How to tell a good mobile strategy game from a trap

Strategy games are where mobile either shines or completely falls over. The genre loves complexity, and phones punish clutter. The good ones, like Harbor Command, solve this before they solve anything else.

My first test is the interface. Can I see the information I need without digging through three submenus? If I'm fighting the menus instead of my opponent, I'm out within an hour.

The second test is whether I can pause and think. Phones are interruption machines — the doorbell rings, a message arrives. A strategy game that can't be paused mid-plan isn't built for the platform.

Depth matters too, obviously, but it comes last for me. I'd rather have a shallow system I can read instantly than a deep one that hides its rules. The best designers give you both, and those are worth your money.