Last Bastion Command

This is the one the whole team argued over, in a good way. Last Bastion Command is a proper strategy game — you manage supply lines, position units on terrain, and react to enemy pushes in real time. It asks more of you than most mobile titles dare to.

The interface is the quiet hero. On a small screen, commanding a dozen units could be a nightmare, but the developers built smart tap-groups and a slow-motion planning mode that lets you line up orders before the chaos. Once it clicked, I stopped missing a mouse.

Expect to lose the first few campaign maps. That's fine — the game wants you to learn why a flank collapsed. By the time I reached the river defence, I was genuinely proud of a plan that held the line with half my army gone.

What we liked

• Real terrain and positioning matter
• Clever controls built for touch
• Steep but rewarding learning curve