War Games Online: Strategy, Defense and Battlefield Games
Updated
War games online put you in command of a fight: you pick the units, place them and decide when to attack or hold the line. The games below fall into five kinds: war strategy, deploying units against a base, defense lines, trench and machine battles, and a naval duel. They come from the strategy games collection and from a few shooters and simulators beyond it.
| Kind | What you do | Start with |
|---|---|---|
| War strategy | Run an army: economy, units, attacks | Stickboy War |
| Unit deployment | Send units against an enemy base | Clash of Skulls |
| Defense lines | Hold a wall, a city or a cannon against waves | WW2 Frontline Defense |
| Trench and machine battles | Buy troops, command mechs or fight robots | Riffle Assault |
| Naval duel | Fire at an enemy fleet cell by cell | Battleship War Multiplayer |
War strategy: run the state and the army
These games ask for planning over reflexes. You spend money on an army, then choose where to use it.
- Stickboy War has you command stick warriors against the Imperial Berserkers. Mine gold, hire miners, shielders, archers and explosive units, then upgrade them to break through enemy gates and capture castles. It has 10+ campaign levels, and you tap or click to hire and place units and drag to position your army.
- Army Command makes you commander-in-chief. Your only goal is to capture the enemy flag by building soldiers and stations, all with the mouse.
Deploying units against a base
Here you do not move a soldier yourself. You pick what to send and when, and the first base to fall loses.
- Clash of Skulls is a real-time strategy game about destroying the opponent's base by deploying skulls. You tap cards to deploy units, and its description says the right unit at the right time wins the battle.
- Armour Crush is the same idea with tanks. You drag cards to deploy at least three tanks and advance towards the enemy base, on desktop and on mobile.
- Battle Of Heros is a tower defense strategy game. You summon units, earn coins by defeating foes and spend them on base defenses and stronger warriors. A limit on active units makes every choice count, and both bases heal themselves, so the fight lasts until one falls.
- Jungle Fight gives you an army of animals with different abilities. You choose a skill, tap a lane to deploy it and try to deplete the opponent's health.
- Like a King is a tower defense and deck-building game where every card is a unit: some attack, some mine gold and some lay traps. Tap an empty tile to spawn a unit, then draw a line from it to the enemy unit you want to attack.
Defense lines: hold the wall
Here the enemy comes to you in waves, and the gold you earn goes into upgrades.
- WW2 Frontline Defense is an idle war strategy game set in World War II. You command machine gunners holding the frontline wall, and each wave is stronger and faster than the last. Your tower shoots automatically and pays gold for each enemy, and you can upgrade it and call artillery strikes.
- City Defense is a real-time strategy tower defense game: deploy troops and obstacles, then upgrade them to eliminate each wave.
- Castle Defender Saga game is a battle simulation about defeating the enemy base before it beats you. Upgrade your tower, add archers, use buffs and send out your army to counter the enemy.
- Stickman Army : The Defenders puts you in command against renegade stickmen. The in-game tutorial shows how to plant your towers, and every unit has different characteristics.
- Army of Soldiers : Worlds War asks you to protect a cannon called Alpha Destructor 1 from invaders from other worlds. Its description lists more than thirty kinds of soldiers, from archers and flame throwers to a submarine.
Waves, towers and upgrades in general are covered in tower defense tips.
Trench, machine and naval battles
- Riffle Assault is a trench battle where you are the general. Touch the weapon buttons to buy your army, then touch the soldiers to make them move forward.
- Mech Battle Simulator is set in a mech war of the year 3070. You command a tank, robot spiders, warrior robots and a desert buggy with the mouse.
- World War III is a 3D shooter set on Mars, where you win by taking down 50 robots. W A S D or the arrow keys move, the left mouse button shoots, the right button aims, Space jumps and Shift gives you speed.
- Battleship War Multiplayer is a multiplayer game about hitting every ship in the enemy fleet. Select a cell to launch your missile, and collect points to buy special power-ups.
Rules and search patterns for the ship-sinking grid game are in how to play the grid game, and war with armor and treads is in tank games online.
Habits that win war games
- Read what each unit does before you spend. Army of Soldiers : Worlds War and Stickman Army : The Defenders both say every unit has different characteristics.
- Count your units. Battle Of Heros caps the number of active units, so send the right ones, not the most.
- Time the deployment. Clash of Skulls and Armour Crush both say the right unit at the right time wins.
- Watch your base. Castle Defender Saga game asks you to defeat the enemy base before it beats you.
- Spend your gold. WW2 Frontline Defense pays for each enemy, and Stickboy War has you mine gold to hire and upgrade units.
War games FAQ
What is a war strategy game?
A game where you command armies instead of one soldier. You spend an economy on units, place them and choose when to attack. Stickboy War and Army Command work this way.
Are war games free to play online with no download?
Yes. They play free in the browser, with no install and no registration.
Can you play war games online with other people?
Battleship War Multiplayer is built for it, and Like a King describes fast multiplayer battles. More games against other people are in multiplayer games.
Can you play war games in a browser on a phone?
Many do. Stickboy War is tap or click, Clash of Skulls is tap on cards, Armour Crush is a drag on cards and Riffle Assault uses touch buttons. The site works in the browser of a phone, a tablet and a computer.
More kinds of strategy are in strategy games online.
