A quick tour of mobile game genres

People throw around genre labels like everyone agrees on them, but on mobile the lines blur fast. A 'strategy' game can mean tense real-time battles or a menu of timers, and 'RPG' covers everything from deep tactical parties to endless auto-fighters.

RPGs on mobile tend to reward patience and tinkering, and they're often the heaviest on your battery. Strategy games split into the thoughtful kind and the wait-and-collect kind, so it's worth checking which one you're getting before you commit.

Racing and arcade titles are the ones that live or die on their controls. Tilt, buttons or a virtual wheel all feel different, and a great game with a bad default scheme just needs a trip to the settings. Adventure and casual games, meanwhile, are usually the friendliest for one-handed play.

My advice: don't trust a genre tag alone. Read what the game actually asks of your thumbs and your time, and you'll avoid a lot of disappointment.