[Shardz]

Game: Lamp and Vamp v1.3.1
Developer: GlobZ
Category: Strategy
Price: $1.99
IAP: N/A

Lamp and Vamp is a wickedly difficult and diabolically delightful turn-based strategy title that places you in the role of a vagrant vampire who yearns to find the castle of his dreams in a daunting quest through the countryside. As any veteran vampire will candidly confess, this journey will be no simple endeavor as the local denizens will stop at nothing to lay your undead master to rest permanently before reaching his dream destination. Fans of Hoplite will undoubtedly recognize some parallels in the slick mechanics of Lamp and Vamp; though, this game emphasizes a bit more of a stealthy approach versus direct tactical encounters of the given enemies. As you move your vampire, or take a static turn by directly tapping on him, the enemies then make responsive movements relative to their defined patterns, which are then modified by the environment. Each enemy type moves according to its own set of rules, similar to that of chess pieces, and their directions are usually indicated by a small arrow icon on the sprite. This gives you the opportunity to evaluate your next move across the tiles given the projected path the enemies will likely take.

You start off the game introduced to minimal enemy types, which are eventually expanded as you progress through the game of four different area types. Within each area are five stages of progressive difficulty that will challenge you with larger maps and added enemy types as you go along. The game offers a screen at the main menu that gives relative information on each enemy and their given characteristics as you encounter them, which is the general Bestiary index. As you can clearly see by that character sheet, there are many different movement routines that can offer a multitude of combinations within each randomized map. As you progress, it becomes a task to maneuver your weary vampire through this labyrinth of watchful foes, who are indeed keeping a close eye for any undead trespassers. This leads me to the general behavior of the AI enemies that is normally steady and passive; until the moment you are spotted within their limited line of sight. This is when the game presents you with precarious situations as you must attempt to elude the foes in their aggressive alert status; making a glorious escape to safety by whatever means necessary, or dying an untimely death.

Your curious vampire has some abilities at his disposal to aid in such evasion, however. You may avert to a mist form, which will allow you to pass unscathed onto and beyond a tile inhabited by a foe. This gives you a way to pass through oncoming enemies and even occupy their own tiles for a limited amount of time, which costs amounts of valuable life. You may also take the form of a bat to fly over enemies or obstacles for limited numbers of tiles, which also exhausts life in each instance. The number of times you may use these abilities is dependent on your life total and should be used sparingly. Within each map lies a coffin that your vampire must reach in order to sleep safely and to get to the next stage or area unharmed. It is a diabolical puzzle attempting to reach it in each map as there as many perils ahead lying in your path. As you finish each stage, you are then presented with three randomized options to upgrade your abilities or statistics; helping you gain resources or extra health for the dangerous road beyond. Very similarly, exiting a particular area will grant you a choice of much more valuable bonuses that will bolster your odds to reach the ultimate goal of the castle. In both instances, a bit of strategy can be employed here to boost specific aspects, allowing you to experiment with different styles of play. Whichever ability bonuses you choose, careful consideration of your movements is key to success throughout the game.

As of Lamp and Vamp v1.3.1, a critical change in mechanics was introduced that drastically increases your chances to complete all four areas to reach the castle and beyond, if you so desire a higher score. Alternatively, as your vampire perishes, you are then given a choice to resurrect for a percentage reduction in life; allowing you to restart the map exactly as it was to try once again. This new mechanic completely changes the dynamics of the game as it was brutally difficult to stay alive to beat the game prior to this version. As you may traverse past the castle to obtain higher scores, it would seem the prior goal of simply reaching the castle has been completely shadowed in the hopes that more users won't become frustrated. I believe this new change is highly subjective to opinion, but if you prefer the more classic challenge, than any version before this one would offer the difficulty you prefer. The relatively compact nature of this title, along with the sparse pixel graphics and sounds, makes a great addition to any phone or low end device of yesteryear. Whether you decide to play on a quick coffee break or take your vampire on an epic quest for hours to obtain that higher score, I find Lamp and Vamp highly enjoyable and recommend it for strategy buffs who crave a difficult challenge.

Pros:

• An original and challenging strategy game with character.
• Chock full of dark humor and interesting game mechanics.
• Very compact install size with stylish and popular pixel graphics.

Cons:

• Additional areas would extend the basic four included.
• More enemy types and abilities would extend replay value.

Reviewer rating:
Device/OS used: Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 2012 / KitKat v4.4.4, Lollipop v5.1.1

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Mobilism: Lamp and Vamp v1.31