It's not easy for a lot of independent developer to come up with the next big 'it' game for the App Store, but dedication, skill and passion is almost always evident regardless of the final outcome. Wizards War by solo developer Pedro Morales is a neat, simple up-to-four-player board game that pits wizards and their summoned minions against each other in a duel to the death.

The first and most important thing to remember is that your wizard is the only thing keeping you, as a player, in the game. Should they die from direct damage or from a lack of energy from a power node, it's game over for that player. Other than this the gameplay is fairly easy to pick up, with each player taking turns at summoning new units (or using spells in other offensive or defensive ways), moving units that have already been summoned and performing combat. Each unit and spell has a limited range depicted by a highlight on the board's hexagonal grid, with attacks being modified based on the armor of the unit being attacked.

Gameplay continues until only one victor is left standing, though in the case of playing against the available AI opponents this can be a slightly hollow victory as they're not usually too bright and tend to stick to fairly simple strategies. Multiplayer is limited to local play with up to three other people on the same iDevice, making it a game far more suited to those with an iPad. Although gameplay itself isn't especially refined and lacking in variety, Pedro does an admirable job in constructing an interface that's simple, informative and visually pleasing. There are some translation issues, but none that prevent the game from being playable.

Wizards War is a solid, but fairly simple turn-based board game offering that certainly has room to grow. If you find yourself in the position of needing some sort of party game to share with friends, feel free to give this game a shot.