Ironvale Legions

Ironvale Legions is the kind of strategy game that punishes you for spamming your strongest unit. Battles play out across three lanes and everything counters something else, so the real game is reading the enemy setup and adjusting before the first wave collides. Once that clicked for me it became hard to put down.

The campaign eases you in, but the difficulty ramps hard around the halfway mark. That's where the deck-like unit management starts to shine — you're not just building an army, you're building a plan. Matches are short enough to squeeze into a break yet meaty enough to feel earned.

My only complaint is a cluttered upgrade menu that takes a few taps too many. Everything else is tight, readable, and clearly made by people who understand pacing.

What we liked

• Strong counter-based combat
• Short matches, deep decisions
• Fair difficulty curve until the sharp mid-game spike