Category: Game Releases

I don’t know if Erno Rubik would be proud or distraught if he ever laid his eyes on Euclidean Skies. It could not have existed without him, his dedication to mechanical logic puzzles, and the proliferation of his Cube into the ’80s smart guy scene. But it doesn’t at all resemble the tactility of the Cube itself. To him, the Cube represented a more spiritual and elemental connection to nature’s perfection. The leyline between mathematics and the human condition lies in the Cube.

This extended past his puzzle box and eventual toy empire. Rubik believed that the geometric cube was a divine shape, and that his Cube was just an expression of something bigger. “The number three seems to have a particular significance,” he once said of it, “relevant in some strange ways to the relation between man and nature.”

Euclidean Lands, 2017’s clever prequel, represented these concepts more directly. Its echocrome/Monument Valley camera trickery and Rubik’s Cube puzzle principles were sound on their own. When met with the strategic combat of Chess or developer Square-Enix’s Go Series, the experience was next level. If the Cube is fundamentally anthropological, then is there a human complement to the furious combat raging on its surfaces?

Euclidean Lands maintained the sort of simple elegance of the primary subject matter, even as it expanded into its later, more extravagant stages. From almost the first stage, Euclidean Skies rejects that elegance. It resembles less of Rubik’s holy Cube, and more like every other puzzle on the shelf next to it. You know the ones – the Hanayama U-bolts wrapped around one another that you must disassemble, or Nier Bohr’s Tangaloids, or that weird thing that looks like a wire hanger wrapped around a piece of wood.

The concept is the same. By both shifting the land you stand on, and moving space by space on its surface, you must slay all the enemies and exit the stage. But almost every bit of that foundation is iterated on in Euclidean Skies.

Firstly, in the core conceit. Unlike in Lands, all of the bad guys are mobile. When you move, they move, creating that sort of turn-based call-and-response relationship that 1980’s Rogue introduced to the world. At once, you are both moving to avoid the enemies predetermined paths, and moving to intercept and destroy them. That tension between tapping spaces and spinning whole rows in order to dodge and corner foes is an engaging experience far beyond just trying to place yourself around static targets.

This added kinetic energy often clashes with the added scope and dimensions of each puzzle. No longer is every stage beholden to the cube shape. Now, they can meander into outstretched pathways, often not even connected by blocks. The axis that each row and column spin on aren’t always even, either. So what may appear to be a cube will actually unravel into an exploded mess after just a couple of turns.

This is a blessing and a curse. Not being attached to some predictable central core means that even puzzles that may start out in a similar arrangement can end dramatically differently. These can also create obstacles to block enemy movement, or set a hard point to swing an enemy into, destroying them like baseball bat might a glass vase.

These transformable platforms can be their own obstacles though. With this new range of transformation comes a camera that is free to move where ever you need it to go. But if that camera isn’t facing a particular way, moving the world the way you want can be impossible. It’s a war of position. A totally winnable war, but one that will be fought in little annoying battles more often than you’ll want.

If Euclidean Lands achieved a sort of tranquil state thanks to the sound, models, and color palettes relationship to that slower paced gameplay, Skies is a practice of staving off chaos. The pale warmth of the sunsets and blocks are replaced with scorchingly bold reds and greens and blues. Your character, a nameless woman with a large sword, is dripping with personality. Same with the enemy models, which are packed with details that you often fail to see because you’re never close enough to see them, or incentivized to stop and smell the trimmed cloaks and armor.

There is a sort of charm lost in the switch from the ultra-minimalist style to this new, more aggressive one. It’s not as dramatic as, say, Nidhogg to Nidhogg 2, but it still takes a period of adjustment. Ultimately, this new art direction allows for environmental details that really expand the sense of surrealism from stage to stage. Stone awnings curl around the play area in wide arcs. Skeletons of giant beasts drape themselves over branches, periodically serving as obstructions to prevent moving a row a certain way. Lush trees and waterfalls add a sense of adventure when traveling between doors or maneuvering around paths. While it feels less orderly, it’s absolutely more expressive.

