Matchstick Wars

Side-on strategy games have been pretty much the same since Worms, so it shouldn't really come as a surprise that Matchstick Wars is about as by-the-numbers as games can get.

There's nothing terribly wrong with it, but at the same time there's nothing particularly right with it either. This is a game in which the dull flaws outweigh the dull successes, and it's one that you'll get tired off pretty quickly.

It's all about the titular wars. You control three vehicles made out of matchsticks, and you're fighting against three other vehicles that are also made out of matchsticks. Even the terrain is made out of matchsticks.

You and your opponent take it in turns to move and fire with one of your three soldiers. One's a catapult, one's a cavalry rider, and the last is an archer. Each has a red health bar above his head. Once that's gone, they burn up in a pile of ash.

Because the ground is made of matchsticks too, missed shots can deform the terrain, sometimes to the benefit of your cause, sometimes to the benefit of your foe. It's pretty glitchy, though, and quite often troops will get stuck in invincible pockets for no reason whatsoever.

You control the angle and power of your attacks with button taps, although it's quite difficult to see whether the angle you've set is the right one thanks to a lack of any aiming equipment. This is a game in which trial and error take the place of knowledge and common sense.

The battles are dull but inoffensive, and when you finish one you move onto another. The only thing that changes is the terrain, and eventually you'll get bored of the inconsistencies of the game and wander off to do something else.

Matchstick Wars is a boring game that takes the template of its genre, strips it of most of the things that make it fun, and leaves you with a barebones experience.

It might be mechanically similar to other games of its ilk, but unfortunately that's really not enough to make this cobbled together yawn-fest enjoyable.