Mobile strategy feels better suited to a phone when a short session still contains one useful decision. A readable interface helps, pausing is optional, and progression shouldn’t play the game for you.
Which games get that balance right? I’m especially interested in tower defense, and in the one design choice that makes a game work well on a phone.
Not tower defense, but I’ve been a long time fan of a super simple game caked Landrule. It’s literally just Risk, but it’s super simplified graphics means it can run on a potato, and the visual information is super easy to digest. It has a ton of speed options so when your comfortable with it, you can crank it up and play an entire game against 5 computer opponents or more in 5 minutes. And, best of all, a tooooon of maps so you can mix it up and keep it fresh.