Simulators for slow evenings

Some nights you don't want to be tested. You want to tidy a system, watch numbers tick up and let your brain idle. That's what a good simulator offers, and phones are surprisingly well suited to them.

Harbor Line Tycoon is my current pick. There's no fail state breathing down your neck — just a port to keep flowing. Rearranging cranes to clear a backlog scratches the same itch as tidying a desk.

The trick with sims is not to chase perfection on the first run. Let the systems teach you their limits, then optimize on the next attempt. The learning curve is the fun.

Because these games run offline and save locally, they're perfect for picking up and putting down. I'll plan a port for ten minutes, lock the phone, and come back to it a day later exactly as I left it.