22/11/10
Samurai is the third in our Reiner Knizia Game App Review series (Robot Master, Ingenious). Another quality game by our friend Conlan Rios.
Samurai is a game of area control played on a representation of Japan's major islands. You must vie for influence over the three main factions, Religious, Mercantile and Military. You do this by surrounding pre-placed hexagonal icons on all sides with similarly hexagonal tiles in your hand.
The tiles in your hand represent one of the three factions and an influence number between one and four. At most, you can touch two icons with a tile at a time, so you must be careful to place them where they will be the most effective.
Additional tiles include the titular Samurai that exert influence on all three factions, the ships that can exert influences on tiles that border water, the swap tile that allows you to switch the type of two icons on the board, and the move tile that allows you to move a previously placed tile to another space.
Don't worry if you are not a fan of "war games." The feudal-war theme is strong, but the mechanics are neutral enough to please any light strategy gamer.
Samurai is not a game I own in its physical form, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything with this polished implementation.
The first plus point is that it's a Universal App! For one price, currently $4.99, this app works on your iPhone and iPad. Both versions work equally well so don't feel like you are missing anything by playing on one versus the other.
The second plus point is the art. The menu screens, tutorials and buttons are all beautifully rendered in a water-color painting style. The loading screens, which are brief, feature a clever scoring counting mini-game. Nice touch!
Speaking of the tutorial, this game is very well-taught. The three tutorials lead you through preset game scenarios that let you make the winning moves yourself. Unlike many Euro board games on the App Store, you don't need to know this game in advance to fully understand and enjoy the experience.
I haven't been able to try the online mode since I don't have any friends who've picked this one up. Hopefully after reading this review they'll be convinced.
Although the AI can give me a run for my money (maybe I'm not that good yet!), online multi-play in strategy titles like this adds a lot of longevity.
The overall experience is very enjoyable. This game is definitely a meatier strategy title than Robot Master or Ingenious, but no more than a game of Risk.
Samurai is well worth the money if you like the kinda games that have you scratching your noggin between each turn. Go and get it!
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Samurai is a game of area control played on a representation of Japan's major islands. You must vie for influence over the three main factions, Religious, Mercantile and Military. You do this by surrounding pre-placed hexagonal icons on all sides with similarly hexagonal tiles in your hand.
The tiles in your hand represent one of the three factions and an influence number between one and four. At most, you can touch two icons with a tile at a time, so you must be careful to place them where they will be the most effective.
Additional tiles include the titular Samurai that exert influence on all three factions, the ships that can exert influences on tiles that border water, the swap tile that allows you to switch the type of two icons on the board, and the move tile that allows you to move a previously placed tile to another space.
Don't worry if you are not a fan of "war games." The feudal-war theme is strong, but the mechanics are neutral enough to please any light strategy gamer.
Samurai is not a game I own in its physical form, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything with this polished implementation.
The first plus point is that it's a Universal App! For one price, currently $4.99, this app works on your iPhone and iPad. Both versions work equally well so don't feel like you are missing anything by playing on one versus the other.
The second plus point is the art. The menu screens, tutorials and buttons are all beautifully rendered in a water-color painting style. The loading screens, which are brief, feature a clever scoring counting mini-game. Nice touch!
Speaking of the tutorial, this game is very well-taught. The three tutorials lead you through preset game scenarios that let you make the winning moves yourself. Unlike many Euro board games on the App Store, you don't need to know this game in advance to fully understand and enjoy the experience.
I haven't been able to try the online mode since I don't have any friends who've picked this one up. Hopefully after reading this review they'll be convinced.
Although the AI can give me a run for my money (maybe I'm not that good yet!), online multi-play in strategy titles like this adds a lot of longevity.
The overall experience is very enjoyable. This game is definitely a meatier strategy title than Robot Master or Ingenious, but no more than a game of Risk.
Samurai is well worth the money if you like the kinda games that have you scratching your noggin between each turn. Go and get it!
