Tidewatch Command

Tidewatch Command is a compact RTS that trims the genre down to what matters on a touchscreen. You defend a series of harbors, positioning units and rerouting supplies as raiders come in waves. The map is small enough to read at a glance, which makes fast decisions actually possible with your thumbs.

What I liked is how much room there is to be clever. Two players can beat the same mission with completely different setups, and the game rewards reading the enemy pattern rather than out-clicking it. There's a satisfying puzzle underneath each level.

Later stages get genuinely tense, and a couple of missions took me three or four tries. That challenge felt fair every time, and finally cracking a map is a real payoff.

What we liked

• Touch controls that actually work for RTS
• Multiple valid strategies per level
• Tension that ramps without cheap tricks