards (troops, spells and heroes), three lanes, and an enemy with two towers and a keep. A tower is worth 1 star, the keep 3. Battles involve no luck: the server replays and checks each one.
- A 145-level campaign across 28 chapters, where every level is an enemy kingdom to besiege and a boss guards the keep at the end of each chapter.
- PvP: the kingdom's Battle button finds opponents of your strength, and the Sunday tournament arena offers instant battles with no troops lost.
- 13 heroes, from Lyra the Archer to Jinhou the Monkey King and Varek the Ember Prince, who level up, earn stars and awaken (see Astrakeep hero awakening).
- A kingdom of 4 islands and 10 buildings, and alliances with translated chat; territories, alliance wars and alliance bosses are planned.
Astrakeep is free to play with optional in-app purchases, and the game spells out its rule: gems never buy summons. It's out on Android, on Google Play, and playable in your browser; the iPhone version is coming soon. Before your first siege, open the Astrakeep guide.
Kingdrake, a medieval strategy game with dragons
Djoox Studio is also working on Kingdrake, in development for Android and iPhone: you choose one of five dragons to guard your keep, grow your kingdom from Age I to Age III and besiege neighboring kingdoms on a world map shared with other players.
Prefer puzzle games?
Djoox Studio also makes calmer games. If you want short sessions with no army to manage, browse our guide to free puzzle games for mobile.
Frequently asked questions
Which free strategy game should I pick on mobile?
Start with what you enjoy most (building, card sieges, PvP, alliances or heroes), then check what the in-app purchases actually buy. Astrakeep combines all five in one game.
Is Astrakeep free?
Yes. Astrakeep is free to play with optional in-app purchases. The game says everything in its shop is sold at a listed price with no paid random draws, and gems never buy summons: Epic heroes are summoned with tokens you earn by playing.
Is Astrakeep still a tower defense game?
No. Since October 16, 2026, every battle is a siege with cards across three lanes, and there is a PvP mode. There is no path and no waves anymore.
Can I play strategy games on mobile without an internet connection?
Some can, at least for a solo campaign; PvP, alliances and chat need a connection, so Astrakeep is not an offline game. Our guide to mobile games you can play offline explains how to check a store listing.
When can I play Astrakeep and Kingdrake?
Astrakeep is out on Android, on Google Play, and in your browser; the iPhone version is coming soon. Kingdrake is still in development, for Android and iPhone.
