Hiya everybody, Nips here, and this is the second–count it–second installment of Nerd Bacon’s Search for the Best Free Mobile Games! What is that, you ask? Read the title, ya big dummy! Why do I have to keep telling you obvious stuff?

In each episode I will be focusing on 5 different mobile games that I think are worth giving a whirl. What’s more, each game is (technically) totally free! Are you a cheapskate like me, but still enjoy playing some fun games on your mobile device? Then boy, do I have your fix! In this episode I will be focusing on a very interesting genre of mobile device entertainment: Strategy games.

When you hear someone say “strategy game,” what do you typically think of? My guess is you’re thinking big, complex, and dense games such as Sid Meier’s Civilization, Europa Universalis, or maybe even fast-paced and confusing real-time strategy games such as Starcraft or Age of Empires. These types of games are often very complicated and clutter up the screen. So, how do you reduce this genre into an easy-to-digest format that you can play on a smart phone? Let’s take a look at some of the ones that get it right.

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1. The Battle of Polytopia

Developer: Midjiwan AB

If you’ve ever wanted to play a Sid Meier’s Civilization-style game on your phone that isn’t actually Sid Meier’s Civilization, then The Battle of Polytopia just might be for you! This game shares a lot in common with the aforementioned title, only with some major tweaks for simplification and optimization on the smart phone.

The Battle of Polytopia invites you to forge the destiny of your people as you settle new lands, taking advantage of surrounding resources in order to create and grow new cities. As you progress, you’ll come into contact with barbarian encampments or even other civilizations. Individual tiles can be optimized via trade routes and other modifications, such as temples or farms. Only the most savvy of players will be able to optimize their land to the fullest potential, since some improvements will work better alongside others, requiring quite a bit of forethought and planning for such a seemingly simple mobile game.

Of course, as is the case with all of these games, The Battle of Polytopia is free! In order to pay the bills and keep the lights on, however, the developers have opted for a paid version that unlocks new civilizations to tinker with as well as the online mode, where you can battle people from all over the world to conquer Polytopia. I, myself got roped in and ended up spending a dollar to unlock the pre-Hispanic-themed Ai-Mo tribe, and wasn’t disappointed with my decision.

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2. Legend of Solgard

Developer: King

Legend of Solgard is one of those weird games that rides a sort of middle ground between a cute puzzler and a ridiculously hard turn-based strategy game. If you’ve ever wondered what a mix between Candy Crush and Hearthstone might look like, well, now you know. The concept of Legend of Solgard is deceptively simple; using your roster of fighters, move individual character tokens around to create lines and other shapes, scoring damage and setting yourself up for combos. Racking up combos and arranging your fighters in interesting ways will help you deal damage to your opponent as well as defend yourself. Knock your opponent’s health down to zero and you win!

My first few hours with this game (yeah, I spent a bit of time with this one), I was completely and unequivocally hooked. The format was simple, yet interesting enough to keep me on the hook. Aside from that, there’s a story to the single-player mode, giving you a feeling of steady progression as you get better and unlock new characters. Another thing that struck me about Legend of Solgard was how amazingly complicated it turns out to be. Granted, it takes a while, but the deeper you dive into this game, the more complex enemies and fighter cards you encounter. These new enemies and fighters (complete with their own skills and abilities) result in a surprising depth of gameplay. If someone were to have pitched me the concept of this game, I would have thought it sounded rather limited in its scope. But, Legend of Solgard has not failed to surprise.

One of the best things about Legend of Solgard is you only have to put up with the occasional ad in order to enjoy it. Sure, this game can be a bit of a grind, and I did finally stop playing due to the tedious nature of online group events and other fluff content that took away from the core components of the game, but this is definitely a title I would recommend to most people. Of course, if you don’t feel like waiting around, you can always drop a few bucks for some in-game upgrades.

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3. Stormbound

Developer: Paladin Studios

If you’ve ever wondered what a combination between Clash Royale and Hearthstone might look like, then Stormbound is your answer. Taking control of one of several faun-like clans, your goal is to deplete the health of your enemy’s fortress through a clever use of planning and strategy. Like Clash Royale, Stormbound has you sending your minions forward through the battlefield to attack your opponent’s fortress. And, much like Hearthstone, your available minions are randomized via a card deck format, forcing you to improvise with the available cards in your hand.

As you can see, Stormbound is a rather pretty and stylized game. But, it is much more than that; each minion you unlock comes with its own unique set of stats and special abilities, and these abilities feature plenty of latent ramifications on the gameplay. When summoned, some minions will dish out damage or buff other minions around them. Or, some minions have special abilities that activate when within a certain vicinity of your opponent’s minions. Utilize your abilities properly and plan things out perfectly in order to demolish your enemy’s fortress.

