What good one-handed controls look like

A huge amount of mobile gaming happens with one thumb while the other hand holds a coffee or a handrail. Yet plenty of games still put important buttons in the top corners where no thumb can reach.

The best games keep the action zone in the lower half of the screen and let you customize button placement. Radial menus, long-press options, and swipe gestures all help because they don't demand you stretch across the glass.

I also look for generous tap targets. A button that's technically there but the size of a pea causes more deaths than any enemy. Games that let you resize controls earn instant goodwill from me.

Assist toggles matter too. Auto-drift, aim assist, tap-to-move — these let a game be playable one-handed without punishing you for it. The good ones let you turn assists off as you improve.

When you're browsing our reviews, the control notes are where I spend a lot of words, because a great game with bad controls just isn't a great game on a phone.