Hero Academy

Hero Academy is a fun little game which will keep you entertained for a few hours as you plan strategies and eventually conquer enemies, but there is little available to keep players enticed beyond that. At present the game is somewhat light on features but the gameplay's emphasis on defensive strategy will keep fans of the turn-based game coming back for more.

Hero Academy offers a new concept of multiplayer gaming on iOS devices: an asynchronous system using push notification, suitable for quick session you can resume whenever you want, even the following day. Robot Entertainment's IP is funny and immediate, suitable for all player – even the less skilled with RTS. But be careful: playing without a strategy against a human opponent could be an authentic suicide.

In its present form, Hero Academy is a fairly lightweight confection, but it digs its nails in until you find yourself impatiently anticipating the notification alert, and then starting a fresh battle with a random opponent to shorten the wait.

This is a nice game that may well turn into a great game: if the players continue to stick around, if the developer doesn't let the micro-transactions take over, and if the design team keeps its eye out for bugs and exploits that emerge as people start to get really serious.

Hero Academy is light on strategy, but provides smooth pick-up-and-play fun.

Hero Academy feels like the start of something special that's only half-finished right now. The gameplay is great, as are the graphics, but it still needs some additional content before it's something to recommend to all gamers (like a single-player campaign and a real training mode). Still, if you're patient and can get past these quirks, you're in for a great strategy experience.