Empire building in the vast, cold reaches of outer space has been a popular topic in gaming for many decades: both for video games and traditional board games. Many would have thought it had been mined for all it had. So it came as a shock in 2010 when a little-known Scandinavian publisher released the board game Eclipse to a solar storm of critical adulation.
Tensions are brewing in the galaxy. The Galactic Council, formed to maintain peace between the spacefaring races after years of devastating war, is crumbling under pressure. Alliances are formed in secret, while old treaties wither and die. War - again - seems inevitable.
I'm not sure if you could excite my board gaming brain any more effectively than when I'd read into the pedigree of Army of Frogs. Developed by Big Daddy Creations as a follow-up to their wonderfully implemented iOS version of Neuroshima Hex, and designed by John Yanni who created Hive which is a near classic for my wife and I, I was instantly interested in hearing what Army of Frogs was all about.
Back in September I reviewed Neuroshima Hex, which is a fantastic little hex-based strategy release based on a popular real-world board game. Now the developers at Big Daddy's Creations have followed up with Neuroshima Hex Puzzle, a game that does away with the battles and the AI opponents and leaves the player to use the same rules and pieces to work their way out of pre-set jams. It's a strategy game meets puzzler!
If you were fortunate enough to enjoy the game Everlands, you'll find many similarities here in Neuroshima Hex. They're both hex based tactical games where you'll be placing tiles and attacking your opponents. But where Everlands used cute animals as your units, Neuroshima Hex uses proper military might. Well, maybe not "proper," but they're soldiers, so the fact that they're killing each other makes a little more sense.