Five minutes at a time: the case for cozy mobile games

We write a lot about deep strategy here, but half my own phone screen is cozy, low-stakes stuff. Games you can open for five minutes, make a little progress, and put down without a cliffhanger holding you hostage.

Simulation games like port builders are perfect for this, because the world keeps ticking and there's always one small thing to tidy up. Casual collections scratch a similar itch with zero commitment.

The key quality is that they respect your time. No countdown timers forcing you back, no screen screaming for your attention when you've put the phone down. Just a tidy loop you can dip into.

I think of these as the palate cleansers between the heavy strategy sessions. After an hour of agonising over supply lines, laying out a few docks or tapping through a quick challenge is exactly the reset my brain wants.