• $12.50

• Great graphics
• Fun game play

• Takes a little while to learn

Design:
Cost/Benefit:
Coolness:
Overall:

Game Play
TakTik is in some ways like Stratego, and in other ways very different . The goal of the game is to either get your princess to the opposite side of the board or to capture your opponent's princess. Of course, its not as simple as it sounds.

There are three ways to play the game. One Player allows you to play against the Palm and set up your own pieces. The Quick Game lets you play against thePpalm but it will set up your pieces for you. And Two Player lets you play against another player on the same Palm. I was surprised that the two player game was implemented so well for passing the Palm back and forth because each player actually remains clueless about the other player's pieces. The company does have plans to add a two-player IR version later this month.

There are also a lot of rules, and each piece has a specific function so theres a lot to remember when you first try out the game. But luckily the game includes an excellent tutorial, so it isn't too hard to learn. One quick run through the tutorial and you should be set to play the game. But just knowing how to play doesn't mean you're going to win. There is a lot of strategy involved in playing this game, although sometimes pure luck will throw the game your in your favor. But for the most part the beginer mode is quite easy and you will almost surely win, and the normal mode is quite easy as well.

The most important form of strategy comes before you even start the game; when you set up the pieces. Setting up the pieces takes awhile, but you can save your favorite layout or you can play a quick game where it sets the pieces up for you.

Pieces
Besides the princesses, there are all sorts of monsters and fighters. Any one of them can capture a princess, and they all have set strengths for fighting with each other.

There is the King, who is a top of the line fighter and can beat anyone except a Thief, a Monster, or the other King. There is also the Monsters who can kill any piece except the Magician, but the Monster is stuck in place and can't move around the board to attack other pieces. There's the Thief, and he can kill anyone he attacks, except a Monster, but if anyone else attacks him the Thief will die. There are also a range of intermediate pieces who can beat eachother, but will lose to the other pieces mentioned.

Graphics
TakTik has nice graphics and support for color, monochrome, and hi-res screens. The monochrome version is quite nice, and I was impressed by the quality of the graphics. Considering the quality of most new monochrome games, it's nice to have a new monochrome game that is completely playable.

The color and hi-res versions are great, too. The colors aren't too bright or too dark, and the graphics have wonderful details. On a color device with standard resolution the graphics are impressive, and on hi-res the graphics are stunningly clear.

Conclusion
TakTik is a great game, and, once you learn how to play it, provides limitless entertainment. The graphics are amazing too, and at $12.50 it's a great deal for anyone who is into strategy games.