Nowadays, time is of the essence: there’s just not enough time to do everything we want to do, especially after we do the things we need to do so that we do the things we love to do… Confused? Tell me about it! With work and family, I hardly have time for myself like I did when I was younger. Why is it that the older we get, the less time we have for leisurely pastimes? For me, other than video games and basketball, it was playing paper-and-pencil role playing games. Obviously, just like most people, Dungeons & Dragons was my entry into the world of gaming followed by Twilight 2000 and then Steve Jackson’s Car Wars. However, as evidenced by picking up Iron Crown Enterprises’ Middle Earth Role Playing on an impulse buy at the local comic store, I always kept coming back to fantasy. While this has held true over the years as I played Talisman in college, Magic: The Gathering post-college, and most recently, Dominion, I’ve noticed that the games have gotten shorter and shorter in duration to accommodate busier and busier schedules. Intending to not give up the dream by extending my gaming experience on other platforms, I picked up Rake In The Grass’ Undercroft on the iPhone, which has been a perfect fit. Boasting 20 hours of gameplay with the promise of ‘great replay value,’ encounter over 60 enemies and attempt to collect the over 750 items divided into quests and side-quests as you build a band of heroes from among the five hero classes, which include the usual suspects: warriors, sorcerers, thieves, clerics, etc. Completely turn-based, the overall polish of the game in terms of functionality, graphics and sound is pretty impressive. Plus, Undercroft does all the little things that makes you feel it’s worth every penny. Highly recommended. Price: $4.99.
