Tideborn Tactics

Tideborn Tactics drops you onto a hex grid where rising water is the real enemy. You position units, build small defences, and plan several turns ahead before the tide swallows the lower tiles. It's tense in a quiet, calculating way.

The campaign is generous with its scenarios, and there's a skirmish mode when you just want a self-contained puzzle. Everything is stored on the device, so we played a full chapter during a flight without a hiccup.

It can be punishing early on, but the difficulty curve is fair. Losing almost always felt like my mistake, not the game's.

What we liked

• Deep but readable strategy
• No connection required ever
• Great for short tactical sessions