All this new kinetic energy can make this almost feel like a race against time. Some moments of twisting and twirling may cause the images to look less polished, or force the animations to creak while the framerate catches up. While playing, more often than I like to admit, I would find myself completely out of sorts several minutes into a puzzle. Blocks had been rotated so much that I’d no idea how to get them back. Soldiers wedged in between each other, swapping positions ad nauseam. A quick tap of the reset button straightens you out, but when I’m stuck in Skies, I’m waaaaay more helpless than when I was in Lands.

The hints are vague, but the special objectives can serve to keep you focused, even if you can’t solve the puzzle with only one move, or other such feats of heroism. In maybe the most indulgent – and least effective – attempt at moving the formula forward, there’s a feature that lets you play a given puzzle in a digital version of your physical space. The augmented reality function is finicky, and the experience isn’t worth the effort at all.

Would old Erno appreciate this expansion away from the primal and sane simplicity of his Cube? Not sure. Elegance is traded for unabashed ambition, and for those not concerned with how it sits in the cosmic order of things, Euclidean Skies is a no-brainer to add to the collection. It finds a way to break every rule Euclidean Lands wrote, and with its own sort of rugged flair. It can’t be the holy Cube again, that’s trite and uninspired. This new thing may not be some perfect union of heaven and earth, but the rest of the shelf is great too.

Every year over-optimistic newspaper headlines promise an Indian summer, only for August to be meekly followed by a shivery and soggy September. Happily, when Pocket Tactics promises an Indian summer we are true to our word. So, pull on your boots and let’s take a timely hike through the glorious autumnal woodland of New England.

Indian Summer is the second part of Uwe Rosenberg’s puzzle trilogy and follows 2016’s Cottage Garden, strangely Uwe’s Patchwork, which shares many similarities isn’t considered part of the series. The game shares the same tile-laying, grid-filling gameplay of the aforementioned titles but this time the action is geared towards more experienced players.

The aim of Indian Summer is to fill your section of the forest floor with leaf tiles, foraging for “treasures” and attracting wildlife as you go. Each player has a forest board that is divided into six sections. Boards feature a random assortment of mushrooms, berries, nuts and feathers that once collected can be used to trigger special powers. 

Players begin the game with a collection of five leaf tiles; these are Tetris-style pieces that players take turns placing on their boards. Tiles are colour coded and are three, four or five squares in size. The innovation is that much like a Polo mint, each tile has a hole. Ideally, you want to place a tile so that a woodland treasure can be seen through the hole. When a player manages to complete an entire section of the board all of the visible treasures in that sector will be harvested.

Mushrooms, berries, nuts and feathers may not be most people’s idea of treasures, but in Indian Summer they can prove to be extremely useful. Normally, you only refill your store of tiles when you place your fifth and final one, but use a berry and you can replenish your supply right away. Since there is a visible trail of tiles, you will know exactly which tiles you will be drafting, so you do not have to rely on a blind draw. Nuts attract squirrels, which can be placed on your board to fill a single square. Mushrooms allow you to steal a tile from two other players and immediately place them. Feathers allow a player to place two tiles from their supply in a single turn. You can exchange treasures based on their respective values, for instance, it would cost three berries to acquire a single feather.

Woodland wouldn’t be woodland without its fair share of critters. On your turn instead of laying a tile, you can instead place a squirrel. These are useful to fill those spaces that are too small to accommodate a leaf tile. There are also seven other types of animal tile that you can attract to your woodland habitat. Only one of these can be placed each turn and their numbers are strictly limited. Animal tiles can only be placed if you can overlay their shape with the corresponding vacant holes on your player board. Placing an animal over harvested treasures has the benefit of allowing them to be collected for the second time.

Indian Summer is a pure race game; there is no point scoring to worry about. The end of the game is triggered as soon as a player completes their board. The current round is played out to its conclusion before everyone has a final opportunity to trade in their treasures for squirrels, which can be used to fill in gaps. Players who are still unable to complete their forest floor lose. If more than one player has finished their woodland then the player who has the most remaining nuts wins. 

