Good game, not yet great
This is a fun, good game with a lot of potential if the developer keeps polishing it. It has good bones but lacks sparkle.
The core mechanic of raining down horrors on your enemies and prospering your tribe works very well. The graphics are so-so but they communicate whats happening. The controls are mostly natural.
The "tutorial" levels are chaotic and undifferentiated. It would have been far better to start with colors isolated on their own islands to give new players a chance to experiment safely. The free-for-all chaos at the start of a level makes for more intense gameplay, but youd expect the "very easy" levels to hold your hand a bit more. The difference between "very easy" and "hard" is subtle, not pronounced (more active enemy AI, I think?)
One frustrating problem that bites you repeatedly is that you cant scroll beyond the level boundaries. When youre trying to flatten land on the edge of the map, frequently the bottom edge, you end up with accidental volcanoes instead, because the buttons are in the way.
It would help a lot if landscape changes could be animated somehow. Its tricky to see what youre doing, and a bit of visual feedback for shaping the ground would help.
Ive spent a few hours playing this, and will likely spend more. I hope it keeps being upgraded!
ahelps about
Four Tribes, v2.0.2