An excellent port from the boardgame. If you like boardgame but however no one is playing with you, pick Guardians of Graxia is a good pc port for fantasy theme war game.

The AI is pretty smart, and after adding the expansion there will be more characters to choose from. The best pc ported game from board game.

A difficult game to play but with quite some interesting features. You can get quite some good help on the manual which guides you quite well throughout the different steps on each play.

A good option if you can't afford spending several hours in front of your computer each time you want to play. This is a mix of chess and strategy, a kind of board wargame.

GuardiGuardians of Graxia is one of those little gems that nobody plays, and it is a shame. It is a very complex but rewarding turn-based game. The units are some of the most imaginative I ever found in a game. Lots of special abilities and hundreds of hours of planned strategy. If you like challenging turn-based games, I would recommend investing the necessary time to learn the basics of this complicated game and then enjoy it for years to come. A must buy.

it's a funny rpg but quite small and doesn't offer alot of replayability

but still it's fun to play trough the story line alot of comedy and stuff

but then again if u have finished it, it doesn't offer alot of replayability

sadly

This is exactly the kind of game I enjoy. Turn based fantasy combat is something I've enjoyed for ages. Yet for some reason this game never grabbed me. The maps don't seem varied enough, the units lack a bit of character, the mechanism seems like two games squidged into one. It's okay and you may well take to it but for reasons I can't quite pinpoint I never liked it enough to persevere. Funnily enough I've just reviewed King's Bounty and that's in a similar genre. The big difference though is that in King's Bounty you really feel like you're inhabiting a world, here you just feel like you're playing a game.

I agree with most of the prior reviews. This game could be better, but for a sale price of $5.00, it was well worth it.

Pros: Low price, easy to learn, great idea, fun mix of card game with a turn based strategy game.

Cons: Small number of missions, little customization, can't modify deck of cards, turn limits.

Never have I been so disappointed in a game. I was eagerly expecting a "Final Fantasy Tactics" with better graphics. The graphics were there, but the slow as molasses gameplay and complete lame characters and story line make for a bad gaming experience.

The game concept is simple, but has many possibilities. It's a mix between strategy and card game. The result is really good, with honorable graphic (enough for this kind of game) and good challenge in the different maps and scenarios.

My main issue with this game is balance. The AI gets way too many advantages: stronger units, more advantageous terrain and so on. There's also a turn limit, which forces you to rush the enemy and renders strategic play somewhat moot. All in all it feels like a game in which you have to try again and again and hope for the perfect draw; bit of a cheap trick to lengthen gameplay time in my opinion.

Another issue is the fact that time gets wasted waiting for automated actions to finish, like battle turns, drawing cards, skipping actions and so on. Not so bad in itself but it gets aggravating when you have to restart missions over and over because the deck is stacked against you; or simply because the game crashed again.

If you're a masochists who likes playing against impossible odds, this game may be for you. A lot of thought appears to have gone into the the underlying game design. In theory it's a decent game. It's just too frustrating due to severely imbalanced maps.

I'm a big fan of TBS and MtG, and to see a combination of both is quite a nice surprise.

Event though the comparison with Magic the Gathering would seem straight forward, I don't consider it relevant. Yes, the basis of both games is based on playing a hand of cards, but in Guardians of Graxia (GoG) you don't have control over your deck. Which isn't bad, actually it doesn't even matter. The actual game I consider closer to Heroes of Might and Magic and Chess than a card game. In terms of card possibilities the game is much more straightforward than MtG. This makes it very appealing for new players, without loosing it's tactical appeal. With the basics nicely explained in the first scenario, all that's left is to experiment and try to master the great strategical possibilities this game offers.

The number of maps might seem small (campaign plus skirmishes give 9), but they are well thought, each of them having a high replay value.

Sounds are really well done, with the graphics having moments when you wish you'd see more detail. The up side is that the game runs without flaw on current average machines (including laptops), at maxim detail.

As for the negative parts, I'd have to mention the lack of multiplayer as the biggest. It would add tremendously to the game's life, even if the AI is able to offer quite a challenge. Regarding this, it would have been also nice to have a difficulty setting.

Another big minus is the lack of a manual and keyboard shortcuts (even if Esc is very important in the game :) ).

Gameplay wise, the interface leaves a bit to be desired. It doesn't show too much information on the current status. For example there aren't any indications on which effects are current on a given creature, or how many more points from an ability are still to be used.

In the game itself, I would have liked the option to rotate the camera, the lack of which seems a bit strange considering it's a 3D game played on a chess like board. For me, this is important, as I don't like to stare at the back of my creatures for the entire game.

