Gameplay
Battleline is originally a card game for 2 players designed by Reiner Knizia. It is played with a deck of 60 cards: 6 suits (colours) of 10 cards each (numbered 1-10). Both players are separated by a row of 9 cards representing flags. Players try to capture each flag by playing cards (troops) on either side, and the game is won by capturing 3 adjacent flags or 5 flags in total. Mechanics are very simple: each player must play a card every turn and must then draw another one. Players try to make a combination of 3 cards on their side of each flag that will beat their opponent’s combination on the other side of the same flag. The combinations are ranked in a poker-like fashion (straight, flush, 3 of a kind, etc). An expert version exists where there is a separate 10 card draw pile containing special cards that change some rules in the game (jokers, card swapping, etc). Battleline is a quick strategic game where bluffing, careful planning and good timing are rewarded.

Implementation
Just like in real life, the game is played horizontally because it needs a wide playing area to the sides of the players in order to accommodate the 9 flag cards. The vertical space between the players is much smaller because the 3 cards (troops) played on each side are done so by overlapping each other. About game modes: the game can be played by 1 or 2 players (in “pass-and-play” mode) in both standard and expert version. There is even the option of playing either version with a popular variant: claiming the flags at the start of the turn instead of the usual mechanic of claiming at the end. The solo mode offers a choice of two AI opponents, weak and strong, and I have to say that I found the AI to be quite good. Unfortunately no online or bluetooth play is supported, which I hope is planned as a future improvement since the pass-and-play is a bit awkward as I will explain a bit further on. The graphics offer a nice and practical reinterpretation of the original game’s ancient Greece military theme.

There’s six distinctive colours for the suits, in-game graphic quality is OK, although menus are unimpressive, so don’t expect anything spectacular in the style of Neuroshima Hex or Carcassonne. The game comes with music and sound effects although a nice touch is that you can choose your own music from the ipad library (not very clearly indicated, I found it by accidentally clicking on a musical note icon in one of the menus). There is no tutorial mode but there are some rules’ screens that do a good job of explaining the game. Again, they could be much more appealing: font size is too big and provides an amateur look. The implementation of the game lacks those small details that make other ipad boardgame reincarnations shine (did I mention Carc…OK, you get it). There has been a VERY welcome improvement in version 1.3, in-game pop-ups. Checking rules in mid game used to be very impractical (you had to leave the game, browse the rules page by page, and then come back to the game). Especially in the first few games it is common to check the basic hand ranking. Now this can be checked without leaving the game by a convenient pop-up. The same goes for the 10 special cards of the expert version: in the first few games it is hard to remember what the “traitor”, the “fog” or the “mud” do.

Now, just leaving your finger on the card for a seconds triggers a pop-up with info of what the card does. Another practical touch is the fact that the last card played has a white figure (instead of the usual black), highlighting your opponent’s last move (however, I did not realise this until after a few games, since I couldn’t find anywhere in the rules where this is pointed out). As I already mentioned, playing with 2 players and passing the ipad is a bit awkward. Generally your opponent sits facing you, holding the ipad like a book in order to hide his or her cards from you. Therefore, when you receive the ipad from your opponent you expect the screen not to flip since your cards are now facing you in the right direction, but the screen always flips twice. It feels strange and I would recommend the programmers to find a way around it.

The overall impression is that efforts have focused on the gaming rather than the appearance. It would need online/bluetooth and more polished graphics in order to truly shine, but gameplay is solid with good AI implementation and ipad Battleline is a fun experience. I’d give it a 7/10.