Big Bass Blast

Big Bass Blast is one of those games I picked up expecting five minutes of fun and ended up playing on the train home three days running. You're out on a lake casting for fish, and the whole loop is built around a simple timing bar. Tap at the right moment on the cast, then keep your line steady while a fish tugs against you. It sounds basic, and it is, but the feel of it is spot on.

The controls are all one-thumb, which is exactly what you want from a game you play in short bursts. There's a gentle sense of progression as you unlock new spots on the lake and different rods that change how the reeling minigame behaves. Nothing here is punishing, so it's easy to relax into, but the bigger catches genuinely make you concentrate.

What won me over was how readable everything is. The water, the ripples, the little splash when something bites, it all reads clearly at a glance. It's not trying to be deep, and that's the point. As a wind-down game it's near perfect.

What we liked

• Clean one-thumb timing controls
• Relaxing pace with just enough challenge
• Great pick-up-and-play sessions