iOS Universal, Android •
We reported it last month and our forums are going crazy with Polytopia-fever, but I feel it’s my duty to report to the three of you who either just found Stately Play or simply forgot about the news: Battle of Polytopia now has online multiplayer.
If you continued reading this far, I’ll assume you’re a Polytopia newbie because otherwise you’d be off playing against other blocky humans. Polytopia is a 4X game on a small, yet epic, scale. Think Civilization that can be played in 30 minutes instead of 30 hours, but still hits all the same buttons. You play as a blocky little civ–there are four free ones to choose from, each with their own special ability–and explore the area, exploit the resources to gain more power, expand your reach by building new cities, and exterminate any enemies that try to stop you. Traditionally, this has been a single player experience and wraps up in 30 turns with you aiming for the best score possible. Yesterday, the online doors opened, and things have changed.
Online multiplayer is available to anyone who has purchased one of the IAP tribes in the game, which means you’re eligible for as low at $1. That said, Midjiwan lets you in for completely free, so you should toss them a few bucks anyway, just so they can make rent. The multiplayer is asynchronous and games can consist of up to 12 humans smashing their little square heads against each other. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing on Android or iOS, either, as multiplayer is completely cross-platform.
There’s currently no matching service and you’ll need your friends’ codes to get them onto your friend list, so it’s a bit clunky. Then again, did I mention you can get all this for as little as $1? Midjiwan is also constantly adding and evolving the game (hell, it used to be called Super Tribes) so I’d expect the multiplayer to be constantly tweaked and perfected over time.
If you’re looking for a great, quick 4X experience hop on in, and then jump into our forums. Tons of Polytopia codes and challenges being tossed around as we speak. Go show them who’s boss.
There are some odd syncing problems between my phone and iPad. @Snotty128 and I started a game yesterday, and it didn’t sync up properly to my iPad so I thought I was waiting on him. Come to find out he’s waiting on me.
Under Profile (right most icon) there is a reload multiplayer data button which fixed the problem, just in case people need it.
Otherwise, I give it 7* out of 5. It’s a really well done implementation of MP