Category: Mobile Game Releases

It’s been a bit of a slower week than I’d initially planned – I was away on Monday, but I was hoping to post up a review of Egypt: Old Kingdom yesterday. It released by accident when we mentioned it in a past Weekender update but we were expecting it to re-surface today – no joy though. Still as soon as it turns up we’ll have our review ready.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading out thoughts on Cultist Simulator & NecroDancer: Amplified. We’ve got plenty more reviews coming down the pipe now, and Nick’s even returning after a break for some feature work.

Meanwhile, in the world of mobile gaming…

Out Now

Solar Settles (iOS & Android) – Full review coming soon!

From the mind that also brought us Minos Strategos & Militia, Solar Settlers is essentially a worker placement game about space exploration and colonisation. It’s inspired by board game design, featuring a central grid and ‘cards’ that you can use to either gain resources or change a space on the board, provided you meet the placement requirements.

You only have a limited number of rounds to settle the required number of colonists, but colonists need oxygen to survive, which you have to harvest from nearby planets. You also need fuel hydrogen to move them around, and ores to play cards.

We actually meant to mention this last week, but it completely slipped my mind. I managed to take it for a quick spin last night, and it’s pretty interesting. A bit low budget, but the careful balancing act of moving your colonists around, getting the resources they need, but also ensuring you settle everyone in time (which you need to draw cards for) is pretty engaging. The game features challenges and a ranking system as well.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVpMl0EaLvw?controls=0]

SFD ROGUE TRPG (iOS & Android) – Full Review Coming Soon!

The roguelike train keeps on rocking along, and we have a new one to offer up to the gods of permadeath this week. SFD seems to be a tactical RPG first, with roguelike elements, featuring randomly generated dungeons, turn-based combat, over 200 weapons, spells & other items as well as 7 adventures to try out.

There’s a free demo available for anyone who wants to give it a whirl first, which gives you access to a single dungeon floor. SFD stands for ‘Sigma Finite Dungeon’, apparently.

Construction Simulator 3 (iOS & Android)

Having spent my career covering PC games more than any other platform, I discovered the world of ‘Simulator’ games quite early. Like, the OG simulator games – Railway Simulator, Farming Simulator… it tickles me to learn that mobile is not immune to these pervasive, cumbersome games about drilling holes and driving around.

Construction Simulator 3 has been out since March, we think, but it recently got given a 1.1 update that brought it up to our radar. It’s mainly about driving around, building and/or repairing things, and this time it’s set in Europe. I mean, now it’s got the Liebherr LB28! That’s bound to have made someone’s day – apparently, it’s a drilling rig that lets you set better foundations for bridges. Yes mate. (Small caveat – there do appear to be IAPs for some kind of in-game currency.)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kTW5gZvG6g?controls=0]

We’re also putting a shout-out for Aldarix the Battlemage, which is an android-only game that was described by the developer as “Kinda like Hoplie, but with spells”. I wasn’t able to give it a whirl in time for today’s tome, but if anyone does end up checking it out, let us know.

Updates

Reigns: Games of Thrones (iOS & Android) (Review)

Ahead of the imminent release of Season 8, The Game of Thrones Reigns spin-off has been given a free update with over 100 new cards which tie in with the upcoming show. We imagine there may be more than a few spoilers, so beware. There’s also a sale running on Android.

Marathon Trilogy (iOS Universal)

We our information to TouchArcade for this one – you should check out Jared’s write-up for the full story, but it seems that after six the free iOS ports of Bungie’s classic Marathon games are finally getting updates again. The first milestone dropped at the end of January that brought all three games up to speed and workable with iOS 12, and then different games have been getting additional patches in the months since.

I never played the Marathon games, but I’m a big fan of Halo, so I’m glad to see this part of Bungie’s history is still being cared for on mobile devices.

Ticket to Earth (iOS & Android) (Review)

Investing in Ticket to Earth is continuing to pay off. Episode 3 was finally released in December last year, and this week the game has received a new update that adds in new tutorials, as well as ‘rookie’ and ‘veteran’ difficulty modes that focus the player on either the story, or the tactical puzzles respectively. It’s also running a sale on iOS.

Sales

Going to do a quicker round-up than what we usually do this week, as it’s mainly iOS-only sales, sorry Android users!

Team 17 are running a sale on most of their iOS catalogue, and Overhaul have made Baldur’s Gate half price. It’s not the cheapest it’s been though, so you can probably afford to wait. Another PT favourite, Space Grunts, is going for a couple of dollars.

