Are you tired of candy-crushing and birds flinging? If so, you are not alone. A huge number of games enter the gaming market every year. Despite varied genres and storylines, these games promise unlimited fun and entertainment. However, only a quarter of these games live up to the hype. And whats the fun in playing games that provide no exercise to your brain?
If you play games to kill time, you might engage in casual games. On the other hand, if you are an intellectual gamer, strategy games would be your first choice. And why not? Unlike casual games, strategy games have more heat and depth in them. They require constant planning and strategizing to become successful. These games test your decision-making skills and analytical reasoning. Not to mention, they provide excellent mental exercise.
Developer: Supercell is the developer and publisher of Clash of Clans. It is a Finnish video game company founded in 2010. It debuted with a browser game called Gunshine.net. Since 2011, it has ventured into mobile gaming and has developed many popular games including Clash of Clans and Brawl Stars.
Cost: There is no charge for downloading Clash of Clans, but there are a few in-app purchases ranging from Rs. 89 to Rs. 4499.
Platforms: iOS and Android
Clash of Clans is the best strategy game to play on your smartphone. This game is set in a fantasy world where each player is the chief of a village. Players are required to build their own village by attacking other villages with in-game fighting weapons.
This interesting mobile game is an online multi player game in which players form clans and troops and attack other players to make the best of their resources. Defenses and traps can be used to protect yourself from attacks and to upgrade your buildings. To assist in these activities, gold and elixir can be used. The game has many more features, and if you have always dreamt of building your own village, this game is just for you.
Game Play: Clash of Clans is undoubtedly the best strategy game ever created. This multiplayer game requires you to form communities called clans, train your army and beat other players to gain or earn resources.
The game has four currencies: gold, elixir, dark elixir and gems. Gold and elixir are useful for building and upgrading defenses and traps. These traps safeguard players against other players’ attacks. Elixir and dark elixir are useful for training and upgrading your army and spells. The gems are used to get 5 builders on board. You can use different buildings like mortars, traps, wizard towers, eagle artillery, inferno towers, tesla, bombs, cannons, scatter shots, and archer towers to defend your village.
You join other players and support each other to defend your village. This is possible after building the Clan Castle. The clan leaders and co-leaders are the war initiators. Both the clans are provided two days for preparation for war. You can attack the members of the opposite clan and get stars on the basis of your performance. If you cause 50% or more damage to your opponent’s village, you get 1 star, and so on. You only get to attack twice in every war. The team with the maximum stars towards the end of the war day wins.
Developer: Firaxis Games
Cost: Available for free download on all platforms.
Platforms: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Windows, macOS, PS 4 and Xbox One
Civilization 6 is one of the best strategy games to play on your smartphone. This turn-based game is packed with loads of fun and adventure. Besides, it is more like rolling a snowball down a hill. The game is small at the initial stages, but as it progresses, the map will grow in size and offer an amazing experience.
In Civilization 6, you have to build empires, compete with other players to grow your civilization.
Game Play: The objective of the game is to develop a civilization starting with an early settlement and gradually expanding it into a global power. This can be done by military domination, innovations, and even cultural influence. You have to explore the world, search for new cities, build the existing ones, send out your troops to attack the opponent civilization, research new technologies, trade, and negotiate with the world leaders.
The gameplay of Civilization 6 is based on its previous installment. There are new additions to the game, including the city unstacking.
Developer: Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios
Cost: There are no costs involved in downloading the game. You have to sign up to start playing. But there are a few in-game items that will cost you money.
Platforms: Windows and OS X
Released over 18 years ago, Age of Mythology is a real-time strategy game developed by a popular gaming studio called Ensemble Studios. It is a spin-off of Age of Empires, another popular game by Ensemble, and shares many similarities with that. Unlike Age of Empires, this game does not follow real historical events. Instead, the game has drawn inspiration from Greeks, Egyptians and Norse mythology. The game gives a great insight into the three civilizations and their beliefs.Age of Mythology is filled with amazing twists and turns and executes the concept very well.
Game Play: The objective of the game is to defeat the enemy units and towns, build your own units and towns, and train the villagers and fighters. You have to conquer your opponent’s towns and civilizations. The game has four ages: Archaic Age, Classical Age, Heroic Age, and Mythic Age. When you upgrade to a higher age, you will unlock a series of new useful units and technologies to reinforce your settlement.
