Lost Souls by Kit Pierce Lost Souls is a refreshing twist on some old board games. Sort of a Chinese Checkers meets Risk kind of game. Throw in some resource management and some old fashioned strategy, and you have a winner that's sure to please. The idea behind the game is simple. Expand your borders by advancing your armies while destroying the other computer controlled players. Let's see... enlarge your army, smush the computer player... that's about it. But don't let me mislead you. Even though Lost Souls is a no-frills turn-based strategy game, the setup remains interesting enough to keep one's attention for hours. The computer persona isn't stupid. The computer will avoid your nest of archers if given the chance, and will try to sucker you into leaving your knights exposed. You begin each round with your armies placed on land masses floating in a void. You have three different kinds of troops at your disposal: Knights (most expensive to build, but provide the greatest mobility), Archers (middle unit that can attack at a distance), and Soldiers (the cheapest moving unit and the most expendable: cannon fodder). You also have the ability to build bridges to extend across the void. Here's a tip: Bridges are your friend, but the enemy can use your bridges as easily as you can. As you expand your borders, you increase your ability to create new armies. At the end of each turn, depending on the amount of land and towers you control, you collect mana. You spend your mana by building troops and bridges. Simple, right? Another tip: If you're at the max of your mana bar, spend it. Unlike "true" resource management games like Blizzard's Starcraft games you don't get to develop surplus mana. The max is the max. The game has three skill levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. For each skill level, I was afraid the AI was going to get tougher (Bronze had me working for the win on some of the levels), but rest assured, changing the skill level doesn't crank the brains of the AI. It just affects the number of resources you start each level with. Less mana equals harder. The graphics are sharp and bright, and the ambient sounds add to the entire experience. Move your army forward and hear a plaintive crow in the distance. Build a bridge and hear the wind whistling across the void. Certainly a nice touch. Add a nifty save game feature, and I was able to invest plenty of time into this little gem. Now for the nits: The online help is thorough, but while I was learning the controls, I was wishing for an interactive tutorial to instruct me in the most effective usage of my resources. Maybe in version 1.5. The game control can be bit awkward. This is probably because the isometric layout of the board obscures the grid. As a result, the pieces sometimes don't move where you'd expect them to. This is overcome by patience and practice. Trackpad users be thankful: there is a one level undo, so if your archer zigs when you wanted a zag, you can correct it. The only gripe I have about the actual gameplay is the cleanup. After you've tasted the satisfaction of annihilating an opponent's armies, going around the board and covering your enemy's territories quickly becomes an anti-climax. While a good idea in theory (the enemy could conceivably build a new troop to attack you with in the time it takes you to go around the board and clean up), the cleanup phase quickly becomes a nuisance in the absence of another human player. Since the game only allows play against the computer, it would be nice to have a "gimmie" force surrender option. Now I'm done with the nits. All told, not bad for a version 1 release. Lost Souls requires a Mac with at least a 25 MHz 68030 running System 7 or better, 5 MB of free RAM, 2.5 MB of hard drive space and at monitor capable of displaying 640x480 at thousands of colors. Essentially any Mac made in the last 5 or so years can run Lost Souls famously, unless you're one of the unfortunate few still using a 12 inch monitor with your spankin' new G3. I tested it on an iMac running 8.6 with no problems. Spiderweb Software did a great job with Lost Souls, and you can't beat the $15 price tag. If you enjoy strategy games, Lost Souls is definitely one you should take out for a spin.