The airplane-mode test I run on every game

Here's the first thing I do with any game that claims to work offline: I install it on a connection, open it once, then switch the phone to airplane mode and close it fully. Then I try to play. It's amazing how many games fail this instantly.

Some throw up a login screen. Some load forever on a spinning wheel. Some let you play but silently lose your progress because the save lives on a server. None of those belong in an offline catalog, no matter how good the game underneath might be.

The games that pass feel different. They launch straight into play, save locally, and never nag you about a connection. Dust Route Rally and Tideway Colonies both sailed through this, which is partly why they made the list. The test is crude but it's honest.

If you travel or commute underground, try it yourself before trusting any 'offline' label on a store page. Thirty seconds of testing beats discovering the truth at thirty thousand feet.