As mentioned above, there are three cultures: Greeks, Egyptians and Norse. Every culture has three major gods like Odin, Ra and Zeus. You have to choose a major god at the beginning of the game. When you move on to the next age, you have to choose a minor god like Aphrodite and Bast. Both major and minor gods grant some unique god powers and myth units.
There are four major resources including gold, food, wood and favor. These resources are used to train units, make buildings and research innovations.
Developer: Junglee Games is the developer and publisher of Junglee Rummy. It is a Gurgaon-based company founded in 2012. Junglee Rummy is its flagship product and it is the most trusted site for online rummy. The platform offers a variety of rummy games and tournaments where you can win exciting cash prizes.
Cost: There is no cost involved in downloading Junglee Rummy. You can play cash games for as low as Rs. 10.
Platforms: Android, iOS and the official Junglee Rummy website
Rummy is a game of skills that has been a part of the Indian culture since time immemorial. It is an engaging game based on matching cards and forming sequences and sets.
The best website and mobile app to play the authentic card games online, Junglee Rummy has all the variants of Indian Rummy. It has unique 2D and 3D game tables with royal player avatars. You can play free cash games with people from all over the country. This online rummy website and mobile app provide a good platform for people to make the best of their skills and win real cash. This game is perfectly legal and certified. So if you are a player of skill-based games and are looking for a rummy game download, Junglee Rummy is a great pick!
Play: The objective is to make a valid declaration that consists of sequences and sets. The player who declares correctly first wins the game.
The game is played by 2 to 6 players using one or two card decks including Jokers. The players are seated at a table and every player is dealt 13 cards. The remaining cards form open and closed decks. The cards in the closed deck are not revealed whereas the cards in the open deck are placed face up. When the game begins, players have to draw and discard cards to create sequences and sets.
Sequence: When three or more consecutive cards of the same suit are grouped together, it is a sequence. It is called a pure sequence if no Joker is included. Examples: 7♥-8♥-9♥; A♠-2♠-3♠. A group of three or more sequential cards of the same suit is a sequence. A sequence created without a Joker is called a pure sequence and it is mandatory to make a valid declaration. On the other hand, a sequence made using a Joker is called an impure sequence.
Examples: 1. Pure Sequences: 2♣-3♣-4♣, and 10♦-J♦-Q♦.
2. Impure Sequences: 6♦-7♦-PJ, and Q♠-K♠-8♣ (wild Joker)
Sets: A group of three or more different cards that are of the same rank form a set. A Joker can also be used in a set.
Example: 1. Without Joker: 9♥-9♣-9♦-9♠; 2♦-2♠-2♥
2. With Joker: K♠-K♦-9♠ (wild Joker); 3-3-PJ
You will need at least two sequences for a valid declaration. However, this does not apply to sets. You can win even without a set in your hand.
After arranging all the cards, you will have to discard the last card and click on the “Finish” button. If the declared cards are valid, you win and your score is zero.
If you are new to rummy, don’t worry. Junglee Rummy has an inventory of how to play rummy videos, tutorials and articles that will help you understand the game. Also, there are free practice games available in the game lobby. When you feel confident, you can start playing cash games for low stakes. Gradually, you can move on to rummy tournaments.
Developer: Triangle Studios and FoxGlove Studios are the developers and publishers of Pocket Cowboys: Wild West Standoff. Triangle Studios is an award-winning game studio that has created many games and applications since 2006. It is well known for Robot Dance Party, It Came From The Space, Cross of the Dutchman and DancePad games.
Cost: Available for free on all platforms.
Platforms: Android and Web
Pocket Cowboys: Wild West Standoff is a real-time strategy game that was released in 2019. The game has been developed by FoxGlove Studios and it is available to download onto all Android devices. The game is filled with fun and entertainment and offers an adrenaline rush to players.
Game Play: The objective of the game is to kill three characters before any other player. You will get three lives and in every life, you will play a different character from your gang.
There are 8 maps and 12 characters in this game. You need to shoot, reload and move during the game. Moving is an essential action item to align your shots in a hexagonal grid. The characters have to reload each shot, so try to play easy on your trigger finger.
