Tideborn Tactics

Tideborn Tactics takes the familiar tactics-grid formula and adds a rising tide that changes which tiles are walkable each turn. It sounds gimmicky but it completely reshapes how you think — a safe flank one turn becomes open water the next, and the whole match becomes a puzzle of timing.

Each mission is short enough for a commute but tight enough that a bad opening can sink you. I appreciated that there's no filler grind; every battle is hand-designed, so you're always solving something new rather than farming the same map for upgrades.

The difficulty curve is steep around the middle chapters, and I had to replay a couple of fights. But the satisfaction of finally cracking a tough layout is exactly what I want from a strategy game on the go.

What we liked

• Clever rising-tide mechanic
• Hand-crafted missions, zero grind
• Commute-sized battles with real depth