By now, Digidiced have pretty much nailed the tile-laying format. The game is well laid out and the controls are both smooth and responsive. There are still a couple of niggles: the tutorial could be clearer in places and the way that the interface handles the exchange of treasures takes some getting used to, however these are very minor faults. The presentation is charming with some cute animal animations and a lovely autumnal palette that replicates the board game perfectly. The laid-back acoustic music also complements the mellow atmosphere. The menu options adhere closely to the Digidiced standard, with pass and play, casual and ranked online matches available. The AI will give new players a decent challenge, although on the hardest level it does require a bit of thinking time.

A range of different player boards enhances replayability, although games do tend to follow a similar path. Indian Summer is a race, so acquiring the feather and doubling down by ensuring that you can overlay it with an animal tile, seems like a pretty solid way to go. Luck only plays a small part, and the deceptively simple but nuanced gameplay should appeal to a wide range of players. The tile stealing aspect may put some players off, but in fact, it feels more like an opportunity for the stealer to place an extra tile rather than a way of scuppering your opponents. The game plays well at all player counts, although pass and play games can grind to a halt if you include players who have a tendency to over-analyse their moves.

Indian Summer is yet another high quality digital board game conversion. The ability to swap and change treasures really adds an extra dimension to the tile placement gameplay. Choosing the perfect moment to use a mushroom to snatch a couple of juicy tiles from your opponents is highly satisfying. The exchange mechanic will also have you thinking, as you weigh up the benefits of using a berry to refill your hand, or save up and trade them in for something potentially more powerful. Players are not only racing to fill their board but also to complete and harvest individual sectors. So, although the general atmosphere is fairly laid back there is still a tangible tension to proceedings.

As much as we enjoy our serious mobile games here at Pocket Tactics, sometimes it’s nice to just unwind and have some fun with friends and family. Party games are a really entertaining and worthwhile genre of games and nothing’s better than meeting up, sharing a good meal, and capping off a hangout session via our mobiles.

Sometimes it’s hard to get a group of people together, but so long as there’s two of you, we’ve got another great list you might like. 

Easy to pick up, high-energy and socially demanding, but along with these requirements comes exhilaration, surprise and a guaranteed way to shake things up. The life of the party might just be lurking in the palm of your hand. Here’s our collection of the best games you can play with your friends, whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad or an android device.

Identity V

Developer: NetEase Games
Platforms:  iOS, Android
Price: Free

One hunter chases four innocents across a gothic manse while the would-be escapees struggle to find and solve puzzles. The asymmetry and creepy-cute aesthetic make for a thrilling and iconic experience. The devs are always experimenting with new play modes (like the 8v2 for starters) and the hunt-or-be-hunted setup is a timely mix of the survival- and battle-royale games so en vogue these days. Add in a splash of progression (skill trees, new and unusual characters, cosmetic unlocks) and you have a winner. 

Soul Knight

Developer: ChillyRoom
Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free

Soul Knight is a pixelated top-down arcade shooter with a dash of roguelike elements thrown in for good measure. Technically it’s not primarily a multiplayer game, but the local multiplayer mode is so good it would be criminal not to give it a shout-out here. The weapons are unusual and distinctive, dreamt up with some real flair. It takes some real skill to pull off impressive moves, but the difficulty-satisfaction curve is pitched just right with this one. 

Mucho Party

Developer: GlobZ
Platforms: iTunes, Android
Price: Free (effectively a trial with limited games), $3.99 one-time IAP for full unlock.

Sample a sumptuous variety of mini-games with inspired and easily-digested twists with goofy facial reactions, and deft touch controls. Your player avatar has an oversized head with a handful of emote options which are customizable: just snap a few photos of your mug with exaggerated expressions and mild hilarity ensues. Yes, the new Mario Party is a classic return to form but Mucho Party is a really nice substitute available for the price of a song. A hidden gem.

Heads Up! 

Developer: Warner Bros.
Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: $0.99, Free (android). Optional IAP to unlock extra category modes.

