Iron Dominion

Iron Dominion drops you onto a hex map and asks you to grow a settlement into a small empire. It's slower and more thoughtful than the usual mobile strategy fare, and it clicks best when you treat each session as a chess turn rather than a race.

The economy layer is the star. You balance resources, decide where to expand, and watch neighbors react to your moves. The AI isn't brilliant, but it's consistent enough to make you plan a few turns ahead. Battles resolve with a tidy little animation, so you're not micromanaging every unit.

It runs cleanly, and matches can be paused and resumed, which is exactly what a mobile strategy game should do. Newcomers may find the opening hour dense, but stick with it and it opens up.

What we liked

• Deep resource management
• Clean, readable hex maps
• Sessions you can pause and return to