Back in Pocket Tactics‘ glory days, one of my favorite writers over there was Clancy. He was a lot like Owen, but without the snark. Or, I should say, a different type of snark, but he knew what the hell he was talking about and shared that info with aplomb. His reviews were delights, with one of my faves being for the roguelike-puzzle gem, Hoplite. Not only did Clancy give it 5-stars but, behind the scenes, he nearly convinced Owen that it was GOTY material. This in a year that saw both FTL and XCOM: Enemy Unknown land on the App Store. Even with that competition he wasn’t too far off. 2014 was a fantastic year for gaming, and all three of those titles remain on my iPad.
Hoplite took a little vacation from the App Store the past few weeks but, yesterday, rose from the ashes with a brand new 64-bit version ready to conquer iOS 11.
Hoplite is a clever roguelike that plays like more of a puzzle. You can select one action per turn, then your enemies act. Repeat until you kill enemies and escape, or you die trying. While that sounds a bit meh, the fact that every level is small and open, with pits of lava procedurally placed here and there, gives you a lot of choices to make every turn, and every single turn counts. If you mess up and realize, too late, that you should have done something else, chances are you’re toast.
Quest Mode:
• Make strategical choices to upgrade your abilities as you dive deeper into the underworld.
• Earn achievements and unlock access to new upgrades.
• Procedurally generated levels give a new experience every play.
• Challenge your friends and see how you rank on the leaderboard.Challenge mode:
• Jump straight into the action with a randomized set of upgrades.
• Try to beat the daily challenge or play predetermined challenges at two difficulty levels.
Last night’s update includes the upgrade to 64-bits as well as some bug fixes. Otherwise, it’s the same great game that we’ve been able to play for nearly 4 years now. If you haven’t played it, there’s a reason Owen and Clancy both loved this one. Pick it up! It’s currently $3 and worth every penny.
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