Planar Conquest Review

If you could describe Planar Conquest in one word that word would be “ambitious”. For a game downsized into a platform as small as an iOS device, the developers have really tried to pack in as much as they can into the title. Perhaps this glut of content is a main driver behind its £8.99 price tag, which app-lovers might see as slightly excessive for a game that you effectively play during the commute.

Nonetheless, Planar Conquest sets out to prove that you can pack big things into small packages (get your mind out of the gutter). The game takes place in your bog-standard fantasy world, dominated by planes of existence that are effectively different planets. These planes are controlled by sorcerers and mages who own vast empires through the universe. It is your job, as one of these masters of the arcane, to defeat everyone else and bring it all under your rule.

The first thing you might notice about Planar Conquest is that it’s very similar to Sid Meier’s time-sink magnum opus Civilization, in that when you start a game you are allowed to pick a plane type (terrain type), the abundance of resources, the climate and the size of the landmasses. Three plane types are available at the start of the game, the rest being unlockable as you progress or, if you feel so inclined, unlockable via your wallet.

You’re also able to choose your race, sorcerer type, favourite spells, traits and attributes. As mentioned before, this game has a tonne of detail invested into it. Rather disappointingly, as is the case with the selection of your world, four of the races (which look to have the most design and writing work put into them) are locked away behind a paywall. You’re left with the fairly bog-standard Humans, Elves, Dark Elves and Undead.

Once you’ve loaded in, the game gives you a small starting space, with one city under your control and a set of units able to move and explore around your territory. It’s a good thing that Planar Conquest has an extensive tutorial, since the player will be confronted with a dizzying array of menus, screens and options. There’s your city screen, research screen, magic screen, army screen, events screen, diplomacy screen and more, not to mention a rather large assortment of icons across the entire UI.

Exploration of the world reveals resources, collectables, and special events. Oftentimes the latter two will be guarded by some generic neutral enemies you must defeat in battle and this is where Planar Conquest might surprise you. Instead of the two sprites hammering on each other a la Civilization, the game takes you down into a battle screen akin to Master of Magic - two sets of units staring at each other across a battlefield. You can then control the soldiers in your army in an RPG-style turn-based battle. It’s a refreshing change from the strategy game norm and feels like a game in its own right at times.

This being a mobile game, the graphics aren’t anything to write home about but they do the job fairly well considering the amount of back-end depth this title has. The animations and sound are solid, if uninspiring, and do the job they need to in order to keep you playing. Those playing the game on iOS devices with smaller screens (such as the iPhone 5c) may also struggle with this title, as manipulating the vast number of icons, buttons and tiles can be a struggle.

To be honest, if you’re looking for a tile-based grand strategy game that fits in your pocket you can’t do much better than Planar Conquest. With oodles of content and a surprisingly engaging battle system, you might find yourself spending a decent chunk of time playing the magical lord in this little app that packs a big punch.