Templar Casual Game

I've come up with a little platform game for either the nintendo DS or the iPhone. It's based on the Templar Knights and their search for treasure.
You play as a Templar trying to get to the top of each tower in the stage. Each stage consists of 5 levels which act as checkpoints as long as the player has continues, with a return to the start of the stage once those run out.

To reach the top of the tower, player use boxes and boulders to reach new heights, traverse hazardous terrain, and activate out of reach switches. These objects are interacted with via the devices' touch screen, or by pushing them with your character.
There is also a co-op mode, and a level editor. Co-op allows for a second player to help comlete a special set of co-op levels. The characters can jump on each other.
The level editor allows player to make their own levels to share online. For quality control, the levels can only be submitted once they have had a play through by the level's creator.

Review: Battlefleet Gothic

Battlefleet Gothic represents battle amongst the stars with fleets of larger than life space craft.

I very much enjoyed this game. Ships are represented with miniature figures that players can decorate theirselves (meaning that even if another fleet is the same it is still unique), and each ship is worth a certain amount of points. At the start of a standard game, the players decide on how many points they are going to limit their fleets to. They then place markers to represent plants/moons, then place their fleet on the edge of the play area, and finally determine turn order.
Player keep track of their fleet on sheets of paper with sections divided for the elements of the ship. Up to 5 (if I remember corroctly) ship types can be recorded on a sheet. These record weapons and their location, damage, range, speed and 'admiral rating'. The admiral rating is for issuing special orders to a ship, and each ship has their own admiral.
Attacks are determined by rolling several six-sided dice. There is a chart included to help determine how many dice are rolled when variables are involved.
The game has something few battle games have: balance. This is because of two primary factors; Firstly, the mechanics are simple. The more detailed parts are on the same chart as was mentioned earlier, or are listed in the ships' details. In this way, there are a few rules, and each ship has their own way to use them. Secondly, the game was playtested extensivly with people who gave their opinions about what worked and what didn't. This was invaluable in making the game what it was supposed to be; fun.

An excellant thing to play. And if you pick it up, don't feel limited to skirmishing. Expansive campaignes and scenarios can be played out. The simplicity creates flexability. Have fun!

9/10

Review - The Path

'The Path' is described as a short horror game based on the story of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. It was made by 'Tale of Tales' and is available for download through Steam for home computers.

Path is unique in that it breaks what is conventional for video games. It only has two rules: go to Grandmother's house, and stay on the path. Following these rules results in a failure for the player. The rules are meant to be broken because the game is about growing up.

There are 6 chapters and an epilogue in the game, each represented by a girl. They can be played in any order (except for the epilogue which is played last). The girls are of various ages ranging from 5(?) to late teens, and each of them has a different view of the world, theirselves, and what life is about. All of them are naive to the dangers of the world that are reflected in them, and that is where the wolves come into play.

The wolves are all metaphorical (except for the youngest girl). They range from a natural disaster, to idolizing bad people, to hedonism. In order to succeed in a chapter, the player must give in to the girls' 'wolf'. Once players reach the epilogue, they play as what I believe is either a seventh girl, or the seventh wolf (It's a game that make you think). Also, as you wander the forest you may come across various items. Different girls interact with these items and provide deeper insight into the girls' minds. After all this, players are left before Grandmother's house with a girl whose broken from suddenly 'growing up', and the house's interior has become a twisted reflection into the darker parts of what the girl has become.

The display is minimalistic. There are breif control instructions at the start of the chapters, but otherwise no commands are displayed. The forest loops infinatly, and a crude map appears every 100 meters to show where you've been. The only real landmarks are what appear at the edge of the screen. Pawprints indicate the direction a wolf area is in, white swirls show where the girl from the epilogue is who'll be around key items and can return you to the path, or there may be a small icon of an item if your collect enough flowers.

The game can try your patience at times with how slow the girls walk, and running pulls the camera up and pointing down so you can't see around you. This, however is by design to make the players feel defenseless and to force them to observe their surroundings. There is a ranking system for each chapter, but this is generally a farce (possibly to drive completionists and perfectionists nuts). A good game that has to be tried to truly be understood.