Developer: Supercell
Cost: Boom Beach is available for free download. There are in-game products that are available from Rs. 89.
Platforms: Android and iOS
Boom Beach is a free-to-play real-time strategy game developed by Supercell. It is quite similar to Clash of Clans, another popular game by Supercell, as they share the same mechanics and draws. The game is available in both single and multiplayer formats. Boom Beach is set in a beautiful archipelago. In this game, you have to train your empire and conquer beaches to win trophies and other resources.
Game Play: The objective of the game is to build an empire to protect your island and capture new territories. You have to achieve the goal by collecting resources and earning money, and buying weapons and buildings. When you expand your army and island, you can send troops to take over the island of your opponents. On capturing an island, all the resources of that island are yours.Use them to build better resources. As the game progresses, you have to defeat an equally powerful enemy who tries to capture your island.
The army is made up of soldiers of different classes and each class offers varied strength and techniques to defeat your enemy. When the battle begins, you can send your troops with flares, health items and fire a cannon from the boat.
There is a time limit to everything you do. This is quite common in mobile and freemium games. Just like Clash of Clans, you can enhance your game by getting in-game products.
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Cost: You can download the game for free. But there are in-app purchases where you have to spend money.
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows and macOS
Hearthstone is a free-to-play online card game available for WIndows PCs, MacOS, iOS and Android platforms. The game has gained a lot of popularity due to its engaging nature and ease of play. Players have to accumulate cards which contain spells, characters and abilities. Once players have built decks of 30 cards, they must fight each other using the various cards they have in their arsenal. One of the best things about this game is that it’s cross-platform in nature, allowing players to compete with each other regardless of the devices they are using to play.
Play: Hearthstone is played by two players and it takes place in the Warcraft Universe. In this turn-based game, both the players have to play cards to get weapons, cast spells and call minions for a battle.
The objective of the game is to reduce your opponent’s health to zero. When you enter the game, you get to choose a hero, which is an important character in the Warcraft series. Both heroes belong to a particular class and each class is characterized by its hero power and special cards. You get 30 lives, also known as “health”. On exhausting all the lives, you lose the game.
When the game begins, you have to draw a card from a deck that consists of 30 cards. You can either play with a basic card deck or a custom card deck. You can play any card and use your hero power to call your minions and attack the opponent. You can also attack your opponent directly using the weapon. You have to spend mana to perform these actions. Since mana is limited, you have to plan the moves to spend it wisely.
You will start with 1 mana crystal and earn a total of 10 mana crystals in the game. The unused mana cannot be used in the game. So try to consume all mana crystals while playing the game.
Developer: Midjiwan Ab
Cost: The game can be downloaded for free. There are in-game products like Kickoo Tribe, Hoodrick Tribe, Luxidoor and Vengir Tribethat will help you get ahead in the game and cost you from Rs. 89 to Rs. 349.
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and macOS.
With over 5 million downloads from the Play Store, Battle of Polytopia is a popular real-time strategy game that was released back in 2016. In this game, you have to lead or guide one tribe out of fifteen and form a troop to rule a square-shaped world. You can achieve your goals by defeating enemies and taking over their cities. You can also use the stars earned by your troop members to develop new technologies in the game and upgrade the cities.
The game is available in both single and multiplayer modes. If you don’t use a mobile, you can play the game on a PC too. The desktop version is called ‘Steam’ and it was released in 2020.
Game Play: In this game, you have to control and expand one of the tribes from fifteen different tribes. Each tribe has certain features and is identified by different audiovisual aesthetics. They are called technology. The game starts with only one settlement and one unit. You can move this settlement throughout the map. You can attack the tribe of your opponent to capture their unit. If you capture the settlement, you get new technology and win the game.
Throughout the game, you have to perform various tasks. Once you complete a task successfully, you will be rewarded with a monument useful for improving your tribe. The game has two modes, and the single-player mode has two sub-modes: Domination and Perfection. Both modes require you to defeat your opponent. In the Domination mode, you get unlimited turns; in the Perfection mode, you must complete the game within 30 turns. In multiplayer format, there are two game modes. One of them is the Might mode, where you have to take control of all the tribe’s capitals, and the other one is the Glory mode, where you have to score 10000 points to beat your opponent.
