| Inselkampf | ||
| Genre | Strategy | |
| Enjoyment |
| A lot of fun |
| Diplomacy |
| The whole world must play this game |
| Complexity |
| You'll need to read the rules |
| Fairness |
| Keep your wits about you |
| Reliability |
| hosted by God |
| Overall |
| A lot going for it |
| Ratings | 12 | |
| URL | http://www.inselkampf.co.uk/ | |
| Review(s) of Inselkampf |
|---|
| Take control of a single isle in a massive archipelago. Build up technologies and armies, and colonise virgin territories... The game mechanics and graphics are simplistic but functional. It's basically a multi-player "Kingdom" (remember that?), but with the added spice of alliances and real opponents. Its main failure is the huge built-in advantage that the long term players have. Couple that with the fact that these players invariably band together to form super-alliances means that newcomers have a huge mountain to climb, a mountain that the veterans will coat in grease and spikes, just to prove how strong they are. Still, some exceptions exist: the Morkin alliance (ranked a mere 50th), managed to deal out a few bloody noses recently, and at the very top alliances break up and reform with the ponderous inevitability of glacial iceflows... Fun for a while, but play this with friends. One word of warning: many players online in this game are aggressive, sexist, and are unable to spell beyond simple texting messages. If that does not put you off, you should enjoy it. submitted by Sparrowhawk on 27 02, 2006 |
| As mentioned before this game is 'insanely addictive', i find myself logging on everyday, and have done to some near religious extent, except for when i have no access to internet. The fact that this game is simple makes it brilliant. With 9 units, and only 11 buildings it may seem boring. And when i first heard about it, i thought it would be extremely boring also. For example i play Rome Total war (did play) and i asked my friend (who now i a highly respected IK player) You mean No bright colours? You can't see the battles?? I was put off but signed up for a laugh nevertheless. I was very bored for the first month until i got a harbour, what kept me going was access to the internet and the communcation between other players. Eventually once you get bigger and bigger the game develops more. As long as you try to involve yourself in the forum communities and try to make a name for yourself, it is possible to have a lot of fun. Although i do agree with the above comment that the struggle to power is quite daunting, but that is what makes the game so admirable. I started playing when (for example) TNM, which included cmccann, Grover234, Fingal, BBQDwarrior etc. Now look at where cmccann is at look at the positions each of the members hold within the game. TNM is now a rank 9 alliance but it used to be outside the top 100. What i am saying is that a mixture of diplomacy and good strategy can send you to the top. Once great players such as Windmill, Chief_Druid, RAUL etc and great alliances; .:VI:. (LSD / R|M- LOL(im not picking on you)) used to be at the top but fell, allowing the next generation to go forward to the top. The only critiscms i have for Inselkampf are superficial. I.e. loopholes and codes of practise that could be updated in a new version, such as false personal pacts, no market insurance, Multiple users and the like, but the internal policing system (volunteers) more a less cuts these problems out. It was my first MMO, and still remains the best. But bear in mind that to have fun you have to join in the with the community, because as mentioned it is a substantial part of the gameplay. submitted by Dogmaster on 09 03,2006 |
| Review Rating: 8.0000 (1 people have rated this review) |
| Easy to learn, and the online instructions are everything you need to know what to develop when even if most people don't read them. The enjoyment varies greatly. When you're doing well, it's great. When you're not, it's awful. There is a huge problem with the 'fat cats' at the top of the game, this is compounded when there is no end-game, no-one can actually win the game and force it to restart. Another problem is that after years of playing, you can have all of your colonies taken from you, your main island levelled to level 1 buildings thereby leaving you with nothing to show for your hard work. Having said that, it can be a truly rewarding game when you start interacting with other players, alliances open the game well as the 'island rushes' when the game clears inactive players and creates new islands. The important thing is not to take it too seriously. This is difficult due to the amount of time you need to invest into the game and the attachment you make to your island and fleets. If you play it as a wargame and do your best not to take it seriously but be careful of the feelings of others, you should enjoy the game. submitted by xalthorn on 02 03,2006 |
| Review Rating: 7.0000 (1 people have rated this review) |
| I'm disappointed at the original reviewer's comments. Enjoyment: 10 --It's insanely addictive. Diplomacy: 10 --Diplomacy and socializing in general make up 75% of your game-time. Many battles can be and are won with words. Complexity: 10 --I give it a 10 because there is no useless unit in this game. The game is wonderfully simplistic. This game is simple to learn, yet extremely difficult to master. Fairness: 6 --This game isn't fair. You DO have an advantage by joining sooner. There is no in-game protection for new players. You may have to re-start 2-3 times before you get stable footing. However it isn't so unreasonable that it is impossible to grow and compete. Reliability: 10 --She's solid. Overall: 10 --Great game. Something that can be played over many months. It's the type of game that you can play for 10 minutes a day, or 3 hours a day. This is a game that you can only get out of it as much as you put in. It's insanely unpredictable where an alliance could be #1 one day, and then gone the next. Key to winning? Socialize & army over points! submitted by Dubz on 08 03,2006 |
| Review Rating: 7.0000 (1 people have rated this review) |
| Easy to learn, but can get pretty boring. You need to be very patient for at least 3 months hoping that no bigger player attacks you and dweleve into an alliance to seek protection, if possible. Also in order to advance you need all help you can get in terms of resources.
If I were to produce a graph of excitement vs time it would be a flat line close to the bottom with some high spikes (when intense diplomacy and war take place). submitted by soiram on 28 02,2006 |
| Review Rating: 5.0000 (1 people have rated this review) |
| This is madly addictive, although per day you need to spend only ten minutes to do the essential stuff. In inselkampf alot is luck - a free colony pops up right next to you - then no one else goes for it, then your 2000 stonies win a miraculous battle etc. But if you can get into it then it is really rewarding (I was hyper for a week after getting my colony!) submitted by harry on 16 03,2006 |
| Review Rating: 3.0000 (1 people have rated this review) |
| 32No review entered su1bmitted by davidjwest on 27 04, 2006 |
| Review Rating: 0.0000 (2 people have rated this review) |