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[#value] => Samurai is the third in our Reiner Knizia Game App Review series (Robot Master, Ingenious). Another quality game by our friend Conlan Rios.
Samurai is a game of area control played on a representation of Japan's major islands. You must vie for influence over the three main factions, Religious, Mercantile and Military. You do this by surrounding pre-placed hexagonal icons on all sides with similarly hexagonal tiles in your hand.
The tiles in your hand represent one of the three factions and an influence number between one and four. At most, you can touch two icons with a tile at a time, so you must be careful to place them where they will be the most effective.
Additional tiles include the titular Samurai that exert influence on all three factions, the ships that can exert influences on tiles that border water, the swap tile that allows you to switch the type of two icons on the board, and the move tile that allows you to move a previously placed tile to another space.
Don't worry if you are not a fan of "war games." The feudal-war theme is strong, but the mechanics are neutral enough to please any light strategy gamer.
Samurai is not a game I own in its physical form, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything with this polished implementation.
The first plus point is that it's a Universal App! For one price, currently $4.99, this app works on your iPhone and iPad. Both versions work equally well so don't feel like you are missing anything by playing on one versus the other.
The second plus point is the art. The menu screens, tutorials and buttons are all beautifully rendered in a water-color painting style. The loading screens, which are brief, feature a clever scoring counting mini-game. Nice touch!
Speaking of the tutorial, this game is very well-taught. The three tutorials lead you through preset game scenarios that let you make the winning moves yourself. Unlike many Euro board games on the App Store, you don't need to know this game in advance to fully understand and enjoy the experience.
I haven't been able to try the online mode since I don't have any friends who've picked this one up. Hopefully after reading this review they'll be convinced.
Although the AI can give me a run for my money (maybe I'm not that good yet!), online multi-play in strategy titles like this adds a lot of longevity.
The overall experience is very enjoyable. This game is definitely a meatier strategy title than Robot Master or Ingenious, but no more than a game of Risk.
Samurai is well worth the money if you like the kinda games that have you scratching your noggin between each turn. Go and get it!
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[#children] => Samurai is the third in our Reiner Knizia Game App Review series (Robot Master, Ingenious). Another quality game by our friend Conlan Rios.
Samurai is a game of area control played on a representation of Japan's major islands. You must vie for influence over the three main factions, Religious, Mercantile and Military. You do this by surrounding pre-placed hexagonal icons on all sides with similarly hexagonal tiles in your hand.
The tiles in your hand represent one of the three factions and an influence number between one and four. At most, you can touch two icons with a tile at a time, so you must be careful to place them where they will be the most effective.
Additional tiles include the titular Samurai that exert influence on all three factions, the ships that can exert influences on tiles that border water, the swap tile that allows you to switch the type of two icons on the board, and the move tile that allows you to move a previously placed tile to another space.
Don't worry if you are not a fan of "war games." The feudal-war theme is strong, but the mechanics are neutral enough to please any light strategy gamer.
Samurai is not a game I own in its physical form, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything with this polished implementation.
The first plus point is that it's a Universal App! For one price, currently $4.99, this app works on your iPhone and iPad. Both versions work equally well so don't feel like you are missing anything by playing on one versus the other.
The second plus point is the art. The menu screens, tutorials and buttons are all beautifully rendered in a water-color painting style. The loading screens, which are brief, feature a clever scoring counting mini-game. Nice touch!
Speaking of the tutorial, this game is very well-taught. The three tutorials lead you through preset game scenarios that let you make the winning moves yourself. Unlike many Euro board games on the App Store, you don't need to know this game in advance to fully understand and enjoy the experience.
I haven't been able to try the online mode since I don't have any friends who've picked this one up. Hopefully after reading this review they'll be convinced.
Although the AI can give me a run for my money (maybe I'm not that good yet!), online multi-play in strategy titles like this adds a lot of longevity.
The overall experience is very enjoyable. This game is definitely a meatier strategy title than Robot Master or Ingenious, but no more than a game of Risk.
Samurai is well worth the money if you like the kinda games that have you scratching your noggin between each turn. Go and get it!
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