Best Grid Games for 15 Year-Olds and Over

Mini Metro is a sequencing strategy game where you create an ordered, efficient underground train system.

Mini Metro is a sequencing strategy game where you create an ordered, efficient underground train system. It sounds like hard work, but the simple Tube-map visuals, calm music, and streamlined interactions make this relaxing, like sudoku.

Mini Motorways is a sequencing strategy game that tasks you with planning a city road network.

Mini Motorways is a sequencing strategy game that tasks you with planning a city road network. You lay down roads, traffic lights and motorways to ensure enough cars can get to the office buildings that pop up in your city as time passes.

Terra Nil is a strategy game where you use clean technology to bring life back to a barren world.

Terra Nil is a strategy game where you use clean technology to bring life back to a barren world. It's a city-building game where you aren't building a city at all, but a clean thriving ecology.

Loop Hero is a dungeon-exploring adventure game where you place cards to create a world for your character to survive.

Loop Hero is a dungeon-exploring adventure game where you place cards to create a world for your character to survive. Your hero automatically moves around a looped path and attacks enemies in their path.

Sid Meier's Civilization is a long-running strategy game where you develop a society from hunter-gatherer to space travel.

Sid Meier's Civilization is a long-running strategy game where you develop a society from hunter-gatherer to space travel. There are many ways to approach this challenge; socially, militarily, politically or perhaps by building wonders to impress other nations.

Age of Empires IV is a strategy game where you command an ancient civilisation in real-time and must develop from hunter-gatherers to advanced forms of defence and war.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a turn-based strategy game where you take command of a squad of soldiers and use your wits and tactics to plan and lead them to battle.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a turn-based strategy game where you take command of a squad of soldiers and use your wits and tactics to plan and lead them to battle. You play as Commander Claude Wallace and the soldiers of Squad E and experience a gripping tale of a tight-knit group of friends set out to turn the tides of war in a last-ditch secret mission.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a refreshed version of the classic turn-based war game.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a refreshed version of the classic turn-based war game. You take charge of a miniature army in tactical, turn-based combat.

Invisible Inc is a tactical adventure where you direct espionage agents in covert missions to acquire resources and support to relocate your agency's computer system to a safe haven within a limited amount of time.

Shogun Showdown is a tactical fighting game where you play a Japanese-inspired warrior batting to be ready to face the Shogun.

Shogun Showdown is a tactical fighting game where you play a Japanese-inspired warrior batting to be ready to face the Shogun. Each run you choose a character and attack cards to work through a series of miniature turn-based battles.

The Lamplighters League is a tactical strategy game where a team of cartoony misfits use their unique abilities to outwit enemies.

The Lamplighters League is a tactical strategy game where a team of cartoony misfits use their unique abilities to outwit enemies. Play mixes real-time infiltration and turn-based tactical combat where every character matters if you are going to come out on top.

Puzzmo is a newspaper-puzzle-page-style game collection where you take on daily puzzles based on logic, letters and lateral thinking.

Puzzmo is a newspaper-puzzle-page-style game collection where you take on daily puzzles based on logic, letters and lateral thinking. Play is different depending on which of the puzzles you attempt, but all involve clicking and typing to solve clues and move pieces.

Factorio is a construction strategy game where you crash-land on an alien planet and must harvest resources to create industry to build a rocket to escape (or fall in love with running your factory and stay on longer).

Factorio is a construction strategy game where you crash-land on an alien planet and must harvest resources to create industry to build a rocket to escape (or fall in love with running your factory and stay on longer). Factorio is a construction management simulation where you control your resources by clicking and dragging.

Gorogoa is a puzzle game where you rearrange and resize tiles to make a singular picture.

Gorogoa is a puzzle game where you rearrange and resize tiles to make a singular picture. It appears to be simple, but to solve the puzzles you need to play close attention to how they interrelate.

Cities: Skylines is a city-building simulation.

Sim City is a series of city-building games, created by Will Wright.

Sim City is a series of city-building games, created by Will Wright. Since their inception as educational experiences in 1989, the games have enabled players to design ambitious cities.

Bad North is a stylised strategy fighting game.

Bad North is a stylised strategy fighting game. You control an army defending an island and must train and develop your forces efficiently.

The Sims puts you in charge of a world of characters living normal lives.

The Sims puts you in charge of a world of characters living normal lives. By providing a home, a job, leisure, friendships and even a love interest, you work to make them happy.

Dwarf Fortress is a longstanding strategy game set in a fantasy world where you control a group of dwarves wanting to construct a wealthy fortress.

Dwarf Fortress is a longstanding strategy game set in a fantasy world where you control a group of dwarves wanting to construct a wealthy fortress. It's unusual not only for its text-based appearance but for its expansive scope, and intricately modelled characters, psychology, politics, landscape, creatures, minerals and vegetation.

Clash of Clans is a cartoony strategy war game played on smartphones and tablets.

Clash of Clans is a cartoony strategy war game played on smartphones and tablets. Set in a fantasy world, you take charge of a village and must build defences against attacks from other players.

Bomberman is the spiritual ancestor of last-player-standing battles like Fortnite and Apex Legends, but here you all play on the same screen and have the same bomb weapon.

