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Athenion might not have the pedigree of some other deck-building card games available for mobile, but that shouldn't put you off. This is a game that's packed full of bright ideas, fresh new gameplay modes and enough content that you can lose hours of your life to.

Battles take place on a 4×4 grid, and see you taking it in turns with your opponent to lay down cards. You draw up to five cards from your deck of forty at the start of every turn.

These are the units you're playing in the fight, and they range from hulking monsters to flighty fairies, from magical trees to fearsome undead dragons.

Your cards have arrows on them that you show you which direction they can attack. You'll also notice a bunch of other numbers on the cards. These let you know the hit points a card has, how powerful its attack is and how many soul points it grants you.

Those soul points let you attack your opponent and they're the key to victory. The first player to lose all of their own hit points is the loser.

There's a lot more going on than that though. For one thing you need to pick from one of six different factions before you even get to the fights.

These factions have different strengths and weaknesses and figuring out which of them best suits the way you want to play is the first step of a pretty long journey.

Different factions have different special moves as well. Some let you link together cards to make them more powerful, others are all about sacrificing weaker units to create pockets of dark magical energy. One lets you build giant rock walls that you can use to protect some of your units or power up others.

There are single-player challenges, regular events and much, much more as well. You're never short of something to do in Athenion, and the pace of the matches lets you get a lot of them in in a single setting.

The Good

There's a staggering amount of depth to Athenion. It's going to take you a good while to get to grips with the basics and once you've done that there are layers and layers to peel back. Every time you win you'll figure out a new strategy and every time you lose you'll be trying to find a way to right that wrong.

The game looks amazing too. The cards all sport a brilliant anime art-style and you'll want to collect all of them just so you can check them out. The speed of the fights is a massive plus too – they deliver huge chunks of tactical action in the sort of short-blast sessions that are perfect for mobile play.

On top of that there's a brilliant community to the game, and you never have to wait long to find an online battle. There are a number of different modes that let you practice with different decks, take part in intriguing events and fight it out in ranked and casual multiplayer matches.

The Bad

There's a pretty steep learning curve here, so if you're not in for the long haul then you might be better finding your card-based fun somewhere else. Even when you've got the basics down you've still got a lot to learn and it can be punishing to come up against an opponent who knows more than you do.

There are also a lot of currencies, crafting materials and other rewards to figure out. The game does tell you what they do, but the tutorials are pretty brief and you're left on your own for a lot of the time to try and get to the bottom of things.

Overall

Athenion might not be the easiest game to understand, but once things start clicking it becomes something really rather special. There are some brilliant ideas here and they're woven into a bright tapestry of gorgeous visuals and wonderfully paced mobile play.

It won't be to everyone's taste, and it's fair to say that some players are going to put it down before they've even got to the good bits, but this is one CCG that it's well worth sticking with.

8.2

OVERALL

Replayability 8.1

Game Controls 8.2

Graphics 8.7

Sound/Music 8.2

Gameplay 7.8

FREE

Athenion: Tactical CCG

ZERO-bit Company Limited

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FEZ Pocket Edition ($4.99) by Polytron is the official mobile port of the popular indie game that debuted in 2012 on Xbox Live Arcade. Due to the popularity of this indie darling, it expanded to other platforms after a yearlong exclusivity agreement. This is the game that primarily inspired other popular titles, such as Monument Valley.

If you've been paying attention to the gaming scene in the past few years, then you'll know that the Escheresque-style (inspired by M.C. Escher) puzzle platformer games have been on the rise. It really started to get popular with Monument Valley, but that had to get its inspiration from somewhere too, right? Well it did, and that was FEZ. This is the puzzle platformer game that started all of the shifting perspective styles that we see in other games, and it's finally available on mobile, after much anticipation. I bought FEZ a while back on Steam, but nothing beats having your favorite games in the palm of your hand while you're out-and-about.

