As I continue on my quest to discover new game experiences for the iPad, I’ve come across a number of great board-game adaptations for the iOS. Unfortunately, most of these games have been too complex for my whole family to enjoy. Exozet Games addresses this with a board-game adaptation geared toward a younger audience, Ramses II HD ($4.99).
Most people will remember the classic game of memory. Players take turns flipping over picture cards in pairs, and whenever there’s a match, they are scored for the discovering player. Continue to do this until all the matches are made, and the winner is the player with the most pairs. Ramses II HD is very similar to this, but with some added twists to make the game both more interesting and challenging.
The first change is that you are sliding pyramids on a rectangular grid to reveal one space at a time. Beside the game board, there’s a virtual stack of treasure cards, with the top card revealing a particular treasure. If the item revealed on the game board matches the top treasure card, you earn those points, but if you reveal a treasure that doesn’t match, no points are awarded, and it’s the next player’s turn.
In addition to this standard mode, several other options may be selected to alter the game a bit. My two favorites were the Sandstorm and Scorpion modes. With Sandstorm selected, the game board will randomly be reversed 180 degrees. Just when I have a good grasp of where the treasures are, the nasty sandstorm comes up and messes up my mental map! Scorpion mode adds another bit of drama to the game. Whenever the scorpion is revealed, players must carefully take turns moving one pyramid, with the goal of not revealing any treasures. As soon as one is discovered, that player must give a card to the opponent on the right. This mode had my six-year-old and I biting our nails as we tip-toed around the board, in an effort to hold onto our precious point cards. More often than not, I would bump into a treasure and he would gloat over his mini-victory.
Ramses II HD has quite good production value, and is a spot-on reproduction of the classic board game, without the set-up and tear-down that the table version requires. It might not appeal to every type of gamer, but younger players and those looking for a bit of nostalgia probably will have a great time with this app.
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