Controlling seedlings, growing trees, and conquering asteroids may not instantly grab you as a clear concept for a portable gaming experience, however, any fan of real-time strategy will find Eufloria HD the perfect experience for on-the-go gaming.

Originally released on the PC back in 2009, and subsequently making the transition to PSN in 2011, the beautiful Eufloria made the leap to portable devices earlier in 2012 with Eufloria HD for iPad.

Described by developers Alex May and Rudolf Kremers as an “ambient game of space exploration and conquest”, this succinct summary undersells the two core components of the game. Between the gentle aesthetic and musical accompaniment, down to the frantic space battles over asteroids, Eufloria is a game of two brilliantly realised halves.

Anyone with a vague understanding of real-time strategy will be able to grasp Eufloria within a second or two of starting the application. While a number of different objectives present themselves throughout the course of the game. Most of your time will be spent defending captured ground, or advancing to take more.

Much of this will take place through channelling your seedlings – the troops of Eufloria’s strange little universe – from planetoid to planetoid to destroy enemy controlled areas and plant new trees, either for defensive purposes or to grow new units.

As the game progresses, different units and upgrades to the trees become available to the player, as well as additional modes such as Skirmish Mode to bolster the Story Mode available from the start.

The game’s unique look – trees swaying, battered under the assault of your forces, in a world of understated colours – transitions from the PC to the iPad flawlessly. Sadly, more often than not, you are more concerned with managing your planets and seedlings on a larger scale, and rarely zoom in close enough to appreciate the finer details.

 

On rare occasion, you will find yourself zoomed in close to the planets, and the realisation of how beautiful of a game it is, will take your breath away a new. However, the majority of your time spent with Eufloria HD will be watching green dots attacking other coloured dots for a field of grey circles.

The touch screen controls work as you would expect, with a mix of drag gestures across the screen and context sensitive buttons forming the bulk of your interaction with the game. When dividing your forces to attack multiple targets, a radial menu will allow you to select the numbers to send away.

While imprecise, it does the job perfectly well for the level of precision the game requires, and adds another variation to the way you control the game. The variety in the control scheme takes a few minutes to get to grips with, but the tutorial establishes the basics early on. New mechanics are dropped in throughout, so you never feel too overwhelmed at any one time.

The game lends itself to the mobile device in every way. While the levels and skirmishes can take some time to complete in full, the nature of the game – the exploration and conquering of planets – can be taken step by step. If you only have a few minutes to hand, it will be more than enough to marshal your forces and take down an enemy stronghold or two.

While games such as Eufloria readily lend themselves to over-indulgent verbal flourishes when describing the aesthetic, it is hard to deny the sheer joy which can be had from taking a moment to sit back and experience the game.

Offering both the frantic, conquest orientated gameplay of a real-time strategy hidden within an easy control scheme and beautifully stylised world, Eufloria HD offers something for everyone.

While the PC and console versions may offer a little more screen space to view the charming, understated graphics, you should not pass up the chance to have them with you wherever you go.

This review is based on an iPad version of the game provided by the developer.

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