I don't really know what to make of a game like Game of Legions. When I play a game like this, it makes me think that the developer is either pumping out simple games for a quick buck, or he/she is a new developer that is starting out small. Judging by the lack of games by developer, Traptics, on the Google Play Store, and a quick Google search revealing their new website, I am inclined to assume it's the latter. So I'll forgive them and, in fact, praise them for a reasonably decent and polished game. Just, don't expect anything big from it, and you will be fine.
Normally, match-3 games are most popular among females and ultra-casual gamers. Unfortunately, the premise of the game caters to an audience that are neither. Game of Legions sets itself up in the medieval fantasy realm with armies of barbarians and champions. I don't really know if there is an underlying story, but if there is, it seems to be insignificant and forgettable, as evidenced by my lack of memory of one. This kind of setting is prime for fantasy and medieval fans who, let's be honest, want more to do than simply matching 3 or more icons in a row. They want an enthralling period drama that ultimately culminates in boss battles of epic proportions. They want to scream "THIS IS SPARTA!" or say things like "Winter is coming", or something like that. A purpose is what I am talking about.
One thing that I can praise the game for is the tutorial. It does a good job of telling me how the battles work. Basically, you swap two adjacent tiles to match 3 or more tiles of the same weapon icon together, which will unleash an attack on the enemy based on the location and type of the icons. Your goal is to penetrate enemy army tiles and hit the leader behind during your turn. At the end of your turn, the enemy regains all its army tiles and proceeds to inflict some hurt on you.
The strategic element of the battles is probably what sets this game apart and makes it interesting. Sword tiles do more damage against spear tiles but take more damage against axes. Spears do more damage to axes but is vulnerable against swords and, if you haven't figured it out, axes deals more damage to swords but takes a beating from spears. In addition, you can also summon a champion tile by matching 5 tiles of the same type together. Tactical thinking is important here because you only have a couple of moves before the enemy's turn. Like any match-3 game, stringing multiple combos in one move is particularly satisfying.
The game employs the same 3-star system for each of its levels. Only, in this game, they are called achievements and you get them by completing certain requirements such as not taking any damage, or getting X combos during that level. Depending on the achievements you obtain (and the number of kills), you get gold as a reward. The gold is then used to upgrade your army, the number of rows of tiles, your health, the number of gold you get, etc. This provides a nice incentive for people to replay the 20 levels and try to earn all the achievements.
You battle using the match-3 system, you get gold, you upgrade, you try to get achievements. Beyond that, the game doesn't really do anything else. There isn't much graphic beyond just a map of the world and weapon icons, but what is there is fairly decent to look at. The sound effects are okay but it doesn't really increase my excitement level to want to continue playing for a long period of time. Some kind of script, narrative or story could have been slapped on for more context. Characters and better effects could have been introduced.
Game of Legions is a decent casual match-3 game, and it is sufficiently polished that I did not encounter any bugs during my play test. The game is solid for what it does, but I don't get the feeling that it is striving to be more than what it is. So, you shouldn't either. For a free-to-play game, it is worth a try if you are interested in match-3 games with a strategic twist. It should keep you entertained in between better games or during toilet/lunch breaks.
