Iron Tide Command

Iron Tide Command is slower and more thoughtful than most mobile strategy games, and that's exactly why I liked it. You're managing a small fleet across tense engagements where a bad angle costs you the whole match.

The touch controls took a bit of learning, dragging routes and queuing orders, but once it clicked I stopped fighting the interface. There's a proper difficulty curve here, and the AI actually punishes lazy play.

It's not a game for quick dips, though. Matches run long and it warms the phone up after a while. Best played plugged in with a real chunk of time to spare.

What we liked

• Rewards planning over reflexes
• Meaty single-player campaign
• Real difficulty that scales