Black Orchid

Black Orchid is a strategy game in a fantasy setting, in which the forces of good and evil try to conquer a given island. Both sides start with a single castle and have to acquire troops, hire special forces, cast spells, build supporting buildings and push back the opposite player.

There are 60 different troop leaders to hire, all with slightly different strengths, alignment and speed. You can send the armies of these leaders to parts of the country, taking that part of the land for you. Each cell with at least one army in it gives a certain amount of money per round. You can build mines to increase the financial outcome, or you can build a tavern to reduce the cost of hiring additional leaders.

You also can use magic, blessing or healing your own troops, or throwing a fireball at an army of the enemy. Magic can also be affected by buildings. Also special troops can be acquired, like the Thief, who tries to steal money from the enemy, but starts to work for him if it fails. Or you can garrison militia on a cell which attacks enemy armies moving in. If two armies meet in a cell, a fight on a separate 2D area is shown, allowing to flee or retreat.

The game can be played against the computer or with two players. You can chose to play for the good or evil forces, which basically changes the cost of certain spells – all features can be accessed from both sides.