$3.99

Monument Valley

ustwo Games Ltd

$4.99

Monument Valley 2

ustwo Games Ltd

Visually, FEZ Pocket Edition retains the same classic art style as the original game. This means blocky, voxel-style graphics (think similarly to Minecraft) and pixel art mixed together in one. That's because the game starts off with just 2D graphics, but then the story unfolds and things move into a 3D perspective. The character sprites themselves are always in pixelated, 2D form, which is fun to watch as things shift between 2D and 3D. The color palette in FEZ is bold and vibrant, but there are times at night when it's darker and more eerie. Animations are buttery smooth and fluid on my iPhone 8 Plus, so I experienced no issues with frame rate lag or choppiness.

Another thing about FEZ that is well done is the music and sound. The game contains a soothing, ambient and atmospheric soundtrack that immerses you into the game world. I recommend grabbing your favorite pair of headphones and sitting back with this game, because you'll lose a few hours with it. The sound effects are also nice, as they're rather quirky and charming. Overall, FEZ Pocket Edition retains the great visual and audio design from the original game.

In FEZ, players will find themselves taking the role of Gomez as he tries to live day-to-day life at home. However, he must embark on an adventure and soon gets a cute little fez, which grants him the power to see beyond the normal world, and even other dimensions that were hidden in plain sight. You'll eventually get a Navi-like cube guardian who helps you in Gomez's journey, providing you with tips and guidance on what you must do. However, it's pretty straightforward: find cube shards scattered in each area and gather them all to restore order to the universe.

Controls in FEZ Pocket Edition are simple and optimized for touch screens. In the bottom left corner is an on-screen D-pad with four directional buttons for going left, right, up, and down. The bottom right area of the screen has buttons for interacting with objects and doors, jump, and talk. It's pretty elementary stuff, and works well for the most part.

Once you get past the part in the story where you can shift perspective from 2D to 3D, then all you have to do is drag horizontally on the screen. This lets you move the camera around, and lets you see parts of the area that you wouldn't have thought about before. Shifting the perspective opens up many new paths that you can take to reach places you wouldn't have been able to before, and it's good to experiment and see what you can find. FEZ has secrets and hidden treasures as well, so it's important to explore every nook and cranny.

The only thing I didn't like about the controls is that sometimes it gets a bit tricky to make the jumps that are further out. I had a few moments where I thought I tapped on the right buttons but I end up falling short, because the buttons felt unresponsive. Fortunately, there's no penalty to dying in FEZ, and you get infinite lives, so it's not a big deal if you mess up. Just be warned, though, that it does take a bit of practice and timing to get some jumps right in FEZ Pocket Edition.

While I'm still pretty early on in the game, I am loving it so far. I have the game on my Mac through Steam, but I find having it available wherever I go much more enjoyable. The game is also beautiful, and the ever-changing perspective lets you see things that weren't always there. It helps hone your observational skills. It's a fantastic puzzle platformer game with a ton of things to discover, so if you've never played FEZ before, then there's no better time than now to start.

Fez has been ported to iOS to deliver classic 2D platforming with a 3D twist.

The Good

FEZ Pocket Edition brings the lovable FEZ to our mobile devices. Even though the game is several years old, it's still as delightful and charming as ever. The graphics have a unique style, especially as you shift the perspective around constantly. The music and sound is incredibly done, as it fully immerses and captivates you as you play. The controls work out well for what it's worth, and the amount of secrets to uncover in FEZ mean this is one title you'll want to keep coming back to.

The Bad

There's a lot to love about FEZ Pocket Edition, but it's not perfect. If you've played the game before, then there isn't much new content in the Pocket Edition to warrant another purchase. And again, the controls could be better optimized for jumping and reaching hard-to-reach spots, in my opinion. But hey, there's no penalty for dying, so it's not that big of a deal.

The verdict

FEZ Pocket Edition is a worthy addition to anyone's mobile game collection. The game's unique visual style is captivating and lovable, and the music is relaxing. For a multi-platform game that was ported over, the touch screen controls work well enough for most, and it's a pleasant experience overall. There are many secrets to find in FEZ, so there's always a reason to go back to previous worlds and find things you missed. Overall, FEZ Pocket Edition is well worth the money.

FEZ Pocket Edition is on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $4.99.

9.2

OVERALL

Sound/Music 10

Gameplay 10

Replayability 9

Graphics 9

Game Controls 8

$4.99

FEZ Pocket Edition

Polytron Inc.

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