Clever and inventive strategy fun
It might be simplistic and lacking in any kind of visual flash, but Droids is a fascinating early strategy game that makes for a surprisingly entertaining adventure into old-school gaming. The game's setup is straightforward enough but contains enough depth to keep you hooked long after you would expect to have given up and has the same kind of appeal as board games like Chess and Mahjong. There are four droids which are used to seek out valuable minerals on the surface of Mercury and which is represented by a 15x10 grid. In turn-based fashion, players send out their droids by giving it a direction, with the overall aim of collecting as many minerals as they can. The droids each have only so much energy before they can't move any further, so it takes careful planning to make sure you grab the loot without getting yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere. The game ends when there are no more moves possible, with the player who has grabbed the most minerals being declared the victor. Now, while all this might sound pretty straightforward on paper, in practice it turns out to highly compelling stuff and it all gets quite addictive rather quickly. It takes careful planning to ensure victory and you really need to be thinking one step ahead at all times, in order to make sure you get the jump on your opponents. In the same way as chess, it's highly satisfying seeing your masterfully planned strategy pay off so if you are the kind of player who enjoys such games, this should be on your list of retro classics.
