Advance Wars is a video game for the Game Boy Advance. It is based on earlier games for Nintendo systems such as the Famicom and Game Boy. It is a strategy game: players must think of ways to win.

The game can be played with two, three, or four players at a time. Each player takes turns controlling their military-style playing pieces, called "units." Every unit can move along the playing field, which is split up into squares. The amount of squares a unit can move in one turn is different for each unit.