The only sale this week that’s on both iOS & Android is Age of Rivals, which is a great strategy boardgame.

Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!

Many a videogame has promised horror and darkness, some calling forth these more than others, but as whole the tone and genre has become practically anodyne. Familiarity breeds contempt. Zombies, vampires, nuclear wastelands. Compared to these, Cultist Simulator is a breed apart, the horror genre reforged. It takes the familiar and human and making it secret, alien, cruel. Within the game the player could found the titular cult, gain forbidden knowledge, lose parts of body and soul, and eventually ascend to a higher, stranger plane of existence.

This is just the prosaic, reductive, ‘gamified’ run-down of what ‘happens’ in the game, for those who simply want a cheat-sheet for the experience of play. Any such summary, mine or others, is bound to give short shrift, though, for the writing in the game is sublime and dense, full of cross-references and slow-building lore.

Similarly, the game is an exercise in small actions building to grand consequences. While managing the main ‘verbs’ of the game (dream, explore, study, work) to gain resources and more esoteric scraps of knowledge, the aspirant navigates past histories and accounts of fellow occultists while dreaming of powerful entities.

The path for ascension is simply known as the House, and these entities (who are born, deposed, transformed) are known as the Hours. Each little interaction within the game offers a glimpse of what these hidden truths look like. The Hours have Aspects, you see, which are zones of existence, modes of action. Lantern, Grail, Forge, Knock, Moth, Heart, Edge, Winter. No, that’s not quite right. In this dim occultist’s estimation, it’s rather that fabric of reality, the nature of things themselves which bear the influence of these primary Aspects, and the Hours rule over them. Oh, and there are alternate histories, future timeline marked and erased like battlefronts on a map.

So that’s the theme, roughly, and it’s heady nature is so potent that it is distilled in every snippet of text. Ornamentation is instruction, the occult is hidden in the open, and a canny player will learn to love the lore for its guiding principles as much as its rich mythos. But what of everyday life for our humble aspirant? Well, it’s shockingly full of toil and drudgery. Money is paramount, of course, but so are the three qualities of Health, Passion, and Reason, which are useful in work but can also be sacrificed to the ravages of disease or arcane rituals. To say nothing of lore fragments, gained at first locally from rare and unusual books, then later from far-flung tomes retrieved on perilous expeditions.

That’s the roadmap, and by dragging resources and items to their requisite tiles, the timer starts and the game moves forward. Because of its real-time nature, the game often feels like nothing so much as spinning plates, skilfully and with expert knowledge and vision, of course, but mechanically demanding, nonetheless. Fortunately there is a pause button, which is practically a must to plan properly and absorb the game’s rich atmosphere.

Certain phrases stick out, some for their piquancy (‘pavane grace’), others as recurrent motifs (‘the skin of the world’). The game’s rhythm and constant upkeep is almost hypnotic, or better yet, hypnagogic. It is in this suggestible, wearied state that the player begins to learn, to see the cosmic underbelly of Cultist Simulator and reckon with its eldritch dream-logic. So there is a seamless synthesis between form and function, or as game reviewers like to say, gameplay and theme.

They aren’t twins here (Sister-and-Witch and Witch-and-Sister say cheers) so much as one entity which we split to make the whole more comprehensible. And this is why the game grabs new players and sucks them in, brainwashes them into thinking they are founders and leaders of cults when in truth all are dupes, all dance to the same tuneful mystery.

‘Mystery’ in the grandest sense of wonder, but also the diminutive, driving potboiler sense. Figuring out how to stay alive and make ends meet is as much a struggle as occult concerns, to say nothing of Despair (the ‘wolf that devours’) or Fascination, which have ended many a run. Here the game is a little coy about its permadeath, one life, one run philosophy. Yes, game over is permanent. I miss the option to manually backup saves because on a cold-hearted practical note, the game is long and difficult, which makes permadeath losses especially stinging. Just a minor drawback.

