Crowntakers

This fun little game mixes role-playing elements and light strategy to give fantasy fans a chance to test their mettle -- and their patience. Normal difficulty (the "true" experience, according to in-game text) only allows you one life per game. If you die, you start over again from the beginning. Easy difficulty softens the blow somewhat by letting you keep the experience you've gained in previous games, thus making progress easier the more times you play. Still, getting to the good stuff takes time -- more time than some gamers might want to spend.

Bottom line: If you're rash or thoughtless, Crowntakers will punish you. But if you can learn from your mistakes, you're in for a lot of fun. Once you get over the initial difficulty, the game takes off, sending interesting landmarks, useful loot, and colorful characters your way. And once you get the hang of the turn-based combat, battles are fun, dynamic, and sometimes downright nail-biting. You'll start to see the repetitive bits as opportunities to improve and appreciate the many unexpected happenings on the randomly generated maps. Even better, you can extend the fun by buying an additional (and, at $2.99, reasonably priced) chapter. Crowntakers isn't the longest game, but what's there offers hours and hours of replayability.