Turn-based strategy that doesn't waste your time

Strategy on mobile got dragged down by the free-to-wait model — build a barracks, wait four hours, tap a notification. It's the opposite of strategy. Real tactics happen on the board, not on a countdown.

Ironline Command is my current example of doing it right. Battles last around ten minutes, terrain actually matters, and there's no energy meter telling me to come back later.

When you play a good tactics game, losing teaches you something. I got flanked twice before I learned to keep a unit in reserve. That kind of lesson is the whole appeal.

If a strategy game asks you to pay to skip a timer, it's not a strategy game — it's a waiting room with cannons.