Recently, Philadelphia has become the city of burgeoning game development, ranging from small studios heading to PAX Prime to one-man companies like Ray Merkler’s Hindrances to Progress releasing its first game. I say “recently,” but in reality, this is just years of work by people like Merkler finally paying off. His first game, Fortress, will be released on the App Store on August 2 for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
Fortress is a strategy game played with a simple (and pretty adorable) deck of cards. The cards act as soldiers in a colorful army, defending your own King, while you try to destroy your opponent’s fortress. The game is fun and easy to learn, but tickles your brain only the way strategy can. I played my first game of it years ago against Merkler himself, and while he wiped the Fortress floor with me, I enjoyed it, and look forward to its long-awaited release.
Fortress will be $2.99 at launch, but will drop down to $0.99 after two weeks. Support indepedent games and buy it when it comes out! Or wait until it’s under a buck, ya scrooge. Either way, this entertaining little strategy game is worth having on your iDevice.