Grand War: Army Strategy War

A good turn based strategy game which meshes the game genre with the historical period and freemium time based purchases well. Easy to play and immersive, the game provides historical context involving military leaders during the Napoleonic era and the tactics to win each level reflect keys to victory each different military employed. However, the game has some glaring bugs such as unable to complete all objectives on level 1 on Normal difficulty and the numerous spelling and translation errors throughout the game. It’s clear the developer skimped on the translation of the in-game story. The minor bugs that persist in the game do distract from the fun and immersion. ========== 05/21 Update ========== The game has been updated to put many top tier troops behind a paywall. While many levels do not need this, the harder levels seem to require access to these units. The developer has also taken more of a focus on monetizing the game as even things which are labeled “free” cost money. The unit abilities in game are also not well defined. How critical hits are determined is not described and other unit specific abilities provide no tactical difference between unit tier and type. The game could be much richer with small things like trait differences between dragoons and cuirassier, but falls short here.

As usual, another great game from the developer. A lot of fun to play. Easy to learn but in depth enough not to be boring. Great graphics and animation. My only quibble is that purchasing new generals and/or units is expensive, but that’s the developer’s choice and is unfortunately pretty standard for app games nowadays. I caveat that last point by praising the developer for not supplementing with massive amounts of ads. In fact, if you don’t want the daily benefits and don’t want to pay to play then you can avoid ads entirely. It’s a smart choice and is appreciated.

I’m a big fan of this developer’s strategy games. They are not overly complex, but perfect for casual game play. The graphics are enough to bring about the pageantry of this era. Some reviewers have suggested that the game is pay to play, which couldn’t be further from the truth. There is an opportunity to spend money for perks, but that’s only fair considering the amount of time the developer has spent developing such a nice game. I do spend money on these games, but more because I want to encourage development of more of these types of games than from necessity to advance. If you’re a fan of war strategy games, or the Napoleonic Era, this game is a must.