In conclusion: yes, yes, a million hollow moons yes, Cultist Simulator is a good game, the kind which will haunt your waking moments with its patterns and intricacies. The app is so easy to use, making the repetition of the game dreamlike rather than simply dull, and though I’ve beaten it twice and wasn’t sure I could tackle another go-around, it seems like I’m a born again cultist. I’ll remember my fleshsack days fondly, looking back from the seat of the Glory upon those quotidian beginnings. But first I have to finish this last bit of research…

By attempting to re-package the roguelike back in 2015, Brace Yourself Games may have accidentally made one of the most compelling deconstructions of it in video games. Crypt of the Necrodancer finds ways to make turn-based dungeon crawling feel entirely new by barely tweaking the essentials and obfuscating it all under bright lights and big sounds.

You’re tasked with exploring a multi-layered, procedurally generated dungeon full of baddies. It sounds like every roguelike, proc-gen game you’ve ever heard. Ironically, it’s what you hear in Necrodancer that changes the entire landscape. This dungeon is a dancefloor.

The monsters mambo. The powerful, toe tapping beats of Canabalt and Binding of Issac’s Danny Baranowsky gives everything in earshot life.

To move, you must hop from space to space to the rhythm. Like Rogue, when you move, everything else in the game moves. Unlike Rogue, the monsters will move on every beat, whether you do or not. You’re all swirling around each other, slam dancing to the same beat. Staying in time while slaying your foes and collecting loot keeps your combo counter ticking. This is vital for collecting large amounts of gold to spend on the occasional warbling shopkeeper and keeping your arsenal in top shape as your enemies grow ever powerful. You don’t have to move on beat; breaking your combo doesn’t necessarily hurt you. But why are we here if not to shake it like a salt shaker?

Roguelike have always been a patient, turn-based affair. The addition of a beat to move to adds a sort of time limit that makes decision making a frantic affair. You must keep moving, even if it means trotting in a holding pattern until you’re sure of the next move. The dungeon’s denizens won’t just let you meander, of course. They will all be trotting along, either towards you or in specific patterns that are often simple to determine.

They all have their own sort of tells that inform you of when they’re going to strike you. For example, the turn before the skeleton attacks, they throw their hands in the air (possibly waving them like they just don’t care). These become a challenge to keep track of when multiple monsters with different rules all occupy the same room. In these moments, Necrodancer toes the line between stiff challenge and absolute mess pretty admirably.

This is all before tossing in traps, like the ones that can speed the tempo up temporarily. Other hazards like tiles of water that take two turns to leave make simple navigation difficult. Besides trying to find openings to attack the enemy in, you also need to avoid getting stuck. It can be incredibly demanding, and sometimes the mobile control options really let you down here.

There are three types, traditional d-pads, side buttons, and swipe controls. None of them are particularly better than the other outside of the realm of preference. But they can but unreliably when you really need to tap yourself out of a jam. Some of it is the panic throwing you off rhythm, but other times, it’s just a two button input not reading on time.

Lots of exploration options open up thanks to your shovel. You can dig your way through most of the walls around. You often have to, if you want to open hidden doors to secret shops or find big treasure and equipment. It can also be used as yet another layer of strategy to get the jump on mini-bosses if necessary.  The kind of versatility that such a simple mechanic can provide to the rest of your arsenal is still a mind-boggling thing to behold.

The is A LOT of content to get into in NecroDancer, especially the Amplified version that contains all of the DLC from the PC edition. Several zones, daily challenge runs, and continues modes can keep you bopping for dozens of hours. 14 different characters all have different ways to play the game to challenge you even further. There’s just so much to be done that those who can’t get enough Necrodancing will never have to.

There’s no NecroDancer conversation that doesn’t discuss its very stellar soundtrack at least a little bit. Maybe more incredible than the number of tracks that come in the game is the number of riffs and remixes that accompany them for when you go through stages as different characters. It may seem a bit like a no brainer for a music game to have lots of good music, but as it is the core of everything else this game provides, that is sounds so good so often feels like that much more of a feat.

Importing music is also a feature that carries over from the PC port, but it’s kind of a mess on mobile. The app will access your Apple Music account and choose among songs that are downloaded to your device. But it can only seem to recognize certain songs. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to what it can and can’t register. But of the around 30 songs I downloaded as a test; it could only read 5. The packed in tracks are good enough, but the fact that this feature isn’t working well is a disappointment.

But as far as getting a rhythm game/roguelike fix that is unique and rewarding goes, you really can’t go wrong with Crypt of the NecroDancer Amplified. It’s clever, easy to learn mechanics and deep well of content is worth the price on any platform. The inputs could be more responsive, and the custom tracks are off the table, but otherwise, this is a very faithful port of one of the best indies of this generation.

