Phagefight
Description
In Phagefight, you are in control of an army of bacteriophage. Small viral organisms engaged in an epic battle over an area a few microns wide.
It is a small turn-based strategy game similar to Ataxx. The board is 7x7 squares, and there are 20 different boards differing in obstacles and initial starting places. In turns, players (or player vs. computer) move one of their pieces. If the piece is moved to an adjacent square, the piece is duplicated, otherwise the piece moves up to 2 squares away. All enemy pieces adjacent to the landing square are converted to the player's colour. If the board becomes full or a player doesn't have any legal moves, the player with more pieces wins; it's also possible to win by eating all of the enemy's pieces.
Besides the 20 different boards, the background colour and cycling speed can be customized, and the AI difficulty and aggressiveness can be tuned. Although the game is designed for then-modern PC's, it could be run in an old XT model and it could fit in a 5.25" DD 360 KiB disk.
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Credits (DOS version)
9 People
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Reviews
Players
Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 1 ratings)
Simple strategy game with good AI
The Good
An Ataxx variant, easy to learn, difficult to master.
In all its simplicity, it has enough options to make things challenging. The AI is fully configurable between aggressive and defensive stances, and overall intelligence. The author claimed he couldn't beat the AI on highest level.
And it has 20 different boards with different obstacle positions to make things even more challenging. One obstacle will change an entire strategy.
The Bad
The graphics might be too simple even for a self-made game, and the colours might not have been the best chosen.
The Bottom Line
If you like those games you can learn in 10 seconds and you can't beat in 10 attempts, this game is for you. A small board, you against the computer (or against a friend), move your pieces 1 space for duplication or jump 2 spaces without it; touch enemy's pieces for conversion.
It's that simple. However, what this game has to stand out from other Ataxx variants is not visual, but under the hood. The AI is surprisingly good even at low levels. Highly configurable too.
In conclusion, nothing new or visually impressive, but extremely well executed. A must try if you like this kind of games.
DOS · by JMM (352) · 2017
Trivia
Naming
About choosing the name Phagefight, the author stated: "it's not the best name for a game, but nobody would want to download a game with the word "Virus" in the name, including myself!" At the time of this writing (May 2017), MobyGames lists 21 known games with the word "Virus" or derivatives in the name, and two known companies starting with such word.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by JMM.
Game added May 7, 2017. Last modified February 22, 2023.