What Lucky Coins gets right about small screens

I didn't expect much from Lucky Coins. It looked like another tidy tapping game, and for the first ten minutes it basically was. Then the boards started fighting back, and I realised there was more going on than I'd given it credit for.

The genius is in the restraint. Lucky Coins uses one input — a tap — and builds an entire puzzle language out of it. You slide stacks of coins, clear rows, and manage the space you have left. Later levels add locked tiles and move limits that force you to plan, and suddenly a casual game had me thinking three steps ahead on a crowded train.

Everything reads clearly on a phone. The coins are big enough to tap without misfires, the animations are quick, and clearing a full board makes a small, pleasant sound that I now associate with tiny victories. It never nags you to keep playing, which somehow made me want to play more.

My tip: don't rush the early levels. Get comfortable with how the stacks collapse, because the later puzzles assume you can already see two or three moves ahead. If you like a calm brain-teaser, Lucky Coins is a genuinely good time.