Which strategy games actually feel good on a phone

Strategy games and small touchscreens have a difficult relationship. Precision matters in this genre, and a fat fingertip is not precise. Over the years I've learned to judge a mobile strategy game by its controls before anything else.

The best ones commit to the format. They use drag gestures instead of tiny buttons, they add previews so you know what a move will do before you tap, and they let you pause and plan. Ironvale Siege, which we reviewed, nails this by keeping placement to a simple drag-and-drop.

The worst offenders port a desktop interface straight over and hope. You end up squinting, mis-tapping and losing because the game fought you, not because you played badly.

My rule of thumb: if I can play comfortably one-handed on a train, it's a good mobile strategy game. If I need a stylus and a quiet room, the developer forgot where the game would actually be played.