Lux Touch – Review

Our rating:

By: Lux Touch

Version #: 1.0

Date Released: 2008-09-30

Developer:

Price: 0.00

User Rating:

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I love Risk.  I’m not talking about the board game either, I’m talking about my favorite all time computer game.

Lux Touch is the closest thing to Risk that is currently available for the iphone.

First, let me tell you what I like.  I like the fact that you can simply touch the area of the map that you want to attack and the app responds accordingly with a random result of win/loss.  I love the fact that you can hold your finger for a longer time on the area your attacking and the app will automatically continue to pin your army against your opponents on that area until there is a clear winner.  I especially like this feature when you are putting down large numbers of armies in one particular region of the map.  I also think the choice of colors and sound effects greatly improves the quality of game play.

Unfortunately, there are many places in this Risk implementation that could use improvement.

First, I think that the computer AI needs a massive overhaul.  Its just too easy to beat.  Many times, I will leave a border open and the computer chooses not to attack that area.  In addition, it also seems that the computer tends to horde its armies in several occasions rather than attack a bordering army when it has more than an ample advantage in the number of men.  Second, I think the ability to play against a real person through WiFi or some other means (alternating turns by handing off iphone?) would be much better than 4 computer opponents (which is what the setting is now).  Changing the number of opponents setting would definitely be nice.  And finally, I really hate the fact that if i have to leave the app to make a call, or do something else, the game i was playing is not saved and it starts a brand new game.

Since it is the only current Risk implementation on the iPhone and its definitely still a lot of fun, I find myself playing it over other games on my iPhone on many occasions.

Quick Take

Value: Very high, since its free.
Would I Buy Again:  I would in a second.
Learning Curve:  It takes a few minutes to come up to speed on the interface.
Who is it for:  Risk gamers.
What I like: Great sound, great use of touch interface for moves.
What I Don’t: No human vs. human play, very week computer AI leading to easy victories.

Final Statement: 

This is a good first attempt at a Risk type game, it would be much better if you could play live opponents and if the computer AI was more intelligent in its choice of moves.