Frontline Tactics: Dawn

Frontline Tactics: Dawn strips strategy down to what matters: positioning, line of sight, and knowing when to retreat. Each mission drops you on a hex grid with limited troops, and overreaching gets you punished fast. I lost my first three attempts and enjoyed every one of them.

The campaign is structured in short, self-contained missions, which suits phone play — you can win a battle in ten minutes and put the phone away. Unit upgrades carry between missions, so there's a quiet sense of progress even after a tough loss.

It's entirely offline and never pressures you to hurry. If you like thinking three moves ahead on a long train ride, this one rewards patience.

What we liked

• Tight hex-based tactics
• Bite-sized missions for short sessions
• No timers or online nagging