Everlands
Platform: iOS, Android
Our little bear friend was about to take his morning stroll when some bees came along and attacked him! You soon learn of a larger plot involving an evil spreading throughout the land, infecting animals of all sizes with a dark sickness. It's your job to cure all the creatures of the forest in Everlands, a tile-based strategy game that bears some resemblance to position-based card games such as the Final Fantasy mini-game Triple Triad.
Everlands takes place on a hexagonal grid of varying shapes and sizes. You take turns placing animal tiles with your opponent, your hand resting at the bottom of the screen. Each card is labeled with offense and defense scores along with action arrows that shows which directions they'll attack in. For example, the spiny porcupine has arrows facing in five directions, meaning when placed, he'll attack anything bordering those sides. A tile that loses its hit points will be taken over by the other player. Animals also have special abilities, such as the leopard attacking first or the bear gaining an attack point when wounded.
Your goal in each level is to overpower your opponent and control a higher percentage of the board when all open slots have been filled. Everlands starts off a bit slow and easy, but that's all well and good, seeing as how it takes some time to learn the finer strategies needed to survive. Once you get the hang of it, you'll realize this cute little game is actually a richly nuanced challenge! Also: the animals are really, really cute.
NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on a NOOK Tablet. Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.
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