The news I’m sharing this morning is fairly fresh, even though I’m certainly not the first to report it, and, since I normally cover little to nothing about mobile devices, I still thought it would be relevant to many readers.
In short, it’s about the arrival on iOS and Android of two well-known and fairly recent strategy titles, sticking with the theme, two proper heavyweight reinforcements.
The first one is Wargroove 2, by Chucklefish and Robotality’s bright-pixel love letter to Advance Wars, and the other is Metal Slug Tactics, Dotemu & Leikir Studio’s grid-based spin-off of SNK’s run-and-gun icon, which have both been confirmed for iOS and Android in the coming months.
Chucklefish will deploy Wargroove 2: Pocket Edition on both mobile storefronts at a friendly US $7.99 price point on 30 July.
It’s the full sequel that was released on PC/Switch in 2023, featuring a complete 20-hour campaign, Conquest roguelike mode, and online multiplayer, now available as a slimmed-down download of around 700 MB.
Under the pixel-art charm lies a classic tile-based war game: capture villages for income, build land-sea-air units, and either topple the enemy stronghold or defeat their Commander. New to the sequel are tiered Groove abilities, each of the 20-plus Commanders can charge a second-level super move for devastating board control.
Five fresh unit types (tongue-lashing Frogs, Kraken harassers, etc.) widen tactical variety, while the headline Conquest roguelike mode strings mini-battles across branching nodes where casualties and resources persist, forcing long-term risk-reward decisions and unlocks that snowball over repeated runs.
The studio promises feature parity with consoles and PCs, as well as optional cross-platform matchmaking, so existing commanders can keep their army progress on the road.
Rather than a straight port, the Pocket Edition sports re-worked UI hit-boxes, pinch-zoom on the overworld, and a mini-radar that floats above the command bar. Map and campaign editors remain intact; share codes work across every platform, a big win for the game’s prolific creator community.
Chucklefish notes Fire Falcom handled the conversion, leaning on their prior mobile work to get 60 fps on mid-range devices and keeping battery draw low with a dynamic-resolution toggle.
The first Wargroove never made it to phones, leaving Advance Wars-style tactics largely to premium indies like Into the Breach.
Pocket Edition plugs that gap with a polished, fully offline experience that isn’t locked behind a subscription or free-to-play grind. If it finds the audience its Switch version enjoyed, expect the community’s endless supply of user maps, and potentially future DLC, to flourish on mobile, raising the bar for what turn-based strategy can look like in your pocket.
On the other hand, Crunchyroll revealed this week that Metal Slug Tactics is coming soon to its Game Vault library on both iOS and Android. The grid-based spin-off keeps SNK’s trademark explosions, but turns them into Fire-Emblem-meets-Into-the-Breach skirmishes starring Marco, Fio, Tarma, and company.
Each three-soldier squad operates on a square grid with two action points per turn. Movement and attacks build Adrenaline, the currency for flashy skills and the signature SYNC attack system: flank an enemy so it’s in two squad-mates’ lines of sight and you’ll unleash automatic follow-up shots for combo damage.
Roguelike structure persists between missions, lose all operatives, and you’re sent back to base to upgrade weapons, flip perks, and reroll maps before another push towards Morden’s bosses. The result is a frantic, movement-heavy brand of tactics that still channels the arcade original’s breakneck tempo, just executed one square at a time.
While no specific date was given, the publisher is rolling out new Game Vault titles weekly, and the App Store listing currently shows a placeholder release window of 30 September.
Unlike Wargroove’s pay-once approach, Metal Slug Tactics will be free to download but playable only for Crunchyroll Mega or Ultimate Fan subscribers.
That bundles the game with anime streaming, offline viewing perks, and other vault titles, an interesting experiment in “Netflix for premium mobile games.” The App Store page also confirms full controller support and eight-language localisation at launch, a plus for competitive leaderboards Crunchyroll is reportedly planning to host. App Stor
If Game Vault can use brand-name indies like Metal Slug Tactics to drive subscriptions, we may see more mid-tier tactics games eschewing up-front mobile pricing. For players, it means console-quality pixel art, roguelike progression, and boss-rush set-pieces accessible with a fingerprint login, no ads, gacha, or energy timers in sight.
For developers, it offers revenue stability without compromising premium design sensibilities, potentially reshaping how ambitious tactics projects land on mobile storefronts in 2025 and beyond.
