Tideborne Command

Tideborne Command asks you to think like an admiral who also has to balance a budget. You plan routes, position fleets, and decide which allied port to defend when you clearly can't save them all. The decisions carry weight because losses stick around for several turns.

It runs in a comfortable pace-your-own-moves style rather than frantic real time, which suits a phone well. You can take a turn at a red light and pick it back up later. The tutorial campaign eases you in, and the later maps open up into satisfyingly tense planning puzzles.

Not everyone will love the slower rhythm, and the art is functional rather than beautiful. But if you enjoy thinking three moves ahead, it rewards you.

What we liked

• Turn-based pace that fits phone play
• Meaningful, lasting consequences
• Gradual, well-built difficulty curve