If you can remember the days when games were played on tables, not tablets, then you might recall Game Workshop’s Warhammer Quest. Now, Rodeo Games has brought the dice and cardboard RPG into the digital realm, attempting to encapsulate the treasure-seeking, goblin mashing thrills of the boardgame in an iPhone and iPad app. The good news for all of us is that they’ve made a pretty good job of it.

The first thing you’ll need is familiarise yourself with your characters. You’ll start off with a pair of steel-wielding warriors, who are accompanied by an archer and a wizard. As the backbone of this title is strategic combat, it’s important to identify the strengths of each party member, and use them accordingly. For example, when moving around dungeon maps, it’s wise to keep your archer at the rear. This allows him to ping arrows over the heads of squadmates, and into the green hides of your enemies.

Tapping on a character reveals their potential destinations. To move, simply tap the relevant tile and you character will head to that location. Combat plays out in a similar fashion, with coloured tiles highlighting any goblins, spiders, or other nasties within range. Combat is measured and steady, and moves at a relatively slow pace. Newcomers might find this casual pace off-putting. But, if you’re familiar with Warhammer Quest, this style of battling will bring back warm and fuzzy feelings.

After running the tutorial and tackling a couple of dungeons, you’ll soon be your managing movement, items, and spells with relatively little hassle. Oddly, you have to hold your device in portrait to access the inventory. This takes a little getting used to, but we found it a novel way to de-clutter the HUD.

As with the original game, lady luck is a key player in the evolving drama. Not all your blows will land, and not all your healing spells will deliver the same results. Though this might infuriate some, or occasionally make you feel unfairly victimised, we found the mechanics accurately reflected the ebb and flow of the source material.

The acquisition of gold is your eternal objective. This loot can then be spent on levelling up your character (which requires paying for a training session), weapons, and other perks.

As you can see, Warhammer Quest is a gorgeous title. Everything from the beautifully lit dungeons and enemies, to the map screens and animated transitions show signs of care and attention. The sound deign is also impressive, providing a suitably thundering score and evocative sound effects to underpin the onscreen action. You get plenty of bang for your buck, too, with the campaign offering hours of dungeon-crawling excitement.

Unfortunately, there’s no multiplayer mode, something which was a core component of the Warhammer Quest experience. However, we’d strongly recommend lovers of light strategy and fantasy adventure to give Warhammer Quest a go. Its turn-based thrills may not excite everyone, but we reckon there’s enough remixed old skool entertainment here to keep your sword swinging and your arrows flying for the foreseeable future.