I thoroughly enjoyed going through one of Owen’s old articles earlier in the week – a side-benefit of taking over a site with a wonderful legacy like Pocket Tactics is that from time to time you get to see glimpses of a bygone era. Things that Owen, Dave and the community of the day cared about or were looking forward to and being able to contrast that to where we are now.

It’s the same kind of satisfaction I get from reading about history, and it was especially illuminating to get a peak as to what digital board games were like five years ago. As I said in the update, we looked at that article because a reader asked us too – if anyone else remembers any past features that they want us to look at again, feel free to drop me a line. Happy to do it again.

Meanwhile, in the world of mobile gaming…

Out Now

Cultist Simulator (iOS & Android) – Full review coming soon!

The indie PC cult classic has finally made its way to both mobile platforms. This is self-described as a ‘roguelike narrative card game’ where you must seek out unholy mysteries in a Lovecraftian 1920’s setting. You’ve got to recruit or indoctrinate new followers, craft items and summon spirits.

Cultist Simulator doesn’t have a tutorial as the developers feel part of the fun is learning how to play the game on your own terms, and the roguelike legacy system ensures your experimentation isn’t wasted. Michael’s already hard at work on our review, so look to next week for this thoughts. If you’d rather nor wait, the game is currently running a 30% launch discount!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAIx3SWFYp8?controls=0]

Dungeon Warfare 2 (iOS & Android) – Full Review coming soon!

We’ve been waiting for Tower Defence RTS Dungeon Warfare 2 since last year, and we’re finally glad to see it’s been released. The original game launched in August 2016, although we didn’t review it at the time. Tower-defence games are often associated with Free-to-Play trappings, but Dungeon Warfare’s premium price-point means it’s managed to escape the stigmatism.

The sequel boasts 33 unique traps, over 30 enemies with special traits, 60+ levels along with at least five boss battles and lots of progression systems, loot and mode variants.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFN-PH-WJBo?controls=0]

Updates

Evolution: The Video Game (iOS & Android) (Review)

Update 1.0.5 is mainly a quality of life improvement, so no new content so to speak. It adds support for iPhone X screens, as well as rewarding players to stick around in matchmade games to the very end if all other human players leave. There’s also been some tweaking as to the nature of Matchmade games.

Sales

Project Highrise (iOS & Android) (Review): $1.99

This is an iOS-only discount, Kalypso have discounted their building-simulator to just a couple of dollars. It’s a pretty decent, engaging management sim if you’re looking for something new in this genre.

Crowntakers (iOS & Android): $0.99

One of our favourite Roguelikes is also discounted to just a dollar, although again only on iOS. If it’s any consolation though, the game is naturally cheaper on Android anyway.

Evergarden (iOS & Android) (Review): $1.99

Intriguing garden-themed puzzler Evergarden is now its cheapest price since launch, so if you’ve been sitting on the fence now might be a great time. The discount is only on iOS because the Android version is still in ‘beta’ and is currently available for free.

Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!

By Admin 03 Apr 2019

Powernode is marketed as a “zen” puzzler, but I didn’t feel very zen when I started playing. Immediately, it began to take its toll on me as I struggled in vain to make quick calculations with small numbers multiplying around me, all meant to go to various stations in need of ‘charging’. It’s a confusing, frustrating operation if you don’t know what you’re doing at first, and can turn anyone who isn’t great with organizing things or making neat pathways off.

That was at first. Over the course of the time I spent with it, I found myself getting a bit better with each session. Where I began to break down with simple number puzzles, I was gradually improving and quickening my pace, creating even better energy networks than I had before.

That’s where Powernode excels: Helping you get a little bit better each time you play, even if you come into the game thinking there’s no way you could possibly be good at it.

Powernode will look immediately familiar to anyone who’s ever spent modicum of time with Mini Metro, a strategy simulation game that has you designing your own subway map between train stations.

Instead of getting passengers where they need to go by way of meticulously-organized train lines, however, you’re working to organize nodes, or number stations that fill with some sort of green substance when you successfully “power” them with the right sum. For instance, if you have a node marked “6” and two smaller energy crystals, we’ll call them, you need to figure out a way to use both of those crystals (perhaps they’re both “3” crystals) to get juice flowing to the node to satisfy its number requirements.

