Castle Warriors

It’s rather difficult to accurately predict the likes and dislikes of long-dead historical figures, but we’d be willing to bet that if Napoleon were alive today, he’d think Apple’s iPhone was pretty bloody amazing.

Not only does it make calls, play music and generally have an app for everything you could possibly think of bar wiping your bottom after a visit to the toilet, it also allows you to command entire armies using nothing but your finger – something that a top-notch military commander like Nappy himself would unquestionably appreciate.

Castle Warriors is a good example of how you’re able to oversee the actions of a vast army via the glorious touchscreen of Apple’s popular device. Tasked with protecting the human kingdom from the malevolent advances of an evil Orc invasion force, you're called upon to marshal troops and deploy them into battle.

The game features a dozen maps, all of which are dotted with castles. When a mission begins, some of the fortresses are in your hands (these display a blue flag), while others are under the command of the green-skinned enemy. A few neutral, unoccupied castles are in the mix, too.

Your ultimate goal is to control all the castles on the map within a set number of days. Seizing a castle is a matter of sending troops to battle the occupying forces. Taps of a finger order troops from one of your encampments to the desired objective. Once this is done, half of the garrison will sally forth while the remaining half will stay put to guard the castle.

The division of units requires careful offensive planning. If the fortress you intend to invade has 100 Orcs inside, you have to ensure that your own staging point has double that amount (or more) to be successful in your attack. Alternately, you can pool your resources and launch a pincer attack from several different outposts at once.

At the end of each day you’re rated on performance, which rewards you with reinforcements. While it’s tempting to move all of your available soldiers to the front line, it’s worth noting that the more units you have in any castle at any given time, the quicker that particular fortress receives upgrades. Improved defences and even projectile weaponry, these come in handy when keeping your foe at bay.

Of course, while you’re doing all this your enemy is going about his own business, rapidly snatching up empty castles whilst trying to prise your own bases from your vice-like grip. The end result is a thoroughly challenging game of strategy which tests not only your mental agility but the dexterity of your digits, too. Moving around the map and issuing orders is stressful work – a little too stressful, in fact.

We often found that units were sent to the wrong destination thanks to the game refusing to recognise taps. Also, when there’s a lot going on, Castle Warriors has a habit of slowing down quite badly. This makes navigation troublesome, as finger swipes are either not recognised or delayed.

Such technical issues are unfortunate because they sully what is a thoroughly enjoyable game. Still, they’re not fatal problems by any means and those of you willing to persevere will find that Castle Warriors remains a solid proposition that is likely to captivate battlefield boffins for a fair few hours. Napoleon would have approved.