Tag: Turn based strategy »

Did the Battleship movie get you all pumped up and ready to take on some hostile aliens? Yeah, me neither. In fact it was fairly unimpressive. Classic Battleship, on the other hand, is all kinds of alright. EA Mobile’s upcoming Battleship Airstrike looks to sit somewhere in the middle, containing the spirit of the classic board game and coupling it with a faster-paced asynchronous multiplayer experience.

Imagine a typical game of Battleship. Each player takes their turn one shot at a time, trying to find their opponent and sink their fleet before they meet a similar fate. Battleship Airstrike ratchets the formula up a bit by allowing players to take multiple shots per turn. In addition to that, special limited use shots can be purchased with money earned through play in order to gain some possible advantages. Advantages such as destroying a ship with a single hit or deploying a kind of artillery sonar that doesn’t cause damage but will reveal vessel locations within a certain number of tiles.

Once a turn is completed - which may consist of several strategic bombings and even paying for repairs on your own damaged (damaged, not destroyed) ships - it’s all submitted to the servers and the opposition is alerted. Typical asynchronous multiplayer stuff, really. It’s more the mold-breaking multi shot turns and special shells (not to mention the possibility of repairs!) that make Battleship Airstrike enticing.

Battleship Airstrike should be out sometime this fall.

When I first reviewed Aliens Versus Humans I found it to be full of promise, but the lack of a Geoscape and base maintenance of any kind sapped some of my enjoyment. What’s already there is great stuff, but in the back of my mind - and most likely in the back of everyone else’s - it just wasn’t the complete experience. However, Leisurerules has been hard at work since the initial release and are preparing to hit the App Store with their 2.0 update early next month. Just in time for XCOM: Enemy Unknown if all goes to plan. I’ve had the fortune of being able to check it out early, and I can honestly say it’s not going to disappoint.

So why is Aliens Versus Humans 2.0 special enough to warrant such attention? Because it’s essentially a totally different game. The original AvH missions are being sectioned off as “Training Missions,” while the real meat of the game has been designated “Onslaught.” In Onslaught players can expect the kind of portable X-COM experience they’ve always wanted. The Geoscape, ‘pedia, recruitment, research, staffing, manufacturing, and base construction (with multiple bases) is all present and accounted for. It’s practically perfect X-COM in all its immaculate and frustrating glory, only now you can play it whenever and wherever you want. And I helped.

Jim Coughley (coding, artwork, sound, music, testing), contacted me after my review of AvH had gone live, we had a brief back-and-forth regarding our mutual love of the original series and thoughts about what AvH could use in terms of various improvements, then before I knew it I was asked to help out as an advisor for future versions. In other words I take a look at various builds and offer feedback. According to Jim, this was largely due to my love of the series as well as the way I “…didn't hold back in [my] comments and criticisms and [my] feedback came with sound reasoning…” And now I take a moment to blush (seriously). The lack of a Geoscape was a major (and fairly obvious) issue but we’ve also discussed smaller things like interface tweaks and menu layouts. As someone who loves video games, and especially X-COM, this has been an awesome and surreal experience all-around.

I’m obviously proud (and possibly a little biased) about how Aliens Versus Humans is turning out, but that shouldn’t keep you X-COM fans from checking it out. It really is fantastic and once the 2.0 update goes live it should fill that strategic alien-fighting gap quite nicely. But if you’re still not sure there’s always the free version, limited to early missions only and no Onslaught mode, to try out which is slated for the same release window as 2.0 (early October).

Great Big War Game is a turn-based strategy sequel a title that loses some of the irony of Great Little War Game's title but does try to be bigger and better, as sequels are wont to do. Players command a blue army that has just brought along a new female commander recruit, whose low-cut uniform seems like it should be against military regulations, but not on the world of Great Big War Game. It’s all turn-based, where players can move and shoot with all their units in some turn. Battles take place with both troops and vehicles, on land, sea, and air, with plenty of units that may dominate one terrain, but have their weakness. They aren’t kidding when they talk about anti-air guns! Base assaults can be a dangerous proposition, thanks to the ability to create units and use them in the same turn, adding to the careful strategy that must be used.

Some missions make it difficult to tell what’s going on; having a better explanation of missions at the beginning would help. Also, having a “switch unit” button would help out for finding units who haven’t done an action yet. Some intelligence as to whether a unit can even do anything would help.

While the game is a bit more complex than, say, Outwitters or Hero Academy, it’s still set up to be easy enough to play, especially thanks to the ability to see estimated damage and to undo moves. It also helps with the occasional inaccuracies or mistakes in movement. The tone of the game is interesting: it’s comical, yet the world is more accepting of the fact that war is violent at its heart. It’s like a darker Advance Wars. Yes, even darker than Days of Ruin, which took place in a post-apocalyptic world.

There’s also a personal favorite feature of mine here: cross-platform multiplayer. While users have to create a specific GBWG account, all games can be played against any other user. There’s a ranking system for taking on random players, with up to 4 players in some game. However, Facebook or Twitter integration would help with finding friends to play with.

