Tideborn Command

Tideborn Command drops you in charge of a small fleet and expects you to think a few moves ahead. You're juggling ship production, supply routes, and where to commit your limited firepower, all in real time with a pause button for planning. The pause is essential — I lost badly the first time because I tried to play it like an action game.

What clicks is the supply system. Push too far from your home island and your ships slow down and lose repairs, so overextending is punished naturally. We spent a lot of our best sessions carefully setting up a forward base before a big assault.

It's not the prettiest game on the list, and the UI takes a while to learn. But for anyone who misses proper strategy on mobile, this one respects your brain.

What we liked

• Pause-and-plan real-time combat
• Supply lines that shape every decision
• Satisfying long siege battles