CookieRun: Kingdom

Half of CookieRun: Kingdom is a cosy town builder. The other half is a proper team-battling RPG about cookies going to war. You start with a bare patch of Earthbread and a handful of Cookies, and slowly turn it into a working kingdom while an adventure unfolds around Dark Enchantress Cookie and the secrets of the ancient kingdoms.

The building side is hands-on. You place and decorate buildings, set Cookies to producing materials and crafting goods, and keep the whole place busy and expanding. Every Cookie you collect is fully voiced, with costumes to unlock, which gives the kingdom a lot of personality — these are characters, not chess pieces.

Then there is the fighting. Story stages and PvP battles use teams of five Cookies, and the fun is in the combinations: who tanks, who heals, which Treasures to bring, and which Toppings fine-tune each Cookie's stats. Beyond the campaign there is the Kingdom Arena for ranked PvP, Cookie Alliance and Super Mayhem events, and Guild Battles where your guild expands its Domain and collects Relics together.

It asks for an internet connection for its social and competitive modes, and it is free to play with in-app purchases. Come for the adorable art if you like, but stay for the team-building: players who enjoy collecting characters and tinkering with squads will find a lot here to chew on.