Star Trek Rivals- an app review

Star Trek Rivals is an app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod. It is a card battle game that is pretty addictive once you get started. It is free to download and easy to learn. I found it last week and spent the next 2 hours playing as many rivals as I could.

The concept is simple.. You get a collection of cards featuring characters from the new Abrams franchise. Each card has 4 numbers around the sides and belongs to a regular or elite set. When starting a new game players get a random selection of 5 cards and take turns with a rival (friend or stranger) placing the cards on a 9 spot board.

The goal is to place cards so they capture your opponents and win you the game. The strategy is arranging them so the highest numbers around the sides take out the lower numbers of your opponents. When you capture a card it turns blue and when your card is captured it turns red. It seems rather easy but there is a bit of strategic thinking that needs to take place. Got a really crappy hand? Don’t quit! You still get a few points for losing a game and that can help you advance to the next level.

When you win, lose or tie you get points to level up. Each time you level up you get a new card, Latinum and Federation credits to spend on new cards. You can also spend real $$ to get better cards and increase your chances of winning. I’m cheap, but I have still gotten to level 10 without spending a dime. So far it’s been fun and I win at a rate of 1 out of 6 games. (okay.. I kinda suck) Still, for a free game it’s pretty fun.

The good:

• The graphics and sound effects are great. There are lots of recognizable characters from the two movies.
• It’s easy to learn. Captain Pike takes you through a tutorial that shows play strategy.
• It’s free
• You can enter friend codes that give you extra cards and points each time they level up.

The Bad:

• There are ads after you get to level 4. If you buy something with real money they go away. Even though it’s .99 cents it’s not worth it to purchase something just to get a rid of the ads. 
• Really awesome cards cost a ton of Latinum. It takes a long time to earn enough for one good card. Or again, shell out some $$.
• It’s only available for Apple products.

The Ugly:

• You can totally lose Latinum by accidentally selecting “give me new cards”. That was not explained well in the tutorial and it’s easy to hit that option when starting a game on a tiny phone screen. 
• There are people that just stop playing the game. It takes 36 hours of inactivity before you can claim victory against them. During this time your cards are tied up in the game and unusable for other games. Very annoying.

For a free game it’s pretty fun and a way to kill time at the Doctor’s office. If you load it and get the random player BOGERT know that you will likely win.

~VEB