The diamond shapes emit pulses every few seconds that you can connect to the number stations in need of power. When the liquid has completely filled up a station, it will disappear. Of course, you’re not done there. As you continue to play, your micromanagement skills will need to kick into high gear, because additional numbers will sprout up like popcorn without any regard to where you are in your thought processes or whether you’re quick enough. When enough stations “die off,” you’re screwed, and it’s game over.

Any node outside of your “network” will disappear as well, though. This makes things a bit more difficult. So if you had a 4 and a 2 node here and there creating a 6 node to power one across the map, those are now gone, as additional stations continue to pop up at random.

It becomes extremely challenging as the game ramps up. Early on, when you deal with smaller numbers, trying to get nodes together efficiently makes you feel like a champ. But as soon as things start going faster, the game can begin to stress you out considerably.

There are a few things other than the demanding gameplay that might annoy you, too. The more you rely on one node, the slower its efficiency. This forces you to continually re-evaluate how you’re going to power every station without having to make some sort of complicated web that looks more like a rat’s nest than power lines.

But when you lay the power lines down, there’s no way to rearrange them unless the nodes disappear. This means whatever mistakes you make, with nodes in the way of others will be there for the long haul, forcing you to stare right at your foul-ups for the rest of each session. Powernode could have used some sort of “undo” method, but I didn’t see a way to do so aside from restarting the entire game.

It’s all very exciting as the game begins upping the difficulty. When you accomplish some particularly impressive feats later on, you’ll feel like an absolute genius. But if you’re not good at multitasking, or it potentially frustrates or stresses you out, this is not the game for you, as it won’t hold your hand in any way or offer any assistance.

If you need a puzzler that’s beautifully minimalistic, numbers-based, and extremely challenging, pick up Powernode – you won’t regret it.

It’s nice to see a weekly update packed with a range of genuinely interesting new releases, sales and updates. It’ll set us up well for April as we start getting reviews out – this week has been more news focused as we’re in the limbo period between freelance budgets, but hopefully you’ve appreciated being kept up to date with some of the more notable happenings this week.

We’ve got a couple of features on the horizon that hopefully will start appearing next week, otherwise it’s mainly keeping on top of the review pile.

Meanwhile, in mobile gaming…

Out Now

Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?! (iOS Universal) (Review)

Headline for this this week is a new entry in the tongue-and-cheek Holy Potatoes! Series, which we reviewed yesterday. This version sees you put in charge of a spy agency, building up your HQ, going on missions and navigating through a central story. For fans of the series it’s more of the same, which is fine although we hope to start seeing more innovation in the future. For newcomers this is a respectable espionage-themed management game that’s refreshingly silly. Hopefully, we’ll see this one cross over to Android.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVQaFRNDIoM?controls=0]

This War of Mine: Stories – Father’s Promise (iOS & Android) 

For some reason PT never covered the original mobile release of This War of Mine, arguably one of the most successful indie titles of this generation. While it’s narrative focus isn’t quite the kind of thing we look at here, the marriage with tense, survival mechanics as you strive to live through the civil war that’s tearing up your city makes for some morbidly compelling gameplay. The Stories spin-off is a stand-alone tale, with a unique story and unique locations, and is a stand-alone release.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5BKWZEEog?controls=0]

Sports releases are few and far between in the mobile world, so we try to highlight newcomers wherever we can, especially across sports other than Soccer/Football. We’ll try and get a full review of this one up and running so true baseball fans can gauge whether or not this is worth their time. The 2019 version of R.B.I. Baseball sports some new features such as a Franchise mode that lets you manage the same team across multiple seasons, and of course the yearly updates to rosters, uniforms etc…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRd86HHqkBY?controls=0]

The sequel to Clarus Victoria’s Predynastic Egypt turn-based management/sim game, although this new title is only on iOS for the moment. Released on PC last year, Old Kingdom offers more of the same simulation-like gameplay where you must guide Egyptian society through the “Great Pyramids” era. The mobile version represents starts at ‘2.0’, so it’s had a lot of fixes and improvements since launch on top of the new features brought in.

The developers are offering the main game for free, where you can play through the first 50 odd turns, with the full game being locked behind a £4.99 IAP.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wgN5BpKssY?controls=0]

Shattered Plane (iOS & Android) – Full Review Coming Soon!

