Fortix

Developer: Nemesys Games | Publisher: Nemesys Games | Release Date: 2010 | Genre: Casual / Arcade | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

A solitary knight bravely storms the castle while dodging fierce dragons and projectiles hurled at him by nearby forts. Utterly defenseless and with a long card trailing his every move, the knight has but one goal, reclaiming the land of his ancestors. Melodrama aside, the gameplay of Fortix is something that all gamers should be familiar with, seeing as it is based on the Arcade classic “Qix.”

The idea behind the game is very simple, you have to capture territory on a flat 2D map drawing lines and fencing parts off. This is done by maneuvering your knight across the screen with a line trailing him. Whenever you connect this line to the edges of the playing field or to previously captured segments, the smallest section will be “captured.” Of course, to prevent this from happening, you have forts shooting at you and all manner of dragons circling. The knight is only safe on the borders of previously captured territory, but a ticking clock prevents you from becoming complacent. Capturing special triggers will destroy the forts and random power-ups help with the dragons. Sometimes you will have to literally put your life on the line and make daring territory grabs.

This is easier said than done, because if anything touches your knight or his line, you lose a life. This makes circling dragons and capturing forts a tricky process. As the amount of territory you capture grows, the enemies obviously have less space in which to roam, making it hard to capture more land. This means taking down the dragons and forts is a big priority in order to prevent them from becoming a nuisance. The terrain also influences your movement speed and do not expect your knight to “snap” back to a safe edge when you stop moving, like certain Arcade variations of Qix did.

That is about all there is to the game. It was originally a PSN title, so the visuals and audio are extremely basic. You do, however get 22 levels at a ridiculously low price. Multiple difficulty levels and 12 Steam achievements sweeten the deal even more. Control is handled via keyboard or mouse, and both work more than acceptable.

On the one hand, Fortix is a fun and addictive game that is priced very reasonably, and on the other, I have seen better looking Flash games available for free. If you enjoyed the original game, or one of its many variations, you might want to give this one a shot. It does not cover much new ground, but has a few nice ideas of its own. Besides, Fortiana needs a hero.

*Review originally published in 2010.