Developer: Firaxis Games and published by 2K
Cost: You can purchase the game for Rs. 179.There are no in-app purchases.
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, OS X, Linux, Steam OS and Playstation
XCOM: Enemy Within is a turn-based strategy game that is an expansion to XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The game was released in 2016 and received good reviews from gamers around the world. It features the core gameplay of Enemy Unknown along with many new added features like genetic modifications and MEC troopers. The aliens are more aggressive and want to end the human race. As a player, you must plan and strategize throughout the game to protect the planet from alien invasion.
Game Play: In this series, you will find a new tutorial mission that introduces Meld and can be played instead of a regular tutorial mission. Enemies like mechtoids, cyberdiscs, and sectopods do not utilize cover and may enter overwatch when spotted.
Sectopods got a new trait called reinforced armor that reduces the damage by 50%.
Shaojie Zhang can be adorned with custom facial hair and armor decos The critical chance bonus that can be used for stealth attacks is reduced from 100% to 30% You can earn medals by completing tasks on a mission, and you can award them to individual members of your troop. The Normal Difficulty level is easier to complete as compared to Classic and Impossible Difficulties. Along with new enemies, the manufacturing costs, research time, and experience for a soldier to improve their ranks have been increased
Developer: Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive
Cost: The Royal Edition will cost you €74.99 and the Base Edition is available for €49.99.
Platforms: macOS, Windows and Linux
Did you love Crusader Kings 1 & 2? If so, you will definitely fall in love with the third installment in the series. Crusader Kings 3 has already made it to the best strategy games of 2020. The game was first released in September 2020. It is developed by the same game developer company, Paradox Development Studio. Just like its prequels, the series has all the elements of courtroom drama, dynastic wars, marriages and awkward alliances. There are some new features in the game. The characters have now gone 3D, which has certainly improved the gaming experience of all CK players. Every character reflects their personalities in the most obvious fashion.There is an elaborate tutorial and in-game encyclopedia to help you understand the game before playing.
Game Play: Crusader Kings 3 is a grand strategy game. The game plot is set in the Middle Ages, starting from 867 AD. The dynasties can be divided into cadet branches and they work independently from the parent dynasty. Using a new resource called renown, the head of the dynasty can control their houses.
Every character has certain traits that can affect their behaviour and the overall game stats. However, if you make a wrong decision that works against your character, it will add to their stress. There is a genetic system in the game. This means that your character can pass on their genes to their son or daughter. The characters could also threaten the vassals and make them stay loyal by increasing dread. Your character could follow any one of the five lifestyles. Every lifestyle has three skills that allow your character to improve their skills.
The game map is larger and 4 times more detailed than the one used in the prequels. You can see holdings and armies in and around the map. There are levies on low-quality peasant infantry. Your character would need to hire more men for higher-quality soldiers. Your character can also turn other characters into knights that are very powerful in the game.
Strategy games are designed to rev up your brain cells and put them into test. These games also examine various skills like logical, analytical, mathematical and even decision making. Some of the best and free strategy games available online are Junglee Rummy, Hearthstone, Crusader Kings, Chess and Battle of Polytopia.
How do I get better at strategy games?
Strategy games require basic knowledge of the game and lots of practice. In order to excel at these games, you need to start with the game rules and tips. There are a slew of articles and blogs available online where you can learn how to play a particular game and its tips & tricks. After going through the available resources, play as many practice games as you can to implement the game rules and strategies learnt.
Is Clash of Clans a strategy game?
Yes, Clash of Clans is a strategy game where players need to build their own villages and attack other players’ villages using in-game weapons.
Is Civilization VI free?
Yes, Civilization VI is a free online game available across all platforms.
Can I play Age of Mythology on Mac?
Yes, Civilization VI is a free online game available across all the platforms.
Yes, you can play the Age of Mythology game on OS X, the operating system for Apple computers.
If you are not into hardcore shooting games, you should definetly try online strategy games. After all, these games are good for your brain and are a great way to test your analytical skills and creativity. So pick a game of your choice and start playing. Happy gaming!