Frontline Cogs

Frontline Cogs is a strategy game about building and defending a little clockwork factory. You lay down conveyors, assign workers, and keep the production line feeding your defenses while waves of enemies push in. It's part base builder, part real-time puzzle, and it can get wonderfully tense when three things need your attention at once.

What makes it work on mobile is the pause system. You can freeze the action, reroute a conveyor, then let it rip again. That stops the screen from turning into a frantic mess of taps. Each mission throws a new constraint at you, so the solutions never feel repeated.

It does lean hard, and a couple of mid-game missions nearly had me putting it down. But pushing through and finally seeing a clean, humming production line fend off a wave is a great feeling.

What we liked

• Smart pause-and-plan system
• Each level introduces a fresh constraint
• Deep without being overwhelming