Some people like to describe Archon as a sort of fighting chess game, but this is pretty much an unfair description. The only similarities to chess is that there are some pieces that look like they belong on a chess board, and the board is checked. None of the pieces move like they would in chess, and there’s no guarantee that you can capture the opponent’s piece.
Archon is a unique board game in which two sides with a differing set of pieces fight to eliminate all of the opposing side’s pieces or gain control of five power points. Instead of simply capturing a piece, a battle is initiated between the two pieces. It’s pretty hard to kill anything with the basic pieces, and it really sucks to lose a powerful piece.
Keeping your pieces on the corresponding tile color of light or dark is fairly important, giving your piece an advantage on the appropriate color. I found that the computer will pretty much park itself on these squares, and will only initiate fights when it has the advantage. This causes a bit of a stalemate, unless you want to fight an uphill battle.
Though I never did manage to win a single game, it’s still pretty fun to play. It reminds me a lot of The Unholy War for PS1, which seems like an updated version of the same battle scheme. It’s worth tracking down if you have a friend to play with and are looking for something to play together instead of a sports or fighting game.
-mlbradley
durden26@comcast.net