Like an odd cross between Sudoku and a collectible card game, Star Trek Rivals, from Elephant Mouse Games, is out for iOS on the App Store to capture your attention today, on the release date of Star Trek: Into Darkness (have you gotten your tickets, yet?).
The game is free, has all your Star Trek reboot characters in it, and is pretty simple to learn, but hard to master. It plays asynchronously, and you can play a bunch of games at once. Did I mention it’s made out of Star Trek? What’s not to like?
At the start of each match, you get five cards, each with a still from one of the movies on it. The cards have a number on each edge. When you place a card down in the three by three grid and hit Submit, your opponent gets a chance to lay a card down. If the number on his card that touches the edge of your card is higher, he’ll capture your card. Then it’s your turn. Lay down a card with a edge number higher than one of hers, and you’ll capture that card, plus any others that it originally captured, like the board game Othello. Simple, right?
You can purchase new cards in the store with credits you earn through matches, or with Latinum you can purchase as well. It’s a pretty typical free-to-play business model, and not too intrusive. The only annoying things, so far, are the full screen ads that pop up randomly after you submit a card for play. Choose either ad supported or in-app purchase supported, Elephant Mouse, not both.
The strategy starts to make sense after only a few games, and it’s a fun, mindful way of spending a few minutes as you wait in line to see the movie tonight, anyway.
If that’s not enough, the developers have dropped some sweet Star Trek Rivals wallpapers on us, just for you Cult of Mac readers, so go ahead and download your favorite from the images posted below.
Universal app Star Trek Rivals is available in the App Store now for free. Beam up a copy today.
