New Mobile Strategy Games for October 2026: Android and iOS

October is a busy month for strategy games on Android and iOS. Two new releases have already landed, three more are dated before the month is out, and the genre's biggest base builders have their Halloween seasons running — covering tower defense, 4X, card battlers and kingdom building between them.

9 Kings is the pick of the new releases, a kingdom builder played entirely through cards. Clash of Clans has cursed totems and portals cracking open all month, Clash Royale brings back Shocktober with a new hero, and Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus has added a whole new faction.

Here's the full list.

New Mobile Strategy Games for October 2026: Android and iOS

New Mobile Strategy Games for October 2026: Android and iOS

9 Kings

Release: 12th October 2026

Playdigious brought 9 Kings to iOS and Android on 12th October. It's free to try, with the full version at $8.99, and it was discounted during launch week.

You pick one of nine kings, and each comes with his own set of cards covering buildings, units and spells. Those cards are how you build: you place them to grow your kingdom, send troops out against rival kings, and loot their cards when you beat them, which is how your deck turns into something stronger than it started.

There are eight rivals to work through in asynchronous multiplayer, so you're playing against other people's kingdoms without waiting on them, and Quest Mode sets specific challenges if you want a target. The mobile version has its own touch interface, achievements, cloud saves and cross-progression with the PC release.

Lunchbreak Tactics

Release: 3rd October 2026 (Android)

Borealys Games put Lunchbreak Tactics on Android at the start of the month. It's free to start with two Heroes and two Clans, and the full version is $5.99 — if you already own it on Steam, linking your account unlocks the Android version at no cost.

It's a card battler set in a fictional supermarket called Anymart, where the stock does the fighting: noodles, pillowcases and bins all turn up as units. You choose a Hero and two Clans, then spend gold buying, upgrading and freezing units before each round, and the fights play out on their own across 12 rounds.

The full version has 16 Heroes, six Clans and more than 200 cards, plus the King of the Aisle mode. Ranked play runs on a monthly leaderboard, and the daily King of the Hill mode rewards the highest Reputation from a single run. It has cross-play and cross-save with the Steam version.

Coming in October

Clash of Clans

Update: 1st October 2026

Supercell's October season for Clash of Clans is Cosmic Curse: Portal Panic, running from the 1st to the 31st as this year's Clash-O-Ween.

The new temporary troop is the Totem Thrower, which lobs cursed totems that stun nearby defences and summon Tiny Totems of their own. A mass-troop event on the 7th and 8th hands out 50 of them. The Portal Pendant is the season's Epic Equipment for the Minion Prince, available through the Portal Panic Medal Event from the 8th to the 25th and boosted from the 20th. Shroud Queen is the Gold Pass skin, with Ghost Champion as the alternative, and the Cosmic Portals XL scenery runs from the 3rd.

The calendar around it is full: Clan War League from the 1st to the 11th, Challenge Level from the 6th to the 13th, Treasure Hunt from the 10th to the 17th, the Cosmic Streak community event from the 16th to the 31st, and Clan Games from the 22nd to the 28th. A separate app update on the 8th reworked the Builder Suggestions system with filters and category browsing, and added a Builder Menu.

Clash Royale

Update: October 2026 (Season 88)

Season 88 of Clash Royale is Shocktober, and the headline is the Hero Electro Wizard. He stuns when he lands and again when he attacks, hits two targets at once, and his Hero ability fires two beams that lock onto the nearest enemies, holding them stunned and damaging them while the connection lasts.

The Evolution Electro Giant comes with it, carrying a Zap Pack that charges up and releases a shockwave. Each pulse strips levels from units in range, shrinking them as it goes. C.H.A.O.S returns for a third season with 20 new cards, every modifier you're offered sharing the same rarity and an Epic guaranteed by your fourth pick.

Events fill out the month. The October Album Event has a horror-movie theme, with Snippets to collect and album sections to complete, the CRL 20 Win Challenge gives you three losses before you're out, and the Keep the Lights On community event arrives later in October, with the whole player base feeding a shared energy meter that decides the reward everyone gets.

Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus

Update: 7th October 2026

Snowprint's October update for Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus adds a new faction to the collection in The Lost and the Damned, which is the biggest change here for anyone building rosters.

The month's schedule runs from there. The current Crusade finishes with the Terminus survival event on the 10th, the new Battle Pass featuring Forcas starts the same day, and the 'Ere We Go event on the 18th puts the Weirdboy front and centre. The War for Armageddon shop event follows on the 26th, covering Astra Militarum, Space Wolves and Black Templars.

Looking slightly past the month, the Chosen of the Dark Gods legendary event with Fabius Bile is set for 8th November.

Space Imperia 4X

Expected: 22nd October 2026

Space Imperia 4X is Breich Games' adaptation of GMT Games' board game Space Empires 4X, and it's up for pre-order on the App Store ahead of a 22nd October release, priced at $10.99. The Steam version arrived in July.

This is the tabletop game carried across rather than a mobile reworking of it. A typical match runs one to two hours, and you explore, colonise, research 14 technologies and build from 17 ship types with the aim of destroying every rival home world.

It supports two to four players across more than ten scenarios, locally and online, with asynchronous play for slower games and co-op against the AI if you'd rather not play against people.

Starguard: Evo Merge TD

Expected: 31st October 2026 (iOS), out now on Android

Starguard: Evo Merge TD is a sci-fi tower defense game from ONDI Technology, already live on Google Play and listed for iOS on 31st October. It's free to play.

You summon chibi Troopers and merge them to hold off mechanical invaders, with the merges randomised so the units you end up evolving aren't entirely your choice. Each zone finishes with a boss fight, and your Captain can be kitted out with gear, drones and cloaks between runs.

There's co-op and a PvP Arena on top of the campaign, and a Mining Facility that keeps gathering resources while you're away.

On the Horizon

Plants vs. Zombies 3: Evolved

Expected: Global launch later in 2026

Plants vs. Zombies 3: Evolved is PopCap's return to lane-based tower defense, and it's still working through early access rather than a full launch. That early access started in April on iOS and Android in Ireland and the Philippines, with EA saying more regions would follow ahead of a worldwide release later in 2026.

The new idea is merging. You combine plants to make new ones, which is tied into the story — Dr Zomboss is after Crazy Dave's meteorite, and the meteorite is what makes the merging possible. Levels run longer than in earlier builds of the game, and the focus has pulled back to your own lawn rather than the wider neighbourhood.

Early access is limited to Ireland and the Philippines — we'll update when the global listings go live.

Football Manager 27

Expected: 10th November 2026

Football Manager 27 has a date, and mobile is part of it: Sega has the game launching on 10th November on iOS and Android alongside PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles.

Sega's pitch this time is a rebuilt interface and a deeper match day experience, so the mobile versions are worth watching if you want squad management on a phone rather than a laptop.

Listings not yet live — we'll update when available.

Godzilla Defense Force: X

Expected: Early 2027

Godzilla Defense Force: X is Mintrocket's next mobile game, from the studio behind DAVE THE DIVER, and it's pitched as pulling in 70 years of Godzilla history. It's down for early 2027.

Mintrocket announced it as a defence game built on the Godzilla licence, with monsters drawn from across the series rather than a single film. Details beyond that are thin so far, and the early 2027 window is all there is to go on.

Listings not yet live — we'll update when available.

That's October. Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis from last month is still the premium tower defense pick if you missed it, and Rise of Kingdoms has its own Halloween event series running. We'll be back with November's strategy picks next month.