Terahk Review

Terahk is a board game in which you control a tribe of 'Mayans' for domination of the board. Each player has 3 different pieces (Mayans, an Elder, and an Idol), and a triangular board tile.
At the start of the game each player places their tiles together. This allows for a variety of game board designs based on how many people are playing. Mayans have an 'attack' and 'defend' mode represented by flipping the desired side of the piece up. he different modes confer different bonus in combat with other Mayans. Idols are like Mayans, but, instead of flipping, they have unique abilities like ranged attacks or ignoring defense bonuses. Idols can be offensivly or defensivly improved by defeating Mayans. Lastly is the Elder. This piece can bring defeated Mayans back into the game and rotate the section of the board it is on..
'Mana' is used to perform various actions in the game. Each player gets 5 mana at the start of their turn. Leftover Mana doesn't carry over to later turns. Mana is used to attack, move, revive Mayans, etc.
The last element of play are the cards. They are used to gain a tacticle advantage over opponents, though some cause trouble for everyone.

Terahk has a simple, almost cartoony look to it, but it is not the fastest of games. It can last up to 2-3 hours when 4-6 people are involved. This is due to a short learning curve, but a deep requirement of strategy that can be undermined by the chance of the dice. Underdogs can stop an assault and rise to the top in a couple of turns sometimes.

For strategy buffs, this is a great game. For others looking for something faster, give it a try with 2-4 players. It's easy to learn, and fun to master.

3/5

Cyber((c) Truro Police Dept.) Game Draft

Game Type
Wall defense

Objective
Defend the 'firewall' from enemies by encasing them in a net fired from Cyber(c).

Challenge
Waves of enemies (bad messages, identity theives, etc) move towards the firewall. When they come to the firewall, they begin to deal damage to the wall and continue to do so until captured. When the wall takes enough damage, the game is over. Players win a level by holding off an entire wave of enemies. There are ten levels.

Mechanics
Cyber(c) can be moved up and down the screen to postition himself to aim his nets. Stronger enemies take more nets to defeat. At the end of each level, players can choose to repair damage to the wall or improve the strength of their nets.

Game Idea: Iliad XX

Chapter 20 of the Iliad begins with the gods dividing theirselves between the Greek and Trojan armies, with Zeus deciding to stay out of the conflict. The rest of the chapter has Achilles racing about the battlefield cutting down the commanders of Troy and fighting Hector and Aeneas.

The game I propose would be a combat game for 1 - 2 players to play as the heroes and gods fighting on either side.

As Achilles, players would be an invincible warrior, but must find and defeat the Trojan commanders in time to achieve victory.

As Hector and Aeneas, players must protect their soldiers from being overwhelmed on the battlefield, and survive against Achilles when he is encountered.

Finally, players would have the option of playing as the gods to support the heroes and soldiers in the battlefield and change the tide of the battle. The Greek supporters would try to help overrun the Trojan, while the Trojan supporters would try ro push back the Greeks.

The game would take place in an open 3D environment. Players would control their character from a 3rd person perspective with horizontal control of the camera to allow a better view of their surroundings. As a god, players move above the battle with markers to show where key characters are on the battlefield.

The would also be a 'Versus Mode' where players can choose to play as a hero or a god against each others forces. This feature should allow for online play as well as split screen to allow a broader range of people who can play.

Wings of War Review

Wings of War is a game based an aerial combat from the WWI era. At first, it looked like it would be complicated, but the rules felt natural once I got a couple of turns in. The method for moving the planes (players place a card showing the flight path infront of the plane card) has several openings for slight adjustments which could affect how the planes engage in combat, but it works anyway because it is an inexact system. Combat consist of short an long range attacks (determined by a special ruler) which are relativly balanced for power in relation to the agility of the plane. Further more, damage is assigned with numbered counters, some of which have effects like flames or jammed guns.

Improvements were made in a WWII iteration of the game in which the planes' movement is more precise, and only two movements are chosen a round to speed things up by quickening the pace of strategy.

There are several variants of the game, and I don't have any issues myself with the mechanics. It can be daunting at first, but the game has simplified versions to ease people in. You don't need to be an aviation enthusiast to enjoy, and there is enough flexability to play almost any way you can think of.

8/10

Ian C.