Iron Tide Command

Iron Tide Command puts you in charge of a small navy trying to control shipping lanes. It plays out in real time but pauses cleanly for orders, so you can think without feeling rushed. Wind direction and range genuinely affect engagements, which gives every skirmish a bit of tension.

The campaign eases you in with escort missions before throwing full fleet battles at you. We appreciated that the tutorial trusts you to learn by doing rather than locking every menu behind a pop-up.

It's not the flashiest strategy game out there, but the systems are solid and the maps encourage smart maneuvering. If you like reading a battlefield and setting traps, it delivers.

What we liked

• Wind and range affect combat
• Clean pause-and-command flow
• Rewards patient planning