Last but certainly not least, a new turn-based strategy game has come to turn. Shattered Plane pits four players and/or AI opponents against each other in a fast-paced game of conquest. You have armies that you push around the map, and you can either attack your opponents armies or conquer settlements. It describes itself as ‘tactical’ but there arn’t any actual tactical battles – everything auto-resolves. Planning is paramount, and maps are procedurally generated. There are online rankings, as well as local hotseat multiplayer available. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VTuzdMJMuE?controls=0]

Updates

Rebel Inc. (iOS & Android) (Review)

Ndemic have released the third major update for their insurgency strategy game, Rebel Inc. Free content includes deserting soldiers and luxury hotel construction, while the Tanks & Caves expansion adds a new maps, a new commander, and tanks! You can unlock the expansion for $1.99 or by playing through the whole game on Brutal. There’s a season pass option now as well.

Don’t forget to check out our tips & tricks guide if you’re looking for advice – we’re in the process of updating it with the new content.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (iOS & Android)

One of Bioware’s all-time classics, Knights of the Old Republic, as been a welcome sight on mobile for a while now thanks to Aspyr (the same company that brought Civilization 6 to iPads as well). Being as aged as it is, you don’t often see much support for it these days but the mobile devs have been good at pushing out quick-fixes where they’ve been needed. This week they released a small patch that made some UI & resolution adjustments for iPad and iPhone X devices, as resolving a crash issue on iPad Pro.

Sales

Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! (iOS Universal) (Review): $2.99
Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! (iOS & Android) (Review): $1.99

In celebration of the release of A Spy Story, above, Daylight have discounted their other Holy Potatoes! games, so if you’re interested in checking out the others now’s a great opportunity to jump on board.

Wars Across the World (iOS Universal) (Review): $0.99

One of our favourite iOS war games is currently half price for the second time since launching… although considering full price is $2, that’s not saying much. WATW’s main thing is through the various scenario DLCs available, which are still their usual price. Still, if you’re looking to speculate, now is a good a time as any.

Solitairica (iOS & Android) (Review): $1.99

We’re getting a lot of roguelike/card game combinations coming out at the moment, but back in 2016 Solitairica set a gold standard for this type of game. You can read Tof’s review to find out our full thoughts on this, but if you haven’t tried it yet we’d highly recommend you do so while it’s going cheap. Note that the game is free-to-download on Android, with IAPs for the full game.

Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!

Having previously taken command of a spaceship in Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! and catered for the adventuring needs of fantasy heroes in Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! our valiant potatoes are back. In a title replete with the usual abundance of punctuation, our resourceful tubers have decided to now turn their hands to building their very own spy headquarters in Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?!

Twins Ren and Rexa are on a mission to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of their parents by infiltrating the shady spy corporation that they feel is responsible. You oversee the twin’s enterprise; hiring spies, building facilities, decrypting files and designing the kind of gimmicky gizmos that would make Inspector Gadget green with envy.  A spy agency obviously needs spies, ideally, spies with silly names that are parodies of well-known figures. Your basic spy will fall into one of four different categories of expertise. Brainy analysts are excellent code-crackers, whilst fighters favour a more direct approach to problem solving. Charmers are your typical James Bond style smoothies and thieves rely on some good old-fashioned skulking around in the shadows. Spies also have special skills and four characteristics, which improve with experience and training. These are fighting, intelligence, stealth and charm. It doesn’t take a genius to work out which class of spy favours which characteristic. As your reputation increases, famous spies with their own unique skill sets may also offer their services to your agency.

The fun really begins when you embark on a mission. These assignments require you to overcome various obstacles whilst taking care not to alert your target. Some missions will give you the choice of different paths and you can reduce the risk further by spending cash to carry out some preliminary reconnaissance. This will provide you with more information about the strengths and vulnerabilities of the challenges that lie ahead. For instance, you may discover that a solid security door is resilient to physical attack but vulnerable to hacking. Sometimes, an obstacle can remain stubbornly obtuse, forcing you take a lucky guess. Missions start off simple enough, an early one will have a spy sneaking into a bully’s bedroom and planting a spycam disguised as a bogey. This gives you an idea of the silly, off-the-wall storylines that you will encounter as the game progresses. When tackling a mission, the trick is to ensure that the agent you send is the best suited to deal with that particular set of obstacles, keeping detection levels low and reducing the risk of failure.

