Townsmen 6

For some reason, the French revolution has been almost entirely unrepresented in video game form. It inspired musicals and great literature, but few of us have had a chance to play our way through it.

Until now, that is. Or, more specifically, until two years ago when Townsmen 6 first came out.

It's testament to HandyGames's skill that the game is as good now as it was back then, and while this Xperia revival doesn't add much to the mix it's still an eminently playable strategy title.

Your job is to guide several regions of France through the trickiest part of the revolution. Not the beheadings or the civil unrest, but the far more difficult task of getting the population to live contented, pleasant lives.

To that end you'll need to feed them, shelter them, and nurture them into citizens that the republic can be proud of.

You'll need to build houses, bakeries, fishing huts, and wells, digging for stone and chopping down trees to provide the raw materials. Later on you'll be trading and building whole cities, all the while keeping an eye out for the mischievous king and his armies.

Everything is presented in a neat cartoon style, and controlling the game is simple with the Xperia Play's D-pad and face buttons, although touchscreen controls are still preferable.

Townsmen 6 hasn't lost any of its charm in the two long years since it first came out, but it has lost a little bit of its sparkle. The depth of gameplay on offer is still remarkable.

It would be easy to dismiss Townsmen 6 as an old game and pay it no heed. If you do that, you're missing out on one of the most complete strategy gaming experiences on the Xperia Play.