We’ve seen all sorts of settings and fantasy worlds in the various titles that populate our Android gaming catalogue: modern warfare, distant futures, alternative realities… We could spend all day listing the subworlds we’ve explored in this genre, but we’d hazard a guess that not one is more popular than the medieval fantasy setting. Swords, dragons, and all the fantasy tropes that come with the package are ubiquitous. But there’s always room for surprise, and that’s just what we’ve found in Siege of Thrones, which is openly based – with a slight gleam of parody – on one of the most popular shows now playing on TV: Game of Thrones.
Siege of Thrones doesn’t just take bits from Game of Thrones here and there as winks – it bases all its character designs, settings, and even part of its script on the TV show. The show tiptoes around the fringes of legality with its mashup of plotlines from the series and the Song of Ice and Fire books, but manages to do it both gracefully and inventively. Though the “inspiration” is transparent, the game starts to shine on its own merits quite quickly.
We’re looking at a strategy game here that doesn’t stray from the beaten path in terms of its gameplay but is clever about pulling together different threads of influence that ends up giving the game its own light. Siege of Thrones is like an onion – you gradually discover more and more layers to the game as you advance through the story. Starting out you just have to upgrade the different buildings in your city to improve resource collection and the quality of your troops. But to do that you have to do carry out battle missions where you deploy troops in a classic rock-paper-scissors–style system.
Once you’ve mastered these battles and your city grows, a new layer opens up: global missions where you have to send your troops to other kingdoms and wage battle online after refining your skills in the missions against the AI. The map is gigantic and you have to fight for one of three factions (your pick). The title swings constantly between micro and macro management and makes you fulfill set requirements in the different stages of the game to keep moving forward.
Don’t get put off by Siege of Thrones’ pseudo-plagiarism of the TV show: it’s a very complete game that will absorb you like few others can. The number of aspects to manage is broad, plus it’s got cartoonish graphics that suit it nicely.
Siege of Thrones for Android on Uptodown [APK] | Download