There are mission paths that will require a spy of a particular class; others require the use of additional gadgets. A spy can also take a vehicle on a mission which will allow them to carry even more gadgets, although don’t get too excited as your first mode of transport is a shopping trolley rather than an Aston Martin. Upon first sending a spy on a mission you will probably feel a little let down by the graphical representation of proceedings. A small window will open with tiny icons depicting the positions of your spy and any adversaries and obstacles. Your spy will make their way to the target, dealing with any problems along the way before reaching their goal. There are a few special missions that will require you to take a team of spies. To be successful your team should have a well-balanced range of abilities. These sections switch to real-time decision-making as you attempt to discover the weakness of your adversaries and defeat them before your energy bar hits zero. These intermissions are quite jarring, replacing the considered decision making of the rest of the game with a much more hit and miss approach.

When spies are not away on top-secret missions, sipping Martinis and seducing enemy agents, there are plenty of other less glamorous tasks that they can be assigned to. If you are going to stand a chance of completing the tougher missions then you will need to put your team through rigorous training regimes. A large range of different training facilities will become available as you play; you just need to have the funds and space to build them. Often, when you complete a mission you will find some form of encrypted digital media. Allocating a spy to the lab will let them unlock these secrets, maybe earning some cash or blueprints for new buildings. You can also allocate a team member to build or upgrade gadgets and vehicles. 

You don’t want your HQ to look like a building site, so building a few decorative features is also a good idea, not only do they look nice but they also earn some nice bonuses, especially if you discover the best combinations. Be careful though, because if you give a spy too many domestic duties rather than missions then they are likely to become disillusioned. You can try and cheer up a member of your team with a gift, but if a spy is particularly grumpy then it may be best to retire them – after all a cranky spy could turn out to be a treacherous one. 

In terms of playability, A Spy Story doesn’t stray too far from the template used in the previous two releases; the same cartoon-style graphics, crazy subplots, awful puns, popular culture references and catchy tunes. Thankfully, it also contains the same addictive and engrossing gameplay. Although it is very rewarding to oversee the development of your spies and HQ, the constantly ticking clock means that there will soon be 101 things clamouring for your attention.  It can become very intense and possibly a little too chaotic. A criticism that can also be levelled at all of the games in the series is that when the story missions get tough, progress stutters to a halt and you are forced to spend time grinding up levels which becomes a bit of a chore.

Despite the undeniable silliness the Holy Potatoes! games still offer a surprising amount of depth and challenge, this probably explains why the developers take an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach.  The problem is that veterans of the series may feel that the format is becoming a little over-familiar and apart from the new theme and story (which are both great) the game doesn’t really bring anything new to the party. If you love the series then you will be reassured to discover that A Spy Story is another high-quality entry in the series. If you enjoy management sims but haven’t played a Holy Potatoes game before then, don’t be put off by the silliness, just choose your favourite potato dish (space, fantasy or spies) and tuck in.

By Joe Robinson 27 Mar 2019

Pocket Tactics favourites Playdek seem to be recovering from whatever it was that was affecting them a year or so ago, when all was quiet and we were genuinely concerned for their future. Case in point: they’ve just announced another project as part of their long-standing strategic partnership with physical war game publisher GMT Games. 

We already knew they were working on a port of Labyrinth: War on Terror 2001 – ?, but today they’ve announced they’re also working on a digital port of Fort Sumter for PC & mobile devices. Fort Sumter is a fast-paced card driven game based around the historical events that led to the start of the American Civil War. It’s not a war game – there are no troops to command and the game doesn’t even technically cover the ACW itself.

Instead, it attempts to model the political struggle in the days and weeks leading up to the initial siege of the fort by the Confederate force (which kicked off the Civil War). It’s a card driven strategy game with very limited actions, and a lot of tough choices to make. You can read what our very own Matt Thrower thought of the physical game in his article over at Wargamer.com:

Your goal is to have more cubes than your opponent in all three spaces of the same aspect, earning you a point. But there are catches to keep the game interesting. Most notably, it penalises players for adding too many cubes too fast. Historically this models the way that taking up extreme positions both attracts and repels aspects of public opinion. But it’s also a clever route to game balance, like Twilight Struggle’s “Defcon” track.

Shuffling cubes among board spaces doesn’t sound like a historical game. And the first time you play, it’s unlikely to feel like one. You’ll read the cards, match some symbols on the board, and ride out the half-hour play time like a fanciful abstract. But you’ll have a good time, because like any good abstract, Fort Sumter is full of fun decisions.

We don’t really know anything more at this point – Playdek have confirmed it’s coming to PC, iOS & Android, but no word on timings yet. We’ll keep you updated as we find out more.