Skulls Of The Shogun

The turn-based strategy genre, while popular, never quite conquered the world – ironic, since world-conquering is usually the object of the game. Skulls of the Shogun is a good example of how it should look and play. The set-up, with shades of Kurusawa and Bergman, is amusing.

General Akamoto finds himself in the afterlife, having been mysteriously killed. Instead of joining the queue to paradise (“Approximate wait time – 512 years”) the ghostly general wages war in order to find out what happened.

This leads to skirmishes between Akamoto’s growing army and a variety of enemies. The animation is cute and clear and the learning curve organic.

There are many ways to win a battle, with just the right amount of dilemmas – should I recruit more archers or cavalry? Should I use my turn to gather power-ups or attack the enemy? The humour and samurai references are the icing on the bloody cake.