Heads Up! Was a victim of its own success for a time. The game is dead simple: a word appears on screen and is held above the guesser’s head. This same guesser is assailed by clues from teammates until the guesser finds the right word or phrase . Cycling through words quickly to rack up a high score, switching up the guessing role amongst team members. Heads Up! has one simple advantage over every other game on this list: it doesn’t need a surface to work. Works just as great standing or crammed together in a vehicle. Anywhere with good sight lines is fair game for Heads Up! short of a hall of mirrors. It’s so good that it’s cliche, at risk of getting played to death and forgotten. In case you’ve never given it a chance with a bored group, do.

Spaceteam

Developer: Henry Smith
Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free

Masquerading as chaos and nonsense, Spaceteam never fails to gin up a riotous good time. Navigating the reaches of space takes technical know-how and precise coordination, and Spaceteam spoofs these facts of spacetime-travel by splitting up instructions from control panels. Someone knows which button to press, and where, but the orders and details are deliberately turned into techno-speak-gibberish. Jabbering, giddy gibbons sharing gibberish…in space. Seriously though, the game works wonders for those improvisational types who thrive on chaos and unprecedented social situations. Oh, and it allows for cross-platform play between Android and iOS.

Talisman: Digital Edition

Developer: Asmodee Digital
Platforms:  iOS, Android
Price: $3.99, $3.49. See here for an extensive DLC guide.

Talisman is a wild time and a mess, digital or analogue, but it’s markedly tidier and every bit as much of a caper on the good old ‘pad. Collecting magic artefacts, spells and literal pieces of fate and destiny as the hour grows late. It’s a classic and epic game, but also well suited to casual meet-and-greets, too. Because each turn’s decisions are relatively simple and straightforward, players can banter, chow down or otherwise divert themselves without hampering the flow of the gameplay at all.

Psych!

Developer: Warner Bros.
Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free

Creative word games can be risky prospects when entertaining guests, but they also give such sharp turns of phrase and sweet surprises. (Cue Balderdash, Apples to Apples, Cards Against Humanity) Anything that allows for write-in answers is a golden opportunity, and Psych! Is no exception, adding replayability and variety. After hearing the prompt, each player jots down a fake answer to add to the pool. Points are earned by either guessing the true answer, or duping others into picking yours. It’s clean, freeform and effortless excuse to mess around and let your imagination run wild with some friends.

Mysterium

Developer: Asmodee Digital
Platforms:  iOS, Android
Price: $3.99, $3.49

Solve a murder mystery with a little ethereal help in Mysterium, where players will use richly illustrated images to try and winnow the guilty from the innocent. Just like in Clue, location, suspect and weapon will have to be grouped into the proper combinations. The mediums divine which of these combinations is valid, and then after successfully sleuthing, the group has to figure out which of the stories is the ghost’s own tragic ending. So a game that goes well ends where the ghost’s afterlife begun. It’s a fun gothic take on deduction, creative visual interpretation, and contention, sometimes downright quarrelsome co-operative goals.

Triple Agent

Developer: Tasty Rook
Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free

Triple Agent is a mixture of chaos and order, of ineffective backstabs, liars giving useful tips and honest fools botching the naked truth. It’s a find-the-betrayer style party game, just like Mafia and Werewolf, but what sets it apart from its ilk, aside from a whip-smart app and panoply of extra optional win conditions, is the total miniaturisation of the experience. One device is passed around to dole out identities, clues and the final elimination vote. The group at the end of the chaotic play session collectively eliminates one person, and if they were a Good Guy the Bad Guys win and vice versa. Really fresh interface and game design take on an old standard.

Worms 4

Developer: Team17
Platforms:  iOS, Android
Price: $4.99

Worms are good for the earth, enriching the soil and setting the fields for a rich harvest next season. Worms from Team 17, on the other hand, spend all their lives trading quips and aiming impractical and ultraviolent weapons at each other. Carpet bombs, napalm, the holy hand grenade, anything and everything is an instrument of death in Worms. The terrain is destructible too, and the only ‘loot crate’ drops are just in-game goodies and not a euphemism for scummy monetisation. This is a premier zany 2D shootout, decades old and no worse for wear.

What are your favourite party games? Let us know in the comments!