Songs Of Conquest Mobile
iOS & Android, £11.99 (Coffee Stain)
Originally released on PC last year, the mobile version of Songs Of Conquest feels like coming home, its turn-based interactions and pixel art feeling just right on a phone or iPad.
Its tale of warring fantasy characters may not have much of a sense of humour but the mix of light exploration to gather buffs and new weapons, and capture farms and cities for your cause, is interspersed with engaging Final Fantasy Tactics-style battles.
Given its cute good looks it’s surprisingly tough, with fights easily able to blindside you when spell-casting enemy Wielders are involved. If you don’t mind a few retries, and make sure you scour the countryside for power-ups, this will keep you busy for weeks.
Score: 7/10
The Valley Of The Architects
iOS, £3.99 (Whaleo)
The intriguingly entitled Valley Of The Architects is a puzzle game involving getting passengers to their correct destinations using a series of lifts that operate autonomously.
Your job is to set the floor each lift starts on and adjust stoppers that they bounce off when they reach certain floors, to get everyone to the right place – while avoiding an expanding array of obstacles along the way.
Completing levels tends to mean a fascinating few minutes’ head scratching as you set everything up, testing and tweaking as you go, followed by a final run where each passenger weaves their way to their final goal via the artful sequence of lifts you’ve arranged for them.
It’s enormously satisfying, its elegant design and perfectly minimalist interface, music and sound effects creating just the right accompaniment to your puzzle solving.
Score: 8/10
Mo.co
iOS & Android, Free (Supercell)
A new MMO from Clash Of Clans maker Supercell, that adds you to the staff roster at a monster hunting start-up business.
Unlike recent hit Brawl Stars, and the rather less successful Squad Busters, Mo.co is pure PvE, so your character can only turn his or her increasing firepower on the cartoon monsters you’re all battling, and never on fellow players.
Hopping into a glowing portal you choose which level to attack depending on time limited events and available objectives, and while the first few hours feel fairly primitive in gameplay terms – hold down attack when you’re near an enemy – things get more interesting as you get nearer the endgame.
Once you’re sufficiently levelled there are challenges for four players where each takes on a specific role, and others where dozens of hunters club together to defeat super-bosses. Whether it has the staying power Supercell traditionally aims for remains to be seen, but it’s an interesting new direction for the studio.
Score: 7/10
