Iron Meridian

Iron Meridian takes the big ideas of empire-building strategy and trims them down for a touchscreen without gutting the depth. You settle a region, manage a handful of resources, and expand across a hex grid while three AI rivals do the same. Matches run long but save anywhere, so I played most of mine across several lunch breaks.

What won me over was the tech and diplomacy layer. You can win by expansion, by research, or by quietly making every neighbour depend on your trade routes. The AI isn't brilliant, but it's consistent enough to teach you the systems and occasionally pull off a surprise invasion when you overextend.

The interface took a session to learn — there are a lot of menus — but once it clicked, everything was two taps away. If you like strategy games that reward planning over reflexes, this is a strong one to keep on your phone.

What we liked

• Multiple real paths to victory
• Save-anywhere matches perfect for short sessions
• Readable hex map that scales well to phone screens