iPhone App Spotlight: Loot Wars

Yes, I’m apparently obsessed with games that have loot (or lewt as it may be) in the title.  What can I say?  I’m an item-centric individual.  I plunked down the dollar and ninety-nine cents for Loot Wars and I’m really glad I did.

Loot Wars is awesome but it isn’t for everyone.  If you’re looking for a game to really sink your teeth into and play for an hour (or even 20 minutes), Loot Wars is not the game for you.  And if you’re only going to play Loot Wars once a week, you’re also not going to enjoy it.  But Loot Wars is a heck of a lot of fun when you log on for a couple of minutes a few times a day.

Like a lot of old web-based games I used to play, Loot Wars limits you to a certain energy (you can consider them action points) that you regain over real time.  Your maximum is 20 energy and you burn through it rather quickly.  You regain energy points at a rate of 1 per every fifteen minutes.  What can you do with this energy?  Well, get yourself some loot of course.

When you start off, you’re going to want to scavenge for loot.  Scavenging costs 1 energy and provides you with some loot to add to your six slots.  Even when your slots are full you can still scavenge to find better loot, which you can then swap out with the loot you are carrying.  You will also want to scavenge after you have lost some of your loot in fights.  

I should get into the basics of loot here.  Each item has an attack number and a defense number.  There are some other factors I will get into in a bit but basically you want as high of a combined attack and defense as possible.  That’s the “loot” part, but what about the “wars” part?  Well, the battling is done in the Arena and takes 3 energy points.  Choose an opponent and swing away.  Combat is automatic and based on your attack/defense values.  There is no exact algorithm posted but I do believe attack is more important when you are initiating combat and defense when you are the one being challenged.  I think there is definitely some random element as well, because occasionally I will lose fights to someone with lower attack and defense numbers.  Once you win, you get to pick a loot item from your opponent to replace one of your own or fill an empty slot.  You can also destroy one of their items instead but that seems like a pretty dick move.

There is also a peaceful way to interact with your fellow Loot Wars players.  Head into town and offer someone a trade (no energy points needed).  To be honest, there is not much point to this.  I suppose someone might trade a 75 attack item for a 75 defense item, but it would take a lot of searching to find the right fit and it just doesn’t seem worth it to wait to see if your trade is approved by the other party.  I do think it could come in handy if you are meta-gaming and want to fight with all tech items or all rare items or so on.  I do hear tales of generous players who will kindly trade fabulous loot to noobs but I’m not one of them.

Items do fall into separate categories but it makes no real difference (except possibly for medals).  They also have various colors based on rarity, but again this makes no real difference.  Rarer does not necessarily mean better.  The other thing you should know about loot is that you research it.  As you hold an item you will research it (a percent will go up and the slot will change color).  Once the item is fully researched, it is added to your research log (just useful for browsing through), has your name affixed to it (just for the fame I suppose) and it begins to decay.  Once an item is fully researched, it drops in quality level at a rate of 1 per day.  Once the quality level is zero, the item is worthless.  Items will start off with various levels of quality so that is another factor to notice (though I would still always take a higher attack+defense item).  At first I didn’t see the positive aspect to research but there is one now with the latest update as I’ll mention later.

Loot Wars is not a game for people who get frustrated easily or get attached to their items.  Because you are going to lose your items…a lot.  You see, even when you are not playing Loot Wars, you are still open to attacks.  So you will log back on later in the day and find a couple of your best items have disappeared.  You can see who beat you down in the arena if you wish revenge.  I don’t really worry about it as I’m out there doing the same to everyone else.  I think it would be cool if you could leave your old item with the person you defeated when swapping it, because sometimes you are only upgrading by a handful of points.  This might be a nice “olive branch” option.  Even if you somehow manage to hold on to your precious loot, it is still always heading towards decay and oblivion.

People are used to progression in games.  You expect to improve over the time you put in and always go forwards, not back.  But in Loot Wars, you have to accept the fact that you may be a top contender one day and a total noob the next.  The fun is trying to constantly work your way up that ladder and stay on top.  I think it’s a blast.  It’s perfect for a few minutes of fun when you need a break and the competitive multiplayer aspect really adds a lot.  The graphics are simple but clear and the sound effects are pretty amusing.  Some of the item names are funny but I’d like to see even more variety.

I suppose one persistent means of progression are the medals you achieve, but they aren’t really explained.  You can figure most of them out, but when you open your medal screen (mine always remains blank for a few seconds) only some are displayed.  There is a button that says “view more medal history” but that just opens a browser which in turn tells you that “detailed medal logs are coming soon.”  

The one thing about the game that pissed me off the most were the leaderboards.  I set my goal to crack the top 25 attack+defense list.  I noted the lowest ranking on the list and eventually got above it.  But when I went to the leaderboard I didn’t see my name.  That’s when I noticed the sentence on top that said “as of 5 days ago.”  Wow, that was annoying.  I should check back in 5 days to see my name?  (It is up there as I write this post though…woot!).  I just checked again and it now says “3 days ago” so maybe that was improved or I got it wrong the first time.  You can check the leaderboard on the actual web page (which I assume is current) but that requires logging in, etc.  I’d like the leaderboard to be no more than 1 day behind from the iPhone screen.

I think it’s a great game as is.  I hope the developers don’t bow to pressure to make single player modes or make other major changes.  There were strategic issues with people exploiting or being smart (however you view it) by “turtling” but I think that has been fixed.  My only real suggestion would be to add a few more elements to make the game a bit more layered and complex.  Perhaps loot should have additional facets with real gameplay meaning.  

The good news is that the developers seem active.  Version 1.1 added a duffel bag.  This allows you to stow fully researched items in your bag (it takes 2 energy to do so) which should add some additional strategic elements.  It also means that fully researched items now have a benefit (although they will still decay).  This may not seem like a big deal but it really does change things.  For the first time, you can keep certain items safe and prepare for your inevitable loot loss.  Of course, nothing is forever in Loot Wars.  So I like the fact that the items which are safe in your bag are still decaying.   

The other main change was hostile encounters when scavenging.  Sometimes when scavenging for loot you will find an NPC monster.  You can still run away and lose nothing so don’t worry.  But you can also attempt to defeat the foe and gain one of its loot items.  I did find something interesting upon beating down some sort of bear while scavenging for loot.  Rather than taking any of its crappy bear loot, I was able to choose an option which gave me an additional 2 points of energy.  

My main advice in this game is to be aggressive (as the song goes).  When I first started playing I tried to get by on scavenging loot and staying away from the arena.  But I found I progressed much more quickly when I decided to start battling.  Also, choose your opponents well.  Don’t waste energy fighting if you are not going to claim any good loot items.  However, be sure to check out opponents that seem to have stats which are low.  They may have already lost some of their items but still have some really good ones.  Remember that you can refresh the opponents list in the arena so take your time and find the right foe to fight.

I love this game.  It’s simple, fast and fun.  But at the same time I think it’s definitely not for everyone.  Unfortunately, there’s no demo.  Someone did make a YouTube video review so you can check that out (but I disagree with the idea that straying off of a screen accidentally is a problem).

One final tip: if you see someone named Aggro in the Arena, stay far away.  I hear that individual has a Duffel Bag filled with the most deadly of loot and your eventual demise would be certain.