You think this website malarky looks easy? Think again pal... Okay it is quite fun.
This review was written by Rory Muldoon, a guest contributer at AppGamer who writes regularly for the iPhone channel at VideoGamer.com
TORQUE. That was the turning point in my greatest scrabble comeback. Laid niftily across a triple word score it sky rocketed me out of the great vowel depression and into what I now refer to as one of my greatest crowning glories. The reason I mention this (other than to further drum up scrabble challenges) is that for me (and I’m sure many others) board games, alongside next gen gaming, can still pull memorable punches every now and then.
iNetMania is the iPhone translation of ServerMania, a relatively unknown board game that has more than a modicum of Monopoly flair. Since ServerMania’s premise involved running a commercial website by attracting visitors and generating income, it kind of makes a lot of sense to see it represented digitally on Apples handheld.
Booting up iNetMania presents you with a rules screen with the option to then create a profile and choose a themed playing piece (I chose the faux macbook pro). Moving your rather characterised piece around the board is a simple case of tossing the virtual die by shaking/tipping an on screen cup via the accelerometer. The fact that the game almost solely relies on gesture-based controls is a stroke of simplicity that really inspires a sense of casual gaming (I played a couple of my goes whilst brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed)
Like many board games the ultimate objective is to work your way towards a finish space. Along the way you’ll encounter monetary bonuses, miss a turn spaces, visitor boosts as well as slump and spike cards (think chance and community chest – Monopoly). In a neat twist you also have the opportunity to pay your marketing team at the beginning of each turn in the hope of landing on a marketing space and doubling your visitors. If you decide to be greedy and not pay your marketing team (let’s face it the concept of hoarding money is rather endearing) landing on a marketing space will result a loss of 50% of your visitors. This simple risk/reward gameplay, that goads you at every turn, is really what makes iNetMania interesting – a couple of bad marketing decisions can swing the direction of the game dramatically.
Graphically the game holds it’s own. All of the spaces are detailed enough to be recognized clearly and the individual playing pieces have just the right amount of character (bobbing a bouncing as they move along the board). The interface can be a little convoluted at times - I wasn’t quite sure why I had the option to press buttons during the AI’s turn when they clearly served no purpose. Ultimately iNetMania proved to be enjoyable but I couldn’t’t help shake the feeling that there was something missing. In the many rounds I played I never once felt the surging grip that spurred on my climatic scrabble win, even when playing human opposition I felt somewhat detached from the experience.
iNetMania is a fun little 3D board game title with a lot of neat little features. I enjoyed nurturing my fledging website, watching my visitors ebb and flow but I just couldn’t ever imagine talking about my experiences emphatically afterwards.
- Sound: 7
- Graphics: 8
- Gameplay: 7
- Longevity: 6
7
Good
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1 comment
Cheap Online Medications / 20th May 2010
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