![]() ![]() Also, some customisation options for single player gameplay would have been a good addition. On the less pleasant side of things, the game features only one music track during play this is of decent length and quite good, but strangely when it ends it takes up to a full minute for the music to loop again. Pleasingly, you can choose to save any game and return to it later, but the games are commonly pretty quick so this is more a bonus than a necessity. ![]() An option to randomise this decision would have been nice. You also get to choose to control the red or blue army, which also determines who moves first. We didn't see much appeal in this, any more than we'd see the appeal of letting somebody else make our first ten chess moves for us before we got to play. You can also choose to use a pre-determined lineup which, puzzlingly, is the default option. In fact, the ability to play a legitimately challenging game of Stratego without having anyone else around may justify the cost on its own. Easy setting will still put up a good fight for new players, but even the most seasoned Stratego veterans will get their money’s worth out of Hard mode. Of primary interest here is the difficulty, which includes three settings. Whichever mode you choose, you will then be presented with several options. It's a very different experience, requiring a totally unique method of planning, so it can be considered as a puzzle mode, of sorts. Then there’s Stratego Duel, which is a much faster game in which each player only gets 10 pieces, rather than the traditional 40. In single player you can play a classic game or a popular variant in which the game board is rotated 90 degrees – believe us, it changes the strategy more than you'd think. ![]() There are two main modes of play, single player and multiplayer, and several additional modes relating to each. Everything in this game is controlled with the stylus, which couldn't be easier, though we do wish the game required you to be a bit less precise when tapping the screen many times we had to issue the same command twice because we were tapping a pixel or two away from where we needed to be. Next Edition keeps the classic Stratego formula intact, which means you're not likely to discover any unpleasant surprises if you're already familiar with the game. This is nice, as you don't have to keep asking the friend you're playing with what each piece can do, more or less giving away the arrangement of your troops as you do so. This may sound like a lot to remember, but Next Edition always reminds you of which pieces are capable of what whenever you touch them with your stylus. Finally we have the Spy, who despite being a measly rank 1, can actually take out the highest ranking piece on the board (rank 10), provided the Spy is the one attacking. The Scout (rank 2) can leap over as many empty spaces as he likes, whereas the other pieces can only move one at a time. The Miner (rank 3) can defuse bombs, and he's the only one who can do so, which makes him valuable and always worth protecting. Of course, it can't be that simple, can it? Certain pieces have additional abilities. When the bomb is touched by any piece, that piece is removed immediately and the bomb remains. When a flag is touched by any piece, it is captured and the game ends in the captor's favour. The two exceptions are the flag and the bomb. ![]() If two pieces are of the same rank, they are both out of the game. When a piece of a higher rank attacks (or is attacked by) a piece of a lower rank, it defeats the piece of lower rank which is then removed from play. The pieces each contain a number, though exceptions to this rule do follow, and this number determines their rank. When the game begins, each army (red and blue) positions its pieces wherever they like on their side of the board, and neither player can see which opposing pieces are which. The fact that the board game is a stone-cold classic doesn't mean anything if the port itself is lousy so how, exactly, does Stratego: Next Edition fare? Pretty well, actually.įor those unfamiliar with the game, Stratego is played on a single board that’s laid out like a grid. With its fast setup and addictive play style, it's the kind of game you find yourself playing twenty rounds of when you only wanted to play one or two. A game with rules so simple you'll understand them fully the first time you play, and yet so open to strategy and cleverness that you'll never play the same game twice. ![]()
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