Real time? Who wants a game that uses real time... (ikariam.org)

Member Name: kiwiii85

Product:	ikariam.org
Date:	31/01/09 (278 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Browser game, time limited,very easy

Disadvantages: Boring, time limited, too easy

Before i started writing reviews and answering surveys i was a bit of a gameaholic. I was always on the look out for new free games and this is where i stumbled across Ikariam.

The Game
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Ikariam is a web based game that you play in your browser rather than downloading. It's different from most of the other games i've played because it works on real time and continues playing even when you log out. I also find it a little bit slow as you can only do a few things because you have to wait for real time to go.

~~ Starting ~~

Starting the game is very simple and you only need to give the most basic of information to register. When you first log on, you are automatically assigned an island which you will share with other players. It's usually around 10 players per island but i've seen some higher than this. I have no idea how many islands there are as there seem to be hundreds. Each island has two resources, one is always wood, along with a diety statue in the middle.

The first things you need to do are simple but as with everything else, time consuming. Your town hall has been built for you and you are given a certain number of citizens to start out with. It's your job to start off the other buildings (you can only build one at a time) and there are a variety you can build but only a limited number of building plots so you need to make a selection as to which will be most appropriate for that island. You will also need to assign workers to gather your islands resources.

~~ Resources ~~

You need to have a variety of resources in order to build different things. Each island produces wood and as far as i'm aware, every building requires that so it's very important. Your island with also have one out of sulphor, marble. crystal glass or wine and it's important that you assign workers to these as early as possible.

~~ Trading ~~

Trading is an important part of the game as you need all of the different resources in order to have a successful colony. You use your trading post for this and you can also make allies in the game to form trading partners etc and get your goods cheaper.

~~ Research ~~

You also need to assign workers to do research in order to get more buildings or to increase how effective something is. You can also research military or economy and so on in order to decrease your costs and get extra military options. I won't go into this further as there are so many options, the review would be endless.

~~ Creating more colonies ~~

The easiest way to have all of the resources you require is to create more colonies on different islands. In order to do this, you need to expand your governors palace. You can set up as many colonies as you want but for each one, you need to increase all of your governors palaces to the same level (ie 2 colonies require level 2, 5 colonies require level 5 and so on). I've found this is the easiest way to play the game as you don't need to waste all of your money trading and it cuts the time in half.

~~ Pillaging ~~

If you're the kind of impatient player that can't wait for your resources to grow or you have no money and you're short of something then you can simply pillage another player. You do this by clicking on their colony and there's a button on the left that says pillage. Couldn't be simpler. You do need to have a decent army for this to win but you don't actually get to control the fight or anything, it does it for you.

To make sure your army is better than your opponents, you can send out a spy to look at various things the colony may or may not have. Again, this will take time so it's still no quick fix and it can make players gang up against you.

Navigation
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You navigate through the game using the mouse and it honestly couldn't be simpler. There are buttons along the top so you can see the world along with a view of your island and all of the colonies on it and there's one for your town where you start/upgrade your buildings. There are buttons on the top right for your towns news (if a building finishes for example), military movement (if you're being attacked or pillaging someone), research and diplomacy. You really can't go wrong with this aspect of the game and it is something i like about it though i'm sure they could make it a bit harder for those who have been playing for a while.

Graphics
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I'm in two minds about the graphics of the game and i can never quite decide whether they're excellent or quite poor. The towns are created to look pretty ancient to go with the theme of the game and it makes it hard to know whether the graphics are so poor, it's the only way they could work it or whether they are brilliant.

The graphics do improve throughout the game for every level of building you upgrade and extra special things are included. These can include little people, monuments and even little swimming pools. You can only look at these though as there is nothing clickable about them and it's just a tad disappointing.

I also feel they could have made it look a bit more realistic by including motion rather than just people standing still the entire time. It certainly would have made it look more realistic.

Sound
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Well this one is really simple to describe as the game is severely lacking is any sound or music in any form. You would think they would have added something when you were being attacked or when a building was completed or just purely background music but there really is nothing there at all. A bit disappointing really but it does mean you can listen to music or watch tv at the same time and not be annoyed by some little tune playing away at you.

Time
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Time is a real issue for me with this game and i can never decide whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. It plays in real time so sometimes building upgrade can take a day or so. This is fine if you have more than one colony and you like pillaging other players or just speaking to them in general. However, if you're looking for a game to waste a few hours a day on then this certainly isn't it. I tend to long in for around 5 minutes in the morning and get everything done. Saying this though, i'm really not that into this game and i log in just incase i ever decide that it's improved and i want to play it a bit more. Honestly though? I can't see it myself as i tend to get very bored very quickly.

Cost
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For the not so serious player, this game is entirely free. There are things you can buy in order to increase your productivity and things but i have no experience of this and you'd have to look it up on the actual game.

Difficulty Rating
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The game is extremely easy and i'd say anyone from around the age of 8 could play it.

Storyline
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There really isn't one or not that i've discovered anyway. It's not a game that you can complete and it's about being the best in the game for as long as you can. There is a highscore button at the top of the page where you can keep track of how successful you are in each aspect.

Compatibility
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This is a browswer game so there is no download needed and it appears to be compatible with most computers. I use it in firefox but i know it works with internet explorer too so that shouldn't be a problem.

My Verdict
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For a simple game that doesn't require a download and isn't that time consuming it is quite decent. However, it's certainly not a game i could sit and enjoy for a long period of time. I've played it for a while in the hope that it would improve as you increase levels and learn to pillage and things but it really hasn't.

Real time makes this game extremely slow and i often forget to log in as a result of this. More experienced players tend to pillage those starting off or that don't have a lot of experience so it can make it very hard for new players to start.

Alliances are probably the worst part of the game as it means you can't pillage anyone in that alliance without loads of people ganging up on you.

Overall? I'd probably give this one a miss unless you want your kids involved in a game that has a limited space of time you can play it for.

Summary: Worth a try if you want something different and are limited in time