Phage

Every planet shows how many ships are on it. The green ones are yours, the red ones the computer's, grey ones belong to nobody. A planet you hold grows ships one at a time — a big one faster than a small one: your home world two a second.

Tap one of your planets, then tap the planet to attack: a share of your ships flies there as a stream of little triangles. Or put a finger on a planet of yours, drag across more of yours to gather them, and lift on the target. Double-tap any planet of yours to select them all. The ‹50%› in the corner is the share that goes; tap it for 25, 75 or 100. Ships already on their way can be turned: tap a stream of yours to select it (or drag across several), then tap the planet they should go to instead.

Ships that land on a planet of their own colour join it. On any other planet each ship takes one defender with it, and the first to land on an empty one takes the planet. Ships keep growing while a fleet is on its way, so a fleet that would have won when it left can lose when it lands. Take the computer's last planet and the galaxy is yours.

Single player is you against one, two or three computers — Lieutenant, Commodore or Fleet Admiral, in any mix — on six maps: Scatter, Ring, Hub, Clusters, Asteroids and Giants. Against more than one it is a free-for-all; lose your last planet and the game is over for you. The computers keep enough at home to meet the biggest fleet you could send there, so emptying your home world to rush theirs will not do it.

Two modes of play: Classic, take every planet; and Hill, where a planet sits in the exact centre and whoever has held it for a minute in all wins (or takes every planet first).

The Campaign is twenty-four galaxies in order, each opening when the one before is won, the computers — the earlier Ensign, Captain and Admiral — stronger as you go. Some of its levels have rules of their own: Crash, where fleets of different sides whose paths cross fight where they meet, and Orbit, where the planets nearer the middle circle it. A win is a star; within half again the level’s time, two; inside it, three. Each level’s time is set from the quickest wins played on it.

The single-player leaderboard is points: every win counts, on any map, in either mode — a point for each Lieutenant or Ensign you beat, two for each Commodore or Captain, three for each Fleet Admiral or Admiral — for all time, and this week from Monday. Multiplayer is ranked by wins.

Multiplayer puts two to four in one galaxy — friends by a four-letter code, computers to fill the seats. Your planets are green unless you chose another colour; the last side with a planet takes it. Leave a game under way and a computer plays on with your planets.

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Phage

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