Strategy Games That Train Focus on Your iPhone Looking to sharpen your focus while having fun? Well, it’s quite easy if you own an iPhone or iPad.

Woman iPhone Office

You’ll find many brain-boosting games on the Apple store that you can download for a mental workout. But which one should you choose from the sea of options?

Without further ado, here’s a list of the best strategy-based games for iPhone users. Get set go!

Lumosity

Consider this game a personal trainer to sharpen your strategic thinking skills. Lumosity aims to Improve cognitive functions, including problem-solving, memory retention, and focus. 

The app greets you with various mini-games until you realize you’re leveling up your attention span. How? One day, you’re matching patterns under pressure. The next, you’re solving puzzles while a timer ticks down. 

The best part of this science-based training app is that it learns your weaknesses and ruthlessly targets them. Hence, you’ll never lose your focus. So, turn brain fog into laser-focused attention by installing this game app on your iOS device.

Key Features:

  • Interactive and fun gameplay
  • Each level adapts to your performance
  • Puzzles, car races, and color-matching exercises
  • Track improvement with detailed performance statistics

An illustration of a hand holding an iPhone displaying a brain and head logo, suggesting strategy games to help train focus, with a snowy mountain landscape visible through a window in the background.

Plants vs. Zombies

This simulation-style strategy game will take you into your favorite Korean zombie movie set. 

Zombies are closing in on your lawn, and your only weapons are pea-shooting sunflowers, walnuts, and chili peppers. Sounds silly? Not when that’s the only source to stay alive.

The quirky tower-defense game forces you to split attention as you guard five lanes simultaneously while juggling with limited sunlight. The goal is to protect yourself before a zombie chomps your brains.

It’s full of chaos, but mastering the gameplay teaches your brain to thrive under pressure.

Key Features:

  • Multiple game modes are available 
  • Each level demands more focus and adaptability
  • Teaches resource management under time pressure

Logo for the game “Plants vs. Zombies” with large green text, surrounded by cartoon plants on the left and part of a zombie figure on the right, set in a backyard scene—perfect for fans of strategy games looking to train focus on their iPhone.

Chess

That thrill and satisfaction of checkmate is worth all the effort you put into the chessboard! It isn’t just a sign of victory but also proof your focus overpowered the opponent. Now the classic board game is right in your pockets.

The chess app on iPhone brings the ancient battle of wits to your fingertips, where every pawn push or knight leap could decide your fate. Your brain kicks into high gear while tracking threats, predicting moves, and planning strategies to protect your king.

Key Features:

  • Pattern recognition training
  • Various difficulty levels for progressive focus challenges
  • Analysis tools for reviewing moves and improving strategy

Insta Poker Coach Texas Holdem

It is a turn-based card game that depends on strategic moves to get the winning edge. This app enhances decision-making skills through real-world WSOP and WPT scenarios crafted by iconic players like Antonio Esfandiari and Huck Seed.

Whether folding a weak hand or pushing all in, AI and WSOP champions instantly score every move you make. It’s the best iPad poker app that trains your brain to prioritize long-term strategy over impulsive, short-term wins. If you win, you’ll earn ProCoins for laser focus. 

You’re not grinding for fake currency or chasing leaderboards rather, you’re competing against your consistency through this game. By removing luck and money from the equation, you are forced to confront how you think.

Key Features:

  • Real-time evaluation
  • Actionable insight on bet sizing and hand selection
  • Scenario-based drills that simulate high-pressure tournament

A bearded man in a denim shirt cheers enthusiastically with clenched fists at a poker table. Colorful poker chips are stacked in front of him. The background is blurred with warm, ambient lighting.

Ludo

Let’s relive the childhood days. But this time on your iPad or iPhone screen! Like traditionally, this board game is a nail-biter due to its fast-paced strategy showdown.

You’ll need to keep your eyes glued to every piece, players’ steps, and dice outcomes to plan the right strategies and dodge the sneaky traps. One wrong move, and your plan crumbles. You’ll hone your focusing skills as you race to the finish line. Plus, it’ll test how fast you can adapt.

Nostalgic already?

Key Features:

  • Multiplayer options
  • Complete a game as quickly as under 10 minutes
  • Various game modes for different types of focus challenges

Civilization VI

The flagship PC game is available on your handheld device! Now you can sharpen your focus while building an empire on the go. This fully mobile-optimized game will let you pinch-zoom maps, and tap-and-drag units to plan better.

Forget casual swipes, the console-level strategy gaming app demands laser focus at every turn and level. Will you sweet-talk Gandhi into an alliance while secretly stockpiling nukes? Rush-build universities to outsmart Cleopatra’s science lead? Or panic when an AI bot invades your undefended coastline at 2 a.m.? 

Your brain becomes a strategy machine as the whole gameplay challenges you to think several steps ahead while guiding your civilization from ancient times to the future. The game rewards careful planning and patience rather than quick reflexes.

A giant stone statue of a muscular man kneeling and struggling to hold a massive globe on his back towers over a landscape at sunrise, inspiring those who play strategy games to train focus amid mountains, fields, and water in the background.

So, play at your own pace, taking time to think through complex decisions.

Key Features:

  • Cross-platform functionality
  • Detailed maps for careful observation
  • Requires different strategic focuses and deep concentration

FAQs

  1. Are strategy games free on the Apple Store?

Yes, many iPhone gaming apps are free but not all.

  1. Do brain training games really work? 

According to research by Rui Nouchi, some games can improve cognitive function to some extent. However, focusing on real-life factors is also necessary to improve focus and memory retention for long-term benefits.

iPhone
iOS games to play with friends

Wrapping It Up

It’s time to turn your screen time into focus-enhancing drill. These strategy-based iPhone games offer you structured opportunities to develop and improve your cognitive skills. Ready to train your focus with fun-to-play gaming apps?

Tagged:
Newsroom
About the Author

News content on AppleMagazine.com is produced by our editorial team and complements more in-depth editorials which you’ll find as part of our weekly publication. AppleMagazine.com provides a comprehensive daily reading experience, offering a wide view of the consumer technology landscape to ensure you're always in the know. Check back every weekday for more. Editorial Team | Masthead – AppleMagazine Digital Publication