Spectrangle360 (XBLIG): "Classic Board Game Goodness"

Most of you have noticed by now that there has been a sort of dry spell on my blog. This is merely due to the fact that I'm caught up on my reviews, and as such I've been enjoying some much needed R&R. As good as rest, and relaxation is I find that I'm constantly in need of a reviewing fix. Reviews are sort of like an addiction for me in that sense. I was definitely glad that the developer behind 'Iron Reaver Games' was persistent in getting me to review their game. I was a little hesitant at first to be honest. This was mainly, because of my concern over the simplicity of 'Spectrangle360'. As a reviewer I tend to stray more towards the titles that require a lot of writing/typing. I love to give a lot of details in my reviews, and that's where my concern came into play. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to give many details about 'Spectrangle360', but I accepted the challenge regardless. I will do my best to give the game a proper review though, and without further adieu ... ladies, and gentlemen I present to you my review of 'Spectrangle360'!

Spectrangle360 can best be described as a strategic board game. It's strategy is somewhat like that of tic-tac-toe, only not really. This score based board game takes place on a pyramid that's divided into multiple smaller triangles. The object of the game is to take multi/solid colored game pieces and place them on the board eventually matching them with other pieces of like colors. Each game piece is given a point value that awards the player points when placed on the board. There are also bonus spaces found on the game board that multiply the players' score (4x, 3x, 2x ...). I need not forget to mention that this is a two player game, and as such you will find that there are "turns" involved. Each player in the game (CPU, Local, or Online) will take turn about placing their pieces on the board.

The manner in which a player can place their game pieces in 'Spectrangle360' relies on the color/s of the piece, and whether all significant sides match with the game piece you are laying it down next to. The game pieces within the game are all triangular in shape, and come with up to three different colors. You have to factor this in to the gameplay when choosing which spot on the board will best reward your effort/s. Once the first piece in the game is placed on the board other pieces can be placed beside it, or on other empty triangle spaces. Scoring points in the game is determined by the placement of the game piece, and how it connects to another already placed game piece. Like I mentioned earlier all game pieces have a numerical value, and when they are placed next to another game piece, or cluster of game pieces that match up those numbers will be added to produce your score for that turn. The game board also has multiplier/bonus spots that will increase your score if used.

You can rotate your game pieces, and switch between available game pieces when taking your turn in 'Spectrangle360'. This is where the strategy part of the game comes in. Using these features properly will definitely help maximize your score. Aside from the rotating (LT & RT) controls in 'Spectrangle360', and the game piece switching controls (LB & RB) there's not much else involved. The only other thing I can think of in regards of game controls is placing the game piece which is done with the (A) button. In this respect 'Spectrangle360' is an easy game to pick up on. There is a customizable background feature in 'Spectrangle360' which allows the player to change the material that the game board is made of. The developer actually informed me of this before I began playing the game, but I didn't notice it. I probably overlooked it to be honest though. You'll also find that this rather simple game has a LIVE/online mode for some competition between other Xbox 360 gamers. I was unable to test it though, because I could not find anyone playing. I assume it plays just like the rest of the game.

In conclusion I found 'Spectrangle360' to be quite an interesting, and simple game. It wasn't a game that would impress most gamers, but if you give it a chance it isn't that bad either. It reminds me of the days when I used to play actual board games with other family members. Playing 'Spectrangle360' definitely brought back some good memories from those days. After playing the game for a while I decided it was worth the asking price. Not many XBLIG titles offer the LIVE experience, but 'Spectrangle360' definitely has the feature. While I was unable to experience the LIVE mode I still think it was nice of 'Iron Reaver Games' to include it in their 80 msp ($1) XBLIG title. Going back to what I said previously, this game won't impress a lot of gamers but that doesn't make it bad. If you loved the days when gaming was simple, and you spent one-on-one time with your family playing board games then this might be something worth looking into.