While I would love to see the interface revamped, there’s plenty of strategic fun to be had. There’s 50 single player missions with plenty of different scenarios to enjoy and master. The online multiplayer is worth coming back to as well, though compared to some iOS-only turn-based games it feels a bit unrefined. Still, this is an impressive package for strategy fans.

Many people are familiar with domination-based games in some form or another. Some might involve occupying territories with ever-expanding armies while others allow for more subtle tactics such as cultural assimilation, but it’s a concept most have come across. Although as widespread as the general idea may be, I can’t say that I’ve ever seen it combined with something along the lines of Mahjong. It’s certainly a little odd, but it’s also interesting.

Michael Schacht’s Web of Power Card Game: The Duel is one such bizarre hybrid. A number of tiles representing various countries are spread across the game board for the payer and their AI opponent to gather. Tiles can only be grabbed from the outlying edges, however, so in order to reach any desired pieces in the middle a path must be cleared first. After acquiring a tile (or two if they’re for the same country and posses two country symbols between them), claim tokens can also be placed to “call dibs” on a specific tile or simply attempt to control an opponent’s movement. Throughout this constant back-and-forth it’s also possible to collect special tokens that will improve the worth of gathered pieces belonging to specific countries.

There’s something almost captivating about a game in Web of Power. While it might not be much to look at there’s an awful lot of planning that goes into each and every turn. Assuming players take it seriously, that is. This is not a game for folks who dislike planning and strategizing, but anyone who loves to spend several minutes setting up their next move (and possibly even laying traps through subtle manipulation) will doubtlessly enjoy themselves.

I could complain about the complete lack of any form of multiplayer in Web of Power, as I have with many Skotos Tech games, but this game can be so tough I’m almost glad I don’t have to contend with another person. A bigger issue, however, is that it’s much more of a complex board game than many iOS users are probably used to. The manual alone is several dense pages of text, much of which won’t make sense without actual context and there’s no tutorial on offer. It can be learned, and when it is it can be rewarding, but it can also be massively intimidating in the beginning.

Web of Power is definitely an interesting and thought-provoking game, but it’s also not too terribly accessible. Those who are willing and able to invest the time to learn will be sure to enjoy themselves but everyone else looking to dabble in a bit of strategy should probably start with something a bit less complicated. Or at least a bit more newbie friendly.

The Game Bakers’ unique turn-based strategy game Squids is back with a sequel releasing later this month on iOS. Squids: Wild West brings new gameplay elements, new environments, and new squids in a planned set of 48 levels for the squids to launch around. The Game Bakers has gotten our hands on a preview build of the game that shows off some, but not all of what fans of fighting squids can expect.

The core of the game is roughly the same, which combines turn-based strategy with the kind of slingshot physics of Angry Birds. Players still pull back to aim their squids in a certain direction in a top-down two-dimensional playing field, and release at the desired power to launch into enemies, with harder hits doing more damage. Four new squids are in the game; two of the new ones, Calamary Jane and Cleef were ones we got to play with, and they are both shooting types, with Cleef able to shoot twice per turn, and Jane having well-balanced stats. All the squids from the original game will be back.

One of the key additions to gameplay are the new seahorses. These appear in some of the levels, and can be ridden when a squid comes in contact with them. The player pulls to aim them like they do the squids, but power is set by a circle that grows and shrinks under the seahorse. Releasing when the circle is the biggest causes the furthest fling and most damage to be done to enemies, with a bonus available for maxing it out. The seahorses can also take multiple moves in one turn with a squid.

We shouldn’t forget about the most important addition to the game: new hats! Plenty of western-themed hats will be available for all the characters, along with many of the hats from the original game. iCloud synchronization is not implemented in this version yet, but is planned to be in the final version. Currently, the plan is for the game to release in late June. Those who can’t wait to play the sequel can check out a small taste of Wild West in the original Squids, available now.

Lots of people have grown up on Worms, and plenty have come to love the little invertebrates thanks to their multiple re-releases on virtually every existing platform, but something’s been missing from Worms 2: Armageddon this whole time. It’s meant to be a multiplayer game through and through, but while the wealth of options has been nice (Bluetooth, Local Hotseat, WiFi) there was still one element needed to make it perfect for mobile – iOS or otherwise – gaming. Good thing Team17 is awesome.

Worms 2: Armageddon now features asynchronous multiplayer. Allow me to reiterate: Worms 2: Armageddon now features asynchronous multiplayer. This means that anyone anywhere can start, continue, or finish a game whenever they have a spare moment. No need to sit around waiting for the other person to make their move. No more forfeiting a game because someone has to walk the dog. Players can simply take their turn, then move on to something else. Perhaps another game of Worms.

The update is live now, so anyone who already owns it can jump on the App Store and start the download. Then enjoy up to 16 simultaneous games to be played at their leisure. Everyone else can download it for $0.99 and start priming those Holy Hand Grenades.