A typical map sreen from LOL

Lands of Legends (LOL) is a fantasy themed, turn-based strategy game of conquest where tactics, wealth and unit management are king. The game is a bit of a paradox because, at first glance, the game looks simple enough to play, but mastering its intricacies can be a real challenge. The game is being built by Tiny Hero, a small independent, one man outfit headed up by Scott Lantz. Indie publisher Shrapnel Games will release it online later this year.



The goal of the game is to capture as many cities as you can, snap up any important spots (like Gold Mines) and conquer your enemy. For every city and gold mine you hold, you earn gold per turn – though the amount varies based on the city and the race you're playing. In the early parts of the games players will create cheap units and send them out to capture cities. As the game progresses and your empire expands things will start to get a little hairy and you'll have to figure out how to create and use units in a way that makes them compliment each other.

As I mentioned the gameplay is pretty straightforward. You can build units, capture cities and earn cash for each money making map square you hold (cities, gold mines). There's no character building, artifacts, experience points, or treasure chest overflowing with extra loot or gold. This isn't Heroes of Might and Magic - hell it isn't even King's Bounty.



And yet, this simplistic gameplay is a lot of fun and just as engaging as a big budget strategy builder because you have to learn to master each race's strengths and weaknesses.



Early on I learned that there's no magic bullet for earning a victory and that even the most seemingly unstoppable races can be put to bed for a dirt nap in less than ten turns if your not playing with your head.

Choosing your race in Skirmish Mode

Each unit can have everything from melee and ranged combat abilities, high or average influence points, terrain ability bonuses and penalties, to magic attacks, buffs spells (healing, armor bonuses), anti buff spells (anti movement, attack etc) and conversion attacks (for example zombies and necromancers can covert defeated baddies into allies).



Influence is a very important part of the gameplay because the less you have the longer it takes to take cities over - and he that holds the most cities will ultimately win the game. Influence is used in a couple of ways - when taking over a city, the more influence a unit has the quicker it occurs. For example, the average city has 20 influence points, so a unit attempting to take over that city with 10 influence points would accomplish that goal in two turns.

The beta I'm playing offers 35 campaigns including 3 tutorials to get you on the path of knowledge. Each race will have four campaigns to take on though not all of them are in place yet.



The game also offers two player skirmish mode with ten maps to choose from and combat against an AI controlled opponent or a hot seat human player. There's also an online component for quick and dirty matches against other players.



Land of Legends serves up eight races to choose from including Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Gnome, Undead, Arcatta (cat-like people) and Afflicted (a hodge podge of socially unacceptable people ranging from rat toting madmen to lepers). Each has its own strengths and weaknesses and it's tough to point out one in particular that is a true stand out (an obvious testament to Tiny Hero's skill at play balancing).

Monk takes on Skeleton

The game is being built using Microsoft NET 1.1, which is an interesting choice for an independent developer, but it works, so no complaint - the only reason I mention it is because some people, for whatever reason, just don't like NET. Go figure. As it relates to stability NET is as good a means to and end as any and seems to be very stable, so again no complaints here.



We've only had a little bit of playtime with LOL but I have to say its a lot of fun. With the game coming out in July, there's still time to add some additional game elements, fine tune the gameplay and make the game ultra stable. So far so good. We'll have another report on this game as we have more quality time with it in the days and weeks ahead so stay tuned.



You can learn more about the game by visiting Shrapnel Games or developer Tiny Hero . Also be sure to check out this batch of new screenshots