Ancient Trader: Difference between revisions
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==Gameplay== |
==Gameplay== |
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''Ancient Trader'' is a turn-based strategy. |
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The game has single player and multi player modes. |
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The single player mode is split into three main options: begineer maps, advanced maps and expert maps. They vary in size and difficulty, mostly. The player can pick a character to serve as their avatar at the beginning of each play. The character is selected from a predefined list, and it cannot be customized. |
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The main goal is to gather all the three artifacts needed to challenge the Ancient Guardian, the final boss that must be defeated to win the game. However, to achieve this, the player must explore the map and improve their ship with a variety of armor and weapon upgrades so that he can stand a chance against the Guardian. |
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Upgrades can be bought from the ports or gathered at the islands dispersed in the map. |
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Revision as of 06:09, 29 March 2014
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| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 |
|---|---|
| Release | 'Microsoft Windows'Xbox Live |
| Genre(s) | Strategy game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Ancient Trader is a nautical turn-based strategy video game developed by Fourkidsgames. It was released in 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.
A sequel, Fortune Winds: Ancient Trader, was developed by Legendo Entertainment, and released in 2012 for Microsoft Windows.
Gameplay
Ancient Trader is a turn-based strategy.
The game has single player and multi player modes.
The single player mode is split into three main options: begineer maps, advanced maps and expert maps. They vary in size and difficulty, mostly. The player can pick a character to serve as their avatar at the beginning of each play. The character is selected from a predefined list, and it cannot be customized.
The main goal is to gather all the three artifacts needed to challenge the Ancient Guardian, the final boss that must be defeated to win the game. However, to achieve this, the player must explore the map and improve their ship with a variety of armor and weapon upgrades so that he can stand a chance against the Guardian.
Upgrades can be bought from the ports or gathered at the islands dispersed in the map.
Development
"a simple, easy entry strategy game suitable for all ages, which originally came to life as a board-game design."[1]
"Artist Petr Vcelka, one of just six names listed in the credits, has taken inspiration from 16th- and 17th-century cartography - most obviously, Abraham Ortelius and his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (the first modern atlas) - and crafted some beautiful, imaginative and exceptionally detailed art across the game's ageing, weathered maps."[2]
Reception
Edge included Antient Trader in its 2010 list of the Best 20 Indie Games available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The magazine aknowledged that the game was "ambitious, devious and surprisingly hard to fault."[3]
Lorenzo Fantoni from Eurogamer Italy gave the game a score of 8 out of 10. He elaborated that "the final result is a quite simple title, which will last long enough to make you feel happy of having invested your money in this indie title."[4]
Indie Game Reviewer commented that Ancient Trader "deserves a look, as it definitely makes for a great, quick, casual distraction."[5]
Eurogamer's Chris Schilling gave the game a score of 8 out of 10. He commented that although Antient Trader was not as comprehensive and expansive as other Xblox Live titles such as Risk: Factions, it deserved "the opportunity to do business with the big boys rather than risk getting washed away with the shovelware tide." Schilling also expressed concern that "a game so elegant and accomplished should have to be dredged up from the depths of Indie Games."[2]
Gus Mastrapa from Wired commented that Ancient Trader was well worth its price "for its art alone." He also praised the game's overall style, "borrowed from centuries-old maps [...] more handsome than any other game you’ll find in the Xbox Live indie category."[6]
Tom Chick from FidGit compared Ancient Trader to other recent genre-related video games: "Think of it as Seven Cities of Gold or Pirates, but a little shorter." He also compared it to other indie games such as "the sci-fi space operettas Strange Adventures in Infinite Space or Flotilla, but wind-powered and sepia-toned."[7] Like most reviewers, Chick highly praised the artistic design. However, he also mentioned the game's atmospheric music, commenting that it "lends touches of Oriental and New World flavor, played over the constant murmur of surf and gulls."[7]
Sequel
References
- ^ IGN Staff (3 August 2010). "Beautiful Looking Indie-Game Released on PC and Xbox 360". IGN. J2 Global. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ^ a b Schilling, Chris (9 August 2010). "Ancient Trader". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ^ Edge Staff (16 November 2010). "Best 20 Indie Games". Edge. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
- ^ Fantoni, Lorenzo (10 August 2010). "Ancient Trader". Eurogamer (in Italian). Italy: Gamer Network. p. 2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ^ "Ancient Trader – It's the simple things in life". Indie Game Reviewer. 13 July 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ^ Mastrapa, Gus (1 July 2010). "Ancient Trader is a Hidden Xbox Treasure". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ^ a b Chick, Tom (30 March 2010). "Who would believe the astonishing beauty of Ancient Trader?". FidGit. Sci Fi. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
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