There’s a neat mechanic introduced by Stormbound that I found pretty fascinating: The “front line” system. As your minions push forward, the ones in the very front establish a front line for the rest of your forces, allowing you to spawn future units closer and closer to the enemy’s fortress. Of course, as your own units are depleted, your front line bounces back to the next closest warrior. This seemingly simple system can be used to great effect, blasting your opponent’s health down with quicker minions or establishing several stationary units to prevent your opponent from pushing their own front line too far forward.

As per usual, Stormbound can be played for free. A few bucks will gain you some in-game items faster than you would normally get them, but there is a lot to be enjoyed here without having to pay any money whatsoever.

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4 . Kleptocrat

Developer: Mintz Group LLC

What would happen if you took a group dedicated to investigating political corruption and asked them to design a mobile game? Kleptocrat is your answer! Playing as a dirty politician, your goal is to steal as much cash as possible and squirrel it away–or launder it–before the investigator finds you. Once you hit five “enjoy” points, you win!

At its core, Kleptocrat is a combination card and board game. Your available cards, which you can unlock along the way, are all arranged face-down on the board. Move money around the board to flip over cards and reveal their abilities. Each of these different cards offers a unique ability, such as moving money, removing heat, or racking up “enjoy” tokens, which symbolize successfully laundered money. All the while, the investigator is on the prowl looking to see if you have any illicit cash or heat stocked up on any given card. Using a card’s ability will more often than not gain you a few heat points, meaning that there is always a certain amount of risk to moving your cash around, no matter the method.

So, what’s the catch? This game is free, but there must be in-game purchases or something, right? Wrong! Since the Mintz Group is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating people about the dangers of political corruption, they are offering this nifty little game totally free of charge! They’re just happy if Kleptocrat can make people think a little bit more about how dirty money gets moved around within corrupt political systems. And that has to be one of the most honorable reasons for designing a game that I’ve ever heard.

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5 . ENYO

Developer: Arnold Rauers

ENYO is a dope. Ass. Game. When it comes to mobile games, ENYO should be the gold standard. The next couple paragraphs should help you see why. Simply put, ENYO is a turned-based strategy game inspired by the myths of the ancient Greeks. Think Odysseus battling his way across the Mediterranean sea, or Theseus exploring the heart of the minotaur’s lair, or even Orpheus, delving deeper and deeper into the unforgiving depths of the underworld to reclaim the life of his wife. ENYO captures this aesthetic perfectly, all while offering some of the freshest gameplay offered by a free mobile game that I’ve even seen.

So, I’ve gone on and on about Greek myths and such, but who really cares? What we want to hear about is the gameplay, right? Taking control of the titular character, Enyo, the player is thrust into a hostile volcano realm filled with mythical beings that want to kill them. They have four key moves at their disposal: Using their trusty golden hook to latch onto enemies and stationary objects, using their shield to push opponents across the room, throwing their shield at opponents, and using a mighty leap to jump over obstacles and stun opponents. What I like the most about these moves is that none of them deal direct damage to your foes. Instead, ENYO encourages a bit more creative thought, requiring you to push and pull your opponents into lava, spikes, or even each other in order to dish out certain death. Enyo, meanwhile, is a lot more vulnerable, meaning that you have to anticipate your enemies’ moves and use your own abilities with efficiency in order to dish out certain death.

And you’ll need every one of these moves to make it out alive, because the enemies in ENYO are as deadly as they are varied and multitudinous. Centaur archers, minotaurs, harpies, and everything in between lie in wait among the volcanic levels of ENYO. Thus, the concept of this game is simple: With each subsequent level, a new, different enemy is added to the roster of foes you have to defeat. By the time you get close to the last level, the field is so packed you can barely move! While seemingly simple on the surface, the mechanics reveal quite a bit of complexity for a game you can download to your phone in a minute or two. Once you get to the final few levels, the real challenge is anticipating the moves of more than a dozen enemies at the same time.

As if ENYO wasn’t already cool enough, it is completely free! Not only that, but it even features zero–that’s right–zero ads! I am simply floored that such a neat little game would be offered completely free of charge. Of course, if you really like ENYO, there are bonuses such as a hardcore difficulty and a daily challenge mode that you can buy for a couple bucks, but honestly I’m still having trouble beating the normal difficulty, ha. Seriously, this game is great. Everyone should try it.

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And that does it for the second episode of Nerd Bacon’s Search for the Best Free Mobile Games! Have you tried any of these games? What do you think about them? What games should I play next? Catch y’all next time!