Haunted Hollow Review

Haunted Hollow is a turn-based strategy title that takes a more simple approach to the strategy genre. Players build their own mansion and create monsters to unleash on the town below. Monsters are used to scare the townsfolk and claim control over individual homes. What makes the game challenging and competitive is that players will be going up against a rival mansion with their own unique monsters. Whoever claims all the homes first wins the game.

Players either participate in single player matches or multiplayer matches against others through Pass & Play or Game Center. Single player is the best way to begin and understand the game, though it doesn’t provide enough of a challenge or depth to keep players entertained. Multiplayer is what lures players the most, as the competition is far more challenging. The entire game is one single match after another, with no campaign mode to partake of. There are challenges, though they basically only teach players how to play and are a bit on the easy side.

Competing against smarter opponents through multiplayer is the best way enjoy out of the game. However, it can feel slow going when playing on Game Center because of long wait times. Players make a move and then wait for an opponent to connect and make their moves. Since it’s not possible to watch them make moves in real time, the waiting process feels even longer. When both parties are committed, the game can still be completed in a decent amount of time. However, players can do other things on their device, waiting for a notification pop-up to alert them that it’s their turn.

The challenging strategy is fun while competing against other monsters; whether players decide to attack or claim homes, it’s always a strategic battle. Each monster has its own unique abilities to strategically use during matches. Ghosts and vampires are better for scaring the townsfolk and overtaking their homes, while Frankenstein and werewolves are great for attacking the opponents’ monsters. Players can also upgrade their creatures by building larger rooms in their own mansion.

To makes things a bit more interesting and unpredictable, every time a home is scared by a player, the owner runs to the church. Once a meter rises, the group of townsfolk will come out of the church and fight back. They will burn nearby monsters and buildings, so if a player only has one building remaining and they burn it, it’s game over for that player.

Haunted Hollow is a free-to-play, user-friendly strategy game that everyone can enjoy. I only wish it had higher difficulty options for single player games.

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