Iron Tide Command

Iron Tide Command drops you in charge of a small fleet and slowly hands you a bigger one as you learn. It's real-time but generous with a pause option, so you can plan formations without the panic that ruins a lot of mobile strategy games. Supply lines matter here, and cutting off an enemy's resources feels as good as winning a straight fight.

The campaign missions each have a distinct puzzle at their core, which keeps things from turning into the same battle over and over. There's a skirmish mode too, which is where I ended up spending most of my time once I understood the systems.

Interface-wise, it's dense. Newcomers to strategy might bounce off the first few missions. Stick with the tutorial and it clicks around mission four.

What we liked

• Pause-friendly real-time combat
• Supply management adds real depth
• Varied campaign scenarios