Reviews

At first glance this game resembles a fantasy version of chess; you've got numerous pieces on a chequered board, a complex set of rules to govern movement and various spells which can be cast to add to the strategic element. However, when a piece is taken it launches into an arcade style combat sub-game neatly throwing out any attempts to easily categorize it.

As a one player game it's fun for a bit, at least once you've gotten good enough at the sub-game not to be beaten every time, but it begins to suffer when you get too good at it; when you're good enough to win nearly all the combat, the strategy element of the game stops mattering too much as you will still almost certainly win the game regardless.

However, as a two-player game between well matched opponents it's got a bit more staying power. The Spectrum conversion comes off a bit weak against the Atari 8-bit original though, so that's probably the one to hunt down if you want to see the game at its best.

1985 Ariolasoft (UK)
by Tony Barber & Simon Dunstan

Supposedly written in 1983 and published in 1985, Archon received in that same year the award for best strategy game of the year.
The award is well deserved because this board, strategy game, not only is well written, but is also quite appealing to anyone into this sort of games. It plays a bit like a chess board game, but with a different set of rules. Unlike some games those rules have to be learned before playing it, otherwise it becomes almost impossible to understand what is happening. There is an arcade part to the game which will happen when two forces come in contact. The problem with this part is it isn't hard to master, and once you do that, the strategy bit loses power because the game no longer depends on it.
The game was obviously inspired by board games, like Dungeons and Dragons and it's well ported to the Spectrum.

Such a great game!!
It deserves to be well remembered even today.
Ancient hardware fits well with this type and vice-versa