Lux Delux: Just Good Gaming

By Tony Giacomo

Lux Delux v 5.5, $24.95 US download
Mac OSX PPC, Windows, Linux
Sillysoft Games “http://sillysoft.net”

From about the age of 10 all the way through college I always loved playing a good game of Risk. “The classic battle game of Global Domination” board game form Parker Brothers. It was always a fun game to get together and play with friends and a good game could go on for hours. Anyway I was looking for a good strategy game for my 10-year-old daughter and ran across a list of cool Mac games and Lux Delux was listed. I was instantly intrigued and downloaded the free demo from the Sillysoft.net site. I ended up playing it for about 2 hours. After having that much fun with the demo I emailed Tim to see if anyone had reviewed this little gem of a game. Tim told me to go for it and here I am.

When the application launches you are in the game setup mode. This is where you either select a single player game versus 5 computer opponents of varying skill level or an online game versus real players around the world. I would recommend that you play several rounds against good computer opponents before you go against the net players as they are very good. One strongpoint of the game is quickly visible here in the expandability. The game ships with 12 built in maps from classic Risk to a space station. There are real battle maps ranging from the civil war through Vietnam. Then there are map generators that allow the player to create maps of their own. Then there is the really cool part of Lux, the downloadable plug-ins. As of this writing there were over 300 downloads available from within the game. These consisted of mostly maps, but also new AI players in case the 12 included players were not enough variety. There are also random map generators and a very unique web site that is called American History LUX. This is a game that takes the Lux engine through the wars that have shaped American History. Browsing the new releases of maps as I write this I see many creative new maps. Just this week the following maps were added to the site. Cube Wars, Pirateers, BattlePlanets, Roman Empire and a seasonal map Luxoween 2006. The variety offered in this game is enough to keep you entertained for quite sometime.

The actual game play of Lux is a classic Risk style turn based game. You begin the game by either being assigned random countries or selecting them in turn. You also can start with initial armies placed randomly, even or selected in turn. There is also a choice for a scenario where the players are configured in a specific fashion if the map includes one as some of the historical battle maps do. Once you have made your choices you click Play A Game and your map is generated with your selected options and you are off. If you prefer fast paced first person shooters to a complex strategy game this may not be your cup of tea. But if you like planning your moves several steps ahead and love strategy then I really think you will enjoy this game.

Lux Delux is a very well written and fun game that a broad age range will enjoy. The interface isn’t your polished Mac style interface as I would assume since it is not only a Mac game but also has Windows and Linux versions available for those not fortunate enough to have a Mac . The design is however clean simple and very functional. The only part that I see missing from the interface is a way to move armies in more granular steps when you are repositioning your troops. The interface allows you to move one or all armies with a single click. However, when you have 200+ armies and want to split your forces clicking the mouse 100 times can be carpel tunnel waiting to happen. At any rate this is only an occasional problem and the game is worth this minor inconvenience. And yes my 10-year-old daughter has had a great time playing this game as well. Head on over to “http://www.sillysoft.net” and give Lux a try, just make sure you have a couple free hours before you do.

Technorati Tags:
software, review, mac, games