Warlight is available as a limited Flash based version of the game that you can play alone against the computer, and as a web service that offers multiplayer matches, as well as custom maps and rules.

Interested users can play the Flash version of Warlight here to get a feel for the game, or visit the multiplayer start page to play against human opponents and / or computer players on custom maps.

An account is required to play multiplayer, but the values that you enter are not verified by the service (including the email address). The free account lets you play with up to six players (including you) on games that you create. Members, those that pay $29.99 for a lifetime membership, can create maps with up to 24 players and have additional options that free players do not have. This includes the ability to create tournaments, play in ladders, use the statistics window or use custom scenarios in games. For most, the free membership option should be more than sufficient.

First thing that you want to do after signing up is to click on Multi Player and then on Create Game. You have the option to play a template based game (with options to change the configuration), or create a custom game which basically creates a new template that you can save.

Warlight Multiplayer

Custom game allows you to pick the map that you want to play on against the AI or friends. The game offers hundreds of maps divided into groups such as real world maps, fictional maps or local maps. This ranges from the standard earth setting in various sizes to fantasy worlds such as Warhammer, Middle Earth or Skyrim to plain out crazy novelty maps that come in all shapes and sizes.

You can preview maps which is helpful as it displays the number of different regions of that map. The more regions the longer the game, basically.

The settings options allow you to customize the game. Here you can select if you want to play a team game or free-for-all game, the level of fog of war, how the initial distribution of regions takes place, how many bonus points players get for occupying a set of region and the game’s bonus card system.

All regions of the world, or only select regions can be made available to players during start. Some game modes allow players to pick preferred starting locations. It is then still a game of chance if they get that location, considering that other players may also want to start in the selected region.

Many different bonus cards are available. From the common reinforcement card to spy cards (which only make sense if fog of war is active) and diplomacy cards that enforce peace for a specific amount of turns. Players get card fragments when they conquer countries.

Friends, AI or open seats can be added to the game in the final step. You can invite friends to make sure that they can play the game with you. If you would add open seats instead, chance is that a stranger could join the game instead of your friend. On the multi-player tab, you need to invite at least one human opponent.

The game itself can be played as a realtime game or multi-day game. Realtime games have a time limit of 5 minutes per turn with all players taking turns at the same time to reduce the waiting period.

In each turn, players begin by adding new troops to the regions they control. Each player receives a set amount of troops that does not change, plus bonus troops based on the regions occupied and cards that have been played.

Players then move into the attack / transfer phase where
they can order their armies to attack regions or to move into adjacent territories.

The results are calculated once every player has ended their turn or the time has run out. It is then possible to watch the events unfold or skip to the end to see the end results.

Warlight is a great Risk-like game that offers a lot of variety thanks to hundreds of maps and customizations. If you like Risk, you will love this game.

One option available is to play games that you own via the free Open source software Vassal. It is not possible to play all games though but a selection of popular boardgames such as Carcassonne, Dominion or Risk and more advanced games such as Arkham Horror, the card game Illuminati or Axis and Allies are available as game modules.

A total of 886 modules are available for download at the official website. Not all are standalone games though as it is quite common to find expansions for games in the mix as well. The majority of games offered belong to the war gaming category but players will find different genres there as well.

Vassal players need to own the boardgame that they want to play online with other players since some of the common cards of each game are blanks to make sure the game is owned.

A game session basically works by connecting to the Vassals server and creating a new room for that specific game session. Friends and fellow players may join that room so that the game can be started once all players have joined it.

It is definitely a good idea to start with the tutorial map to learn the basic controls first to avoid problems during game sessions. The docs section offers several tutorials and first step instructions that are a must read as well.

Users who are still having problems should consult the forum or the wiki for help and additional information.

Vassal is not as easy to use as games that are offered on websites such as Brettspielwelt which are run on site.

Vassal offers a higher versatility as it is for instance possible to play games in a pbem like fashion. And the number of available games is a lot higher.

Vassal is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It requires the Java Runtime Environment 5 or later to be installed on the computer system.

Hero Quest is a faithful adaption of the boardgame with a few extras that make the game worthwhile. First, it ships with an editor and several homemade scenarios and campaigns which will surely entertain the player for a handful of evenings. More scenarios and campaigns can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

The editor lets you create your own adventures which you can in turn publish so that other players can play them and give you feedback. The game lets you typically choose between one and four characters each with their distinctive strengths and weaknesses.

The barbarian for instance is great on offense but a little bit slow when it comes to thinking while the elf is a fast lad and the wizard a man of the mind. A dwarf with good defense is the last character.

Depending on the game that you choose you play either with only one character which increases the difficulty of the game a lot or with up to four characters which is pure fun if you play the game with a few friends in hot seat mode.

The levels are tile based and every character has a Walk feat that determines the amount of tiles that he can walk per turn. The fog of war reveals only those parts of the map that the character is able to see which means that you never know what awaits around the next corner or behind a door.

Characters have a life setting which gets reduced by many means. Enemies successfully attack, you walk into traps or open poisoned chests. Potions replenish life again, they can be found in chests and barrels or bought from the merchant who charges money for them.

You should probably read the manual first before you start playing because it can be quite frustrating to die during the first rounds. If you do play a lot of turn based computer games you should be fine to hop right into the action though.

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