Hidden Gems: Underrated Strategy Games That Deserve Your Attention on Android

Templar Battleforce RPG

If you've ever wished for a mobile version of XCOM with deeper customization and a compelling sci-fi narrative, Templar Battleforce RPG is your answer. This turn-based tactical RPG places you in command of an elite squad of Templar space marines fighting against an alien menace across procedurally generated battlefields.

What sets Templar Battleforce apart is its incredible depth. Each of your squad members can be customized across multiple skill trees, with over 40 unique abilities to unlock. The game features a robust class system where engineers, scouts, soldiers, and other specialists each play distinctly different roles. Combat requires careful positioning, resource management, and tactical thinking—rushing in guns blazing will get your squad wiped quickly.

The campaign spans over 55 missions with branching storylines and multiple difficulty levels. What's remarkable is how the game respects your time—missions are designed to be completed in 15-30 minutes, making it perfect for mobile play sessions. Yet the strategic depth rivals desktop strategy games, with terrain effects, line-of-sight mechanics, and environmental hazards all playing crucial roles.

Tactics Maiden RPG

For fans of classic tactical RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem, Tactics Maiden RPG is a love letter to the golden age of the genre. This indie gem features turn-based tactical combat on hex-based maps, with a fantasy setting that feels both familiar and fresh.

The game boasts an impressive roster of over 150 character classes, each with unique abilities and progression paths. From traditional knights and mages to more exotic classes like necromancers and beast tamers, the variety ensures that no two playthroughs feel the same. The class system encourages experimentation, with characters able to multiclass and combine abilities in creative ways.

What makes Tactics Maiden special is its commitment to old-school design philosophy. There's no hand-holding here—the game expects you to think strategically, manage your resources carefully, and accept that sometimes you'll need to restart a battle with a better approach. The difficulty curve is steep but fair, rewarding players who take time to understand the intricate combat system.

The campaign features over 100 story missions plus additional challenge maps and a robust skirmish mode. The pixel art style is charming and functional, with clear visual indicators for movement ranges, attack zones, and terrain effects. While the graphics won't win awards, they serve the gameplay perfectly and run smoothly on older devices.

Infinitode 2

Infinitode 2 takes the tower defense formula and injects it with roguelike progression and endless replayability. This isn't your typical tower defense game where you play through a set campaign and move on—it's designed to be played for hundreds of hours, with each session offering new challenges and strategic possibilities.

The core gameplay revolves around defending against infinite waves of enemies using a variety of towers, each with unique upgrade paths and synergies. What makes Infinitode 2 special is its research system—between runs, you invest resources into permanent upgrades that unlock new towers, abilities, and modifiers. This creates a satisfying progression loop where each attempt makes you stronger and opens up new strategic options.

The game features over 50 different maps, each with unique layouts and challenges. Some maps force you to build efficient mazes, others require careful resource management, and some introduce special modifiers that completely change your strategy. The variety ensures that the gameplay never feels stale, even after dozens of hours.

Perhaps most impressively, Infinitode 2 is completely free with optional ads for bonuses. There are no paywalls, no energy systems, and no forced waiting periods. The developer has created a genuinely fair free-to-play model that respects your time and never feels manipulative. You can play as much as you want, whenever you want, without spending a dime.

Mindustry

Mindustry is what happens when you combine tower defense with factory building and resource management. This unique hybrid challenges you to build elaborate production chains while defending your base from waves of enemies. It's Factorio meets tower defense, and it's absolutely brilliant.

The gameplay loop involves mining resources, processing them through increasingly complex production chains, and using those resources to build defenses and expand your base. You'll need to balance offensive capabilities with resource production, all while managing power generation, logistics, and unit production. The complexity rivals dedicated factory building games, yet it remains accessible thanks to intuitive controls and clear visual feedback.

What sets Mindustry apart is its depth. There are multiple tech trees to research, dozens of different units and structures to unlock, and various game modes including campaign, survival, and PvP. The campaign features over 250 sectors to conquer, each with unique challenges and resource availability. Some maps force you to work with limited resources, others introduce environmental hazards, and some require you to capture and hold multiple positions simultaneously.

The game also features a robust multiplayer mode where you can cooperate with friends to build massive bases or compete in PvP battles. The community has created thousands of custom maps and mods, extending the game's longevity even further. And here's the kicker—Mindustry is completely free and open-source, with no ads or in-app purchases whatsoever.

Polytopia

The Battle of Polytopia distills the 4X strategy genre into bite-sized sessions without sacrificing strategic depth. This turn-based civilization builder challenges you to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate across procedurally generated worlds, with each game lasting 30-60 minutes instead of dozens of hours.

You start with a single city and must expand your empire by founding new cities, researching technologies, and building military units. The tech tree is streamlined but meaningful, with each research choice opening up new strategic possibilities. Do you rush military technologies to conquer your neighbors early, or invest in economic development for long-term dominance? Every decision matters, and the compact game length means you can experiment with different strategies without committing hours to each attempt.

What makes Polytopia special is its elegant design. The game uses a simple square-based grid system, but the strategic possibilities are vast. Terrain types affect movement and combat, cities can be customized with different buildings, and each of the 16 tribes has unique starting bonuses and special units. The minimalist art style is both charming and functional, making it easy to parse the game state at a glance.

The game offers multiple modes including single-player against AI, pass-and-play multiplayer, and online multiplayer. The AI is surprisingly competent, providing a genuine challenge even for experienced strategy players. The scoring system encourages optimization and replayability, as you compete for high scores across different map sizes and difficulty levels.

Unciv

For players seeking a more traditional 4X experience, Unciv delivers a faithful recreation of Civilization V's gameplay on mobile devices. This open-source project proves that complex strategy games can work beautifully on touchscreens without compromising depth or features.

Unciv includes all the core Civilization mechanics: city building, technology research, diplomacy, warfare, culture, and multiple victory conditions. You can guide your civilization from the ancient era to the modern age, making crucial decisions about expansion, development, and international relations. The game features dozens of civilizations, each with unique abilities and units, plus a comprehensive tech tree with hundreds of technologies to research.

What's remarkable about Unciv is that it's completely free, open-source, and runs smoothly even on older devices. The interface is clean and intuitive, with all the information you need accessible through well-organized menus. While the graphics are simple compared to official Civilization games, they're functional and clear, making it easy to understand the game state at a glance.

The game supports both single-player and multiplayer, with hot-seat and online modes available. Games can be saved and resumed at any time, making it perfect for playing in short bursts or long sessions. The active community regularly contributes new features, civilizations, and improvements, ensuring the game continues to evolve and improve.