Price: Free Score: 8.5/10 Category: Strategy/Simulation
Simulation and strategy games can be quite addictive and LandGrabbers: Strategy Game is no exception. Developed by Nevosoft, LandGrabbers won Casual Game of the Year in 2011 at the Russia Game Developers Conference. It’s not difficult to see why. Gameplay requires the player’s utmost attention with timing playing a key role in how the game plays out.
Landgrabbers for Android positions players as the leader position of a medieval army, attacking enemy buildings and conquering maps. Timing is crucial. Players must upgrade their buildings to increase troop size and plan out which buildings to take over first and when to upgrade buildings. Upgrade too soon and an enemy might take advantage of the lower troop count. Upgrade too late and the player may not have enough troops to defend or take over other buildings.
Various aspects contribute to Landgrabber’s difficulty and need for the use of strategy when playing. Up to three different enemy armies can be on a single map. Each enemy in LandGrabbers is constantly vying for more territory. Every map has up to five different building types, each with its own battle characteristics. For example, the towers shoot at incoming enemy troops and the castles have stronger defenses. There are also three levels of difficulty: lieutenant, colonel, and general. Higher difficulty modes reward players with more gold which can be used to buy troop upgrades like faster movement speed and greater strength.
LandGrabbers offers 36 levels located in four different regions: forest, desert, iceberg, and island. A volcano region is coming with the next game update. Unfortunately, the first world must be mastered in all difficulty modes to earn enough gold to buy access to the next world. Players also have the option of buying diamonds with real currency to advance to the next regions. Diamonds can also be earned by allowing Nevosoft to post on Facebook and Twitter on the player’s behalf. It doesn’t seem like an awful trade at five diamonds per post. Twenty diamonds can easily be earned in the first ten to fifteen minutes of gameplay without spending a dime to get them. In spite of the need to earn gold or buy diamonds to gain further access to game content, LandGrabbers is still loads of fun. Playing at the greater difficulty modes is so much more intense, in a good, engaging way, waiting a little while longer to see a new region becomes quite easy.
The only controls used in the game require tapping the screen. There are no joysticks or buttons to press. That being said, LandGrabbers is heavily touchscreen based. Be prepared to constantly tap the screen. Troops are incessantly growing, depleting, attacking, and defending. This constant action bolsters an aspect that all strategy games need: a sense of urgency.
Visually, there isn’t much going on. Yet, there doesn’t need to be for this type of game. The map layouts vary in each level and the scenery changes in each region. Each army and its fortifications are a different color. All in all, LandGrabbers met all the necessary requirements for a visually functional strategy game.
The soundtracks in LandGrabbers marry the medieval storyline well. Orchestral instruments play a surprisingly varied numbers of tracks for a mobile game. With music playing such a momentous role in other gaming platforms, it is much appreciated to see it finally forcing its way into mobile games.
LandGrabbers offers titillating gaming that is actually worthy of pulling a person away from other gaming platforms. There is room for improvement from Nevosoft however. Players could win trophies that could actually be used in game rather than coming off as an empty excuse to post free advertising on players’ social media pages. However, for the most part, the game is an impressive success. Overall, LandGrabbers on Android is an addictive, fast-paced strategy game that is sure to win many devotees.