Tideborne Armada

Tideborne Armada asks you to command a fleet across contested waters, and it's smarter than it looks. Wind direction, ship range, and formation all feed into whether your volley lands. We lost our first three skirmishes before we stopped charging in and started thinking two turns ahead.

The campaign map layers a light resource system on top, so you're deciding which islands to fortify and which ships to repair. It never overwhelms, and matches wrap up in reasonable chunks. A solid strategy game that trusts you to learn.

What we liked

• Wind and positioning drive every fight
• Clean campaign map layer
• Matches that fit into a commute