Review: Galcon

Galcon is a fast-paced arcade strategy game set in space.  The game begins with a galactic playfield filled with planets of varying size.  The green planets belong to the player, neutral planets are grey, and planets of any other color belong to the enemy.  The goal is to take over all the planets.  Galcon was developed and produce by the people at galcon.com.  It currently sells in the app store for $9.99.

Presentation

Their is no story at all in this game.  It drops you off at a menu and you choose what mode you want to play.  It’s almost like the quickplay version of the game, but without the full game.  But, the menus are very crisp and sharp looking.  They suit the game very well.

Score: 8.5

Graphics

The graphics are very nice in the game.  The ships are just triangles, no detail on them at all.  They aren’t very detailed, or complex, but they suit the game (and gameplay) very well. 

Score: 7.5

Sound

There is no music at all in this game.  There are a few sound effects, but they aren’t any good.  It’s almost like someone yelled “poping” and “whooshing” sounds in to a microphone.  Your probably going to want to turn off the volume for this one.

Score: 3

Gameplay

As mentioned above, the goal is to take over all the planets.  You do this by sendingyour ships to neutral and enemy planets.  The size of the planet indicates the production rate of the planet.  A number appears on each planet indicating how many ships exist on that planet–for neutral and enemy planets, this is the number of ships that must be defeated in order to take control of a particular planet.  The player clicks on one or more green planets and then drags to a target planet in order to set ships in motion to invade said planet.  A number appears in the lower corner of the screen indicating what percentage of ships from an origin planet will be sent to a target planet with each deployment.  50% is the default, but tapping the number toggles through various values.  Overall, the game plays extremely smoothly, and is really fun to play.  And because difficultly varys from really easy, to really hard, almost anyone can play this game and enjoy it.

Score: 10

Value

Galcon currently sells in the app store for $9.99.  This price is a little steep, and may turn away customers.  $6.99 would be a much better suited price for Galcon.  This game is missing a one-player mode (which would make this game eaisly worth $10), and a multiplayer mode.  Online multiplayer (with the one-player) would make this game worth $15 if not $20.

Score: 7

Lasting Appeal

The game offers several modes of play, including Classic, which operates as described above, as well as Stealth, where the enemy ships cannot be seen, and Vacuum, in which the game is played against a timer.  There are 10 different levels of play, and with each consecutive level, the enemy becomes smarter.   The game is fun  to play every now and then, but doesn’t suck you into the gameplay.  The game just lacks depth, and without it, you’ll never feel the need to play it right then and there.  Sure, it’s fun to play randomly, if your bored or waiting for something, but don’t think you’ll be playing this non-stop.

Score: 7

Overall

Overall, if you want a game that is fun, and one that you will have a blast playing for 5-10 minutes at a time, this game is for you.  But, if that isn’t you, you should really think about what you want, because this may not be for you.

Presentation: 8.5
Graphics: 7.5
Sound: 3
Gameplay: 10
Value: 7
Lasting Appeal: 7
Overall: 7.9

What To Do (Buy Or Not): Opinion

The Apper