I was just minding my own business yesterday and out of nowhere a dozen well armed and smelly dwarves dropped in. They did not ask me to join them on their quest to slay an overgrown reptile (I was hoping), but they did hold my iPad hostage and destroy my battery. Just a short 48 hours ago, Craft the World was released on the iPad and I have done very little on the device since.
I have two games going now, and I just entered my 12th hour of gameplay.
To be honest, I downloaded the game on a whim – probably because I was in the spirit of Dwarves with the hype surrounding the newest Hobbit Movie. Unlike most of my on-a-whim downloads, I got Craft the World just before I had some set aside game time. Three hours later, I put the game down and realized that I had barely moved, and was in desperate need of coffee. I don’t think that I have ever been as immediately engaged in an iPad app as I was with Craft the World.
How did this app get to me? Why was I so instantly hooked? When I started to write this review, I realized that I needed a more eloquent way of voicing my praise (rather than a “I just like it”).
Craft the World is simply one of the best mashup games I have seen. It combines elements of the Tower Defense, Resource Management, and Crafting genres in an experience that is satisfying and everything that Terraria is not (Terraria is fun, but gets tedious when you have to go out and spend hours collecting resources). When Craft the World starts, you have a single dwarf that you command. As you complete quests, you level your character and gain access to additional dwarves that will do your bidding. They can mine, harvest, and craft all of the things that you would expect. As the population grows, you can issue more commands and create and harvest more resources. Basically, it is similar to Terraria and Minecraft but you send out 10 minions to do your mining, collecting and crafting. They collect the resources while you plan the crafting. When you have your strategy, they sit at the forge and make your new goodies.
In the campaign levels, you take on a set of attackers who “portal” in and try to destroy your world. On the first level, they spawn at 40 minute intervals, making it easy to replenish your supplies and get better armor and weapons ahead of each wave. As the game progresses, you start crafting auto-turrets to take out the attackers, and let your minions continue to craft unhindered.
The only down side so far is that it is very easy lose your dwarves at the start of the game – they are not well armed or defended. It will take some time to get decent armor and weapons into every dwarves hands, but it is a great ride along the way.
You will eventually spend a lot of time making your stubborn dwarves happy (with furniture and food), but in return they will create a world that is worthy of all dwarf lords.
Craft the World is the best and most engaging game I have played on the iPad in a long time! Bravo!
The Video Review
[asa_item id=”921954809″ more_info_text=”More Info on this App…”]Overall Rating
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Summary
I am definitely smitten with this game. I have played for almost 8 hours since I received the game a few days ago. The interface is easy to understand with a great in game tutorial. The story is engaging and the quests keep you coming back. With an extensive crafting table at launch, I find myself pushing the dwarves to mine more so that I can make that elusive Mithril Weaponry. This is literally one of the best games I have seen on iOS.