Tideborne Dominion

Tideborne Dominion is a strategy game that trusts you to think. You carve out territory along a branching river system, manage trade, and nudge rival factions into fighting each other instead of you. Turns can be paused and resumed, which is exactly what you want from something you're playing in short bursts.

The interface is the real win here. Everything important is reachable with your thumb, pinch-zoom is smooth, and the tutorial doesn't drown you. I did have to dig into the settings to shrink the UI a bit on a smaller screen, but after that it was comfortable.

It runs cool and light since there's not much animation to speak of, so it's a good pick for long sessions. The AI puts up a genuine fight on higher difficulties, and the diplomacy system has enough bluffing in it to feel alive.

What we liked

• Pause-and-resume turns suit mobile play
• Clean, thumb-friendly interface
• Genuinely sharp opponent AI