Tidelock Command

Tidelock Command is a tight little strategy game that respects your time. Each map is a floating platform city, and you're balancing power, defense towers and salvage crews while the water keeps creeping up. There's no base-building grind across days; a mission takes maybe fifteen minutes and then you're done.

Touch controls are the real question with mobile strategy, and Tidelock handles it well. You tap to select, drag to route units, and a pause-and-plan button lets you breathe during chaotic waves. I rarely misclicked, which is high praise for the genre on a small screen.

The difficulty gets genuinely tense on later maps when raiders and tides hit at once. It's not a huge game, but every mission felt deliberately designed rather than padded. Good for anyone who wants brainy sessions without a hundred-hour commitment.

What we liked

• Short, hand-crafted missions
• Touch controls that actually work
• Satisfying tension in late maps