Hoplite

This review is for the iPad and iPhone versions of the game, both of which come with my highest recommendation as Hoplite is easily one of the best games I’ve played all year. Best of class in design, sound and art. It’s the first since the dawn of the so-called mobile games to capture my attention in any meaningful way. And though this review isn’t about gaming habits, it’s worth noting that Hoplite plays to the strengths of those devices. Clearing a level doesn’t take more than a few minutes, but a run can be a good hour or longer. Best of all - the music never stops. Here's to hoping this gem appears on PCs and consoles sooner rather than later. Everyone should play this game.

Turn-based tactics are everywhere on phones and tables but Hoplite felt special right away. The sombre, everlooping soundtrack and dark colour palette give it the perfect mood for a head-scratching demon hunter, and that’s what Hoplite does best. Very much a boardgame gone digital (ugh, so markety), the lack of visual flair or animation might make you think the game is stale or sparse, but in fact it feels very dense. The straightforward rules and low number of enemy classes means information on the table is readable in just a moment. In Hoplite you either stab or lunging. Stabbing requires adjacent movement, lunging means moving directly at. The quirks come with throwing and jumping; you can throw your spear a given distance, but this means giving up the lunge until you retrieve it. Jumping lets you move over enemies and cross deadly lava, but costs energy. Tile placement is the name of the game really. You have very few hitpoints and you will want to spend time every turn making sure that the tile you are moving to is safe from both melee and ranged enemies, and leaves you in a good position to continue next turn. As the game progresses, it becomes both about trying to lead the enemy to tiles where you have an advantage and just staying alive and out of range of sorcerers, archers and bomb throwers. The one-step-at-a-time style of movement-combat is incredibly fast since all enemies move at once and the majority of your abilities and upgrades promote multikills. You’ll go from moving with trepidation to stab an enemy to leaping over a group of demons, stunning them all, stabbing two and lunging another, all in one fell swoop. There’s only a few demons to kill but they all have tremendous personality and each and every one of them can and will be your doom at some point. Straightforward as Hoplite is you will pay for not planning ahead, and a good situation can go horribly, horribly wrong in - you guessed it - one move. But death isn't just inevitable punishment for hasty thinking, it’s a chance to try again, and try a new character build.

The altars which are found in the first part of the game give you access to ability upgrades which will change how far you can jump, throw your spear, and more. There’s an amazing combination of abilities which can be made to get to the Fleece, and while some may seem more optimal, it’s both completely possible to beat the game without any upgrades, and thus also with any upgrades. These abilities meaningfully change the way the game is played. Investing in spear throwing and mastering the long game is much different than going the route of Bloodlust, and going toe-to-toe with the demons. All this is pretty cool, but may feel kind of impossible if you’re like me and get trounced many dozen times over in early goings. You'll find after the learning curve that Hoplite isn't cruelly difficult outside of being generally uninterested with forgiving mistakes, but it does have a laundry list of very hard to get achievements. And the Fleece of Yendor may be the goal of the game, but once found you can continue on and on, pushing yourself against the computer and descending further. I've heard tell of players reaching Depth 50, but I haven’t been there myself. Not yet. And that’s for sure - I've put untold hours into Hoplite and there’s no slowing me down now. I can't say this enough: Hoplite is a classic. For its price it's a steal. Wherever and whenever you can find it - play it.