Faif puts a clever spin on the classic RPG genre
Faif is a unique new iPhone RPG in which gamers must take a risk, think quick, and gamble carefully in order to succeed.
The application really is unlike anything we’ve seen before in the App Store, and this is largely because of its interesting and unusual battle system. In Faif, iPhone users are set the challenge of defeating an onslaught of ambiguous foes; however, rather than swinging a sword or waving a wand, this RPG of sorts instead gets players to fight using a five-by-six grid.
Only one tile is chosen, and if it’s a skull, then you’ll lose a life point.
Four different types of tiles are scattered across this grid — there are swords, skulls, hearts, and gems — and gamers must take it in turns to tactically choose five adjacent tiles in each round. After you’ve picked your chosen five, Faif then randomly selects one single tile, roulette-style. If a heart is chosen you’ll gain a life point, and if a gem is selected it’ll be put to one side and saved for the in-game store.
This might sound pretty elementary so far, but Faif gets more complex when it comes to making an attack using the sword tile. Because if you select a sword and it happens to be chosen, the strength of your resultant attack will be determined by the number of skulls you selected in the same round. For example, a sword tile alongside three skull tiles will see your attack take three health points off your foe. But if, on the other hand, Faif randomly selects one of the three skull tiles rather than the sword tile, a life point will be taken off you, instead. The more skulls you select therefore promises the chance of a higher-powered strike, yet at the same time increases the risk of losing a life point.
Different opponents come with different attributes and health levels.
As such, you’ll need to choose your selection of tiles carefully in each round. Different foes come with different attributes (such as “clever and aggressive”), and your enemies will also start with a higher number of health points as you progress throughout the game.
There’s the chance of earning rewards and leveling up in Faif, and you can spend gems earned in the application inside a dedicated shop. Here, spells for increasing one’s health and switching around tiles on the board are available, and because the app is free of in-app purchases there’s no option of spending cash in order to cheat (which we’re pleased to see). The only downside to Faif is that there’s no multiplayer mode; we think this would really encourage gamers to keep on returning to the app in order to take on real-life opponents.
If you’re stuck, the in-game shop could help you win with a spell.
This one qualm aside, Faif is nevertheless a fun and really unique iPhone application, and iOS gamers will enjoy experiencing its challenging battle system.
Price: $0.99/£0.89
Size: 1.0 MB
Version: 1.0.2
Platform: iOS Universal
Developer: Nicolas Saraintaris
