Hero Mages (by D20Studios)

[Vovin]

This game was made by just one dev, developed over 6 years, from board game to the digital version. According to the dev it is a mix of Magic: tG, D&D, Hero Quest, Warhammer and similar board games with a huge multiplayer aspect.

I recommend you all to give it at least a little look.

PS: it is universal.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.






Here's a DroidGamer review, you should also check out the really good designed web page (for much more reviews and all other stuff):

http://www.heromages.com

D20 Studios developed this gem of a game and it’s pretty under-the-radar. I don’t think I would have even known about this game if DroidGamers hadn’t mentioned it before I started homing my blogging craft (which is very much a work in progress). So I decided to take the game for a spin, and I’m absolutely glad I did.

Name: Hero Mages | Developer: D20Studios | Genre: Arcade & Action | Players: up to 4 players | Version: 1.6.2 | Size: 9.5MB | Price: $2.99 (Full) |

If you’re a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer 40K, Magic the Gathering, Risk, or table top strategy role playing games that are turn based all blended together, then you’re in for a treat.

Now before I start out with game details, I give props to the developer of this game. Having had other games in which there were issues, I have yet to have a developer work as hard as D20 studios did to make sure I was gaming. Another thing that really impressed me about D20 studios is how quick they responded to emails. I can’t really say enough about the positive experience I had with this developer. But I doubt you guys want to read my rambling words of praise. So on an ending note about the developer, you can tell that he really enjoys this type of genre of fun, and it reflects in his creation.

This game reminds me of a cross between old school Dungeons & Dragons, chess, Magic: the Gathering, 7th Saga (the Nintendo game), and (to some extent) Risk all mixed together. Controls are easy with pretty much a point and click set up. You have three characters to battle with—1 mage and 2 warriors and the battle rounds are turn based. I found that by switching up the characters you use whether you’re going for a mage, a bard, and a paladin or a warrior mage, an archer, or a warrior, you can end up with quite different results as far as how quickly you win or lose.

Then add in that you have walls and blocks that can create offensive and/or defensive areas, it’s really easy to find yourself thinking several moves ahead just like you would when playing chess or checkers. Don’t get me started when you think you have a solid setup and you lose, it’s pretty compelling to find yourself “oh yeah?! Well, I got something for you this time, Computer! Do you hear me?!”.

Spells are done through cards (spell cards) in which you can hold up to 7 at a time, so as you strategize your attacks, you can choose to keep the cards you have or discard them for other cards. Success on attack and defend is done with dice rolls. The player can choose whether the dice are actually visually thrown or not. I personally liked the visual dice roll touch. Choosing to opt out of seeing dice being ‘thrown’ does speed up game play but it’s by such a negligible amount. This isn’t the type of game you just rush through anyway. However, if you do just have a few minutes to spare and want to play this game, it does have a quick play mode.

Now the game can seem a bit confusing at first since it has a lot of depth, so I highly recommend going through the tutorial. And, by the way, the tutorial is very nicely done. Ross, the developer, made sure to throw in some pretty good humorous dialogue and character interaction during the tutorial.

As you can see, it’s a top-down 2D game. You can use the walls and blocks to your advantage as characters can’t move through objects and are limited to a 5 space move at a time. However, mages can cast attack spells (like a fireball) that comes down from the sky and the archer has the nice ability to attack from far away. The graphics are nicely done and everything is pretty colorful. In other words, it’s enjoyable to watch as you play. And, oh yeah, it has a pretty neat sound track to it also.

Invited the dev to tA...

(edit) ... and here are the videos:

Trailer 2010:


Youtube link | Pop Up


Gameplay video:


Youtube link | Pop Up

[Exact-Psience]

Looks instabuy to me whichever angle i look.

[Vovin]

Videos coming up!

edit: added them to the first post. Nice, how Ross explains all this stuff.

[Zedd2011]

Buying now, thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Love the look.

[Vovin]

Originally Posted by Exact-Psience

Looks instabuy to me whichever angle i look.

Apropos angle... I love how your characters look up and greet you when you touch them. It's all these little details and the love that went into the game, you really feel the devs dedication.

I just hope a big campaign will follow, but it already has lots of stuff.

edit: Added the device requirements to the thread. Ross, if you read this soon - I know the requirements are specified on the iTunes page, but better put it in the game description as well, for the completely blind people or the ones who buy it directly on their iPhone / iPod... You don't want a 3G user bite into your leg.

[Talbs]

This looks fantastic. This could be lots of fun. Not gonna wait for any reviews because it really does look quite well done. Bought, at the very least in support of the dev.

[Vovin]

Originally Posted by Talbs

This looks fantastic. This could be lots of fun. Not gonna wait for any reviews because it really does look quite well done. Bought, at the very least in support of the dev.

This, this, this and this. Last point was very well said.
I also think that the price is very reasonable from what I saw.
And the dev ensured further development as well as listening to the players. What could we ask for more?
We just need to take into account that he's a single dev and needs some more time probably.

[Ayjona]

The "rejoin a game if you lose your connection" makes me think this does NOT offer asynchronous multiplay. Which would be a shame, really. Is this so?

[syntheticvoid]

woah... looks... VERY nice. I don't want to admit that I miss the days of playing D&D with friends 15+ years ago... but... I do. This looks awesome! =oD

[Vovin]

Originally Posted by Ayjona

The "rejoin a game if you lose your connection" makes me think this does NOT offer asynchronous multiplay. Which would be a shame, really. Is this so?

That has yet to be found out but I guess the description would mention it.
But I think with all this multi-player stuff in it, it would be easy to fix it to Game Center and add asynchronous multiplayer.

For everyone unsure:

you can try out the game brower-based via Amazon!