Bomberman is the spiritual ancestor of last-player-standing battles like Fortnite and Apex Legends, but here you all play on the same screen and have the same bomb weapon. There are lots of versions, but in all of them, you battle with up to eight players in a variety of modes, power-ups and abilities.

Frostpunk is a city-building survival game set in an alternate 1886 with a devastating winter setting in.

Frostpunk is a city-building survival game set in an alternate 1886 with a devastating winter setting in. You are tasked with running a city by managing resources to ensure the city’s survival.

Guitar Hero is a series of rhythm games where you tap buttons in time to all sorts of songs using plastic instrument-shaped controllers.

Guitar Hero is a series of rhythm games where you tap buttons in time to all sorts of songs using plastic instrument-shaped controllers. In the latest game, Guitar Hero Live, you play along to real-life recorded performances filmed from the lead guitarist's perspective, impersonating the feeling of being a real performing musician.

Train Valley 2 is a toy train puzzle game where you build a railroad company from the days of the Industrial Revolution into the future.

Train Valley 2 is a toy train puzzle game where you build a railroad company from the days of the Industrial Revolution into the future. It looks like a kids train-set but simulates real economics of the valley's cities and industries.

Fire Emblem Engage is a series of strategy games where you help an ensemble cast of characters fight off evil.

Fire Emblem Engage is a series of strategy games where you help an ensemble cast of characters fight off evil. You gather heroes, unlock weapons and special abilities to aid your fight in tactical turn-based combat.

Steamworld Build is a strategy simulation game where you build and manage a city and underground mine with monsters lurking in the deep.

Steamworld Build is a strategy simulation game where you build and manage a city and underground mine with monsters lurking in the deep. You place buildings, fortify defences, lay roads and then direct civilians to do jobs above ground and in the mines below.

Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is a gruesome game of chess where you play a single piece with a shotgun.

Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is a gruesome game of chess where you play a single piece with a shotgun. It combines turn-based strategic runs with classic chess moves.

Tres Undos is a hard puzzle game where you move blocks around a maze to fill holes and progress.

Tres Undos is a hard puzzle game where you move blocks around a maze to fill holes and progress. The twist is that you can rewind time.

Swift Playgrounds (iPad and Mac) is a game where you learn to code.

Swift Playgrounds (iPad and Mac) is a game where you learn to code. Three characters, Byte, Blu, and Hopper take young coders through the steps of making a game.

Tactical Breach Wizards is a small-scale, turn-based fighting and shooting game.

Tactical Breach Wizards is a small-scale, turn-based fighting and shooting game. You play a team of wizards in modern-day tactical gear, breaching and clearing rooms full of enemies with a combination of guns, abilities and spells.

Yugo Puzzle is a simple puzzle game where you move jelly blocks left and right to combine them with the same colour.

Yugo Puzzle is a simple puzzle game where you move jelly blocks left and right to combine them with the same colour. The novelty is the ingenious challenges this simple premise is used to create.

Old World is a strategy game about developing a civilisation through the ancient ages of humanity's existence.

Old World is a strategy game about developing a civilisation through the ancient ages of humanity's existence. Play involves exploring the world, marrying for politics, raising your heirs, and managing your relationship with the families of your kingdom.

Tharsis is a tough strategy-simulation game where you must survive a doomed mission to Mars.

Tharsis is a tough strategy-simulation game where you must survive a doomed mission to Mars. You roll dice whose outcome can either help repair the ship or make things worse by injuring crew mates or causing further damage.

Capes is a turn-based battle game set in a world where supervillains have won, and possessing superpowers is a crime.

Capes is a turn-based battle game set in a world where supervillains have won, and possessing superpowers is a crime. Play involves recruiting a team of heroes and then taking on villains to win back the city.

Into The Restless Ruins is a dungeon-building action game where you create and then enter a dungeon night after night.

Into The Restless Ruins is a dungeon-building action game where you create and then enter a dungeon night after night. You play cards with different-shaped rooms to gradually expand the dungeon towards The Warden's lair, then battle your way through the labyrinth.

King Of The Bridge is a puzzle game where you must beat a troll at a cursed game of chess that has secret additional rules.

King Of The Bridge is a puzzle game where you must beat a troll at a cursed game of chess that has secret additional rules. Every time you break a rule, you lose the game but record the note in your journal, to slowly discover them all.

Letter² is a puzzle game where you place letters in a small grid and then swipe across words to score points and clear off the letters.

Letter² is a puzzle game where you place letters in a small grid and then swipe across words to score points and clear off the letters. Unlike other letter puzzles, you can't see what's coming next and you can't move letters once placed, which makes it a strategy about managing space and predicting the best positioning, as much as it is about vocabulary.

Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is a strategy battle game where you build an army to take on rebel forces.

Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is a strategy battle game where you build an army to take on rebel forces. Play draws on Fire Emblem's tactical turn-based battles, here though, you choose and arrange units into battalions more like Advance Wars.

Tiny Islands is a puzzle game about creating the perfect set of islands.

Tiny Islands is a puzzle game about creating the perfect set of islands. To play you place a series of House, Forest, Sea, Churches (and so on) tiles to meet specific rules to maximise your score.