What is AmoebArena?

Start with a futuristic version of Chinese checkers invented in a biohazard lab, add just a dash of the cantina scene from Star Wars, and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what AmoebArena is all about. This strategy" game’s concept is simple: pit your army of microscopic organisms against your opponents’ microscopic armies in a free-for-all arena battle. Imagine the game of Risk invented by a mad cellular biologist

Your armies are made up of four types of single-cell soldiers: cytozoids, amoeboids, mitoplasts, and blockers. Each type varies in terms of movement, attack power, health, and ability to reproduce. You start the game with a set number of each organism, which you place in your corner, or “home area,” of the board. Your opponents do the same, and then it's a cytoplasmic slugfest as you pilot your pieces in the arena according to their movement allowances, attacking and defending. The winner is the player with pieces left on the hoard at the end of the battle. It took me less than five minutes to get started playing, but I'm still nowhere near mastering the strategies it takes to win.

There are three scenarios from which to choose: a quick, basic game or two more-protracted tournament games. Tournament games cycle players through changing game boards as you fight for control over your opponents’ star systems. Win control over them all (or hold the majority in limited round tournaments) and you get to take a victory lap around the AmoebArena starship. In the more complex scenarios, the hoard and the composition of your pieces change between battles, and so does the strategy. Five computer opponents are available, each with a different style of play. It’s also possible to compete against human opponents, but because the human players have to share the same computer (no network play is available), it’s essentially a oneperson game. If you are shopping for a game to play with your friends, choose another.

Surrounding the game board are windows that contain animated portraits of you and your opponents. I found a cheesy sci-fi charm to these graphics and the background data on each player, but they won’t be to everyone’s taste. The windows come to life as you or your opponents react to the fortunes (good and had) of microscopic combat. These prefab personalities, intended to add flavor to the game, are only moderately successful. But I loved the way my animated cell warriors oozed across the board, accompanied by a disgusting sucking sound.

The Last Word My only real complaints about AmoebArena are that there’s no network option and that you must play it from the CD. This is a simple game, and the movie files that come with it aren't essential. I would have liked to run it from my PowerBook, but there was no option to play without those flics. In the end, though, these are minor quibbles. AmoebArena is an engaging game that’s easy to learn but doesn't lose its slimy charms after just a few games.

Hawn, Matthew. (January 1996). AmoebArena 1.0. Macworld. (pg. 75).

Download AmoebArena for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

Compatibility notes

Emulating this? It could probably run under: Basilisk II