Pocket Harvest Road

Pocket Harvest Road is a farming and small-town life sim that respects your time. You plant, water, chat with townsfolk, and slowly rebuild a run-down village. Days are short, so you always feel like you accomplished something before setting it down.

Everything is tap-based and portrait-friendly, which makes it a great fidget game. The menus can get cluttered once you unlock crafting, and I wish there were a search bar in the inventory. Small stuff, but it adds up late game.

Battery is very reasonable at about nine percent an hour. There's no forced online connection, which I appreciate — you can farm on a plane just fine.

What we liked

• Relaxed daily loop with clear goals
• Fully offline play
• Comfortable one-handed portrait mode