Ember Hollow

Ember Hollow packs a surprising amount of RPG into a phone. You build a party of four, each with skill trees that actually branch in meaningful ways, and the turn-based combat rewards planning over button-mashing. I spent a whole evening just optimising my healer's kit.

The story is nothing groundbreaking — a fading kingdom, a hero who doesn't want the job — but the writing has charm and doesn't overstay its welcome between fights. Exploration happens on a clean node-based map, so you never feel lost fiddling with a tiny joystick.

My only gripe is that inventory management gets messy in the late game. Otherwise this is one of the most complete mobile RPGs I've played in a while, and it respects your time.

What we liked

• Deep skill trees that reward experimenting
• Turn-based combat with real tactics
• Clean map that avoids fiddly controls