Why strategy works better on a phone than I expected

For years I assumed strategy games needed a proper screen and a mouse. Then I spent a long train journey with Colony Drift and realised how wrong I'd been about the whole genre on mobile.

The trick is that good mobile strategy designs around the thumb instead of fighting it. Pause-friendly pacing, tap-to-place systems and generous hitboxes all make up for the smaller screen. A game built for mobile from the start feels completely natural.

Where it goes wrong is ports. Titles that cram a desktop interface onto a phone feel miserable, with tiny buttons and panels you can barely hit. The best mobile strategy games were born on the platform, not dragged onto it.

My advice if you're sceptical like I was: start with something designed for short sessions and a single thumb. You'll be surprised how much depth fits in there once the controls get out of the way.