One of the big cons mentioned in all reviews is the lack of a map creation tool. This I hope will be remedied in the future, since the creators have a good background in continuing the development of their games even after launch. As a final remark, it definitely needs to have a detailed description of saved games, since it displays just their name.

In spite of it's few big negatives, the game is well deserving of a good 4/5, considering the great tactical depth it provides, great gameplay and attention to detail. All of it for a price that is more than appealing.

Good basic shell, but it is a shell. It claims "numerous skirmishes", but I count a total of four. The campaign may be around 5 maps, for a total of 9 playable maps (no random map generator).

My biggest problem though is the time limit. It seems that every map has a goal of victory in 5-11 turns. How am I supposed to ever accomplish much depth if I am only granted 5 to 11 turns to win the mission???

A comparison to Magic: The Gathering is only somewhat fair in that the cards appear a bit similar. But you have no control over the cards in your deck or the size.

I really like the concept and the layout, but the depth is not there for me to recommend this game, even for $8.99. It absolutely needs a map generator (random or manual), a feature to allow you some control over the cards in your deck, and maps without turn limits.

The cover art is misleading and doesn't do this game justice.

What you're looking at is a turned-based warfare game with RPG elements. Much like Final Fantasy Tactics.

The difference being that all actions (with exception of movement) are dependent on randomly drawn or purchased cards and cards are dependent on the resources you acquire each round from spaces that you land on.

The game looks and sounds great and I would highly recommend to tactics fans who've been burnt out on the myriad of past tactics clone games as the card battle system does make for a big and unique difference to game play.

Rich in tactics and detail, with easy play mechanics, this will be a five-star game once they add a bit more content. Don't know about Magic the Gathering, but FAR superior to Sylvenia or other card-type games. A must-buy for $9-$10 for the turn-based strategy (TBS) fan.

Developer Petroglyph is a known quantity, and it appears this is a game they always wanted to create to fill the dearth of new TBS releases. You can just feel the quality and the soundness of the game system. It's also a boardgame, so you know the rules have been hammered out and tested pretty well.

TBS lovers should buy this game and support the developer, as well as satisfy their own addiction! Even if no more content is released, it's worth double the price. You get a campaign (not sure of its length) and four one-off missions. But there's so much to consider each turn--unless you want to just plow ahead--that all that should add up to considerable game play. Reminds one of Elven Legacy, except each move requires much more thought and involves many more decisions. I can't imagine a strategy gamer disappointed in this one. And I am relatively fussy when it comes to TBS games. Have fun!

Just picked this up last night , I got to its a really cool game for the price, beautifully presented and great to play , if you like anything card based like Magic the gathering , well dont hesitate to pick this up !

I've done a video of the first campaign mission on youtube check it out , and thanks gamersgate for such agreat game at a great price !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-kAZ0ZFxJ0

A superb blend of card and wargame. There's an excellent tutorial which explains the mechanics, which are an excellent example of easy to learn, hard to master.

Essentially, it's a wargame played out on a square board. Each square has a terrain type which imposes limitations or bonuses, readily viewable via a pop up when hovering on the terrain. In addition, squares generate mana for their owner which is used to summon new creatures and play spells.

Creatures are drawn from a deck and can be summoned during your turn. Spells are also drawn from a deck, with no more than twelve cards being allowed in your hand. Spells run the gamut from influencing movement to doing damage. Another nice quirk is that during combat, you have the opportunity to sacrifice a spell card to give either a bonus to your unit or a penalty to the opposition.

The only real complaint is that the content is a little on the light side. The campaign is interesting, but there's few skirmishes (although the ones that are there are good quality; nice maps and very well thought out objectives). However, there's likely more on the way and for this price it's hard to argue.

This is a pretty fun beer & pretzels Magic the Gathering type game for $8.99

Pros is it plays fast and actually has a lot of depth. Can play in less than a hour easily the smaller missions or scenarios. Very nice graphics for a budget game. AI appears to play well enough,

Cons: Not a lot of mission or campaign maps. No random map generator. No difficulty levels. No multiplayer modes. This would increase the longevity and replayabilty I think if it had TCP/IP ability. I don't think PBEM would work as there are too many actions during combat with enough mana and cards to play. No map editors or design a scenario features that I can see.

Overall: For $8.99 you'll get your moneys worth. If they include multiplayer TCP/IP later on it would be worth a lot more. Hope for more developer made maps and missions and scenarios,