Parents' Guide to Fort Triumph

This story is told with a wit that scores on a variety of levels, and then backs up the tale with colorful fantasy graphics. With elements reminiscent of XCOM and Heroes of Might and Magic, Fort Triumph is easy enough to jump into and play, providing a lot of hooks to keep players interested. The story has more than its fair share of amusing moments ("The three heroes crowd around the job board, the cheap wood peppered with entreaties to kill this many rats or harvest that many herbs"), but sets the ground work for a campaign storyline that can be postponed as players dash about the map to explore, fight, and level up their heroes. When you log in for another go at the game at a separate time, you'll notice that the map has changed. That element, along with the four difficulty settings and optional perma-death for your characters, keeps the game lively.

There are also unique twists that the game tosses in for strategy fans. For example, the combat follows a somewhat familar pattern and then throws in overwatch strikes that players can take advantage of in fights (these are attacks of opportunity that aren't part of the initial turn, such as free hits when an enemy gets in a unit's line of sight). If there's a downside, it lays in the fact that, as far as the overall game design is concerned, it doesn't bring anything new to the genre. But where Fort Triumph elevates itself is in the entertaining story, and the bright, fun, colorful graphical elements. Overall, Fort Triumph is a game not just for the hardcore turn-based strategy gamer, but provides a good entry point to the genre for younger players as well.