Ironclad Tactics

Ironclad Tactics turns card play into a lane-based skirmish, so it appeals most to people who like their strategy a bit tactical and a bit stubborn. By our assessment, the neat part is how it asks for hand management and timing instead of long build orders; every move has to fit the front line in front of it. The downside is that this kind of deck-and-lane design can feel tight and unforgiving when the right answer is not in hand. In practice it has the stop-start rhythm of placing units, watching the line shift, then spending a turn recovering. It sits somewhere between a card battler and a small tactics game, rather than a huge grand-strategy map. Ironclad Tactics is for players who enjoy planning a few steps ahead and revising on the fly, and it is less friendly to anyone who wants a loose, low-pressure run through a strategy game.