One of the great things about mobile games is their “bite-size” nature. No matter where you might be, if you have a few minutes to kill, it’s easy to find a game that offers a short and simple experience. Some players, however, desire a little more depth in their mobile games, while still maintaining that bite-size design. For those people, Fellowship of Ananias incorporates enough RPG elements to make a simple mobile experience engaging enough to satisfy the most hardcore appetites.
At its core, Fellowship of Ananias is a rouge-like, complete with randomly generated dungeons and items. There are four classes to chose from: Alchemist, Arcane, Paladin, and Hunter (I personally found the Paladin to be the most useful, since you fight in close quarters most of the time). You even get an animal companion to join you, each one differing in health and strength. Players tap the screen to move around, with the goal being a set of stairs to descend into the next level. Along the way, there are items to be found, monsters to be fought, and even statues to be collected, which can be viewed in the main menu. After reaching the next section, you are given a choice of how to upgrade your character, with potential choices being more health, greater item capacity, strength, or even a mystery upgrade. Be careful, though, since upgrades with a question mark can result in your character becoming “unlucky” in combat.
The interesting thing about Fellowship of Ananias is the way items and combat work. The game takes clear inspiration from Dungeons and Dragons, with weapons working on a dice rolling system. Each weapon will have a number and a type of dice associated with it, indicating how much potential damage it can do. Weapons and armor also have integrity, meaning that they will eventually break unless they are repaired with a repair scroll. Combat is also similar to D&D, as players and enemies each get a movement action and an attack. In traditional board game fashion, a die is rolled behind the scenes to determine whether or not an attack hits or misses, which at times can make the difference between life and death. These kinds of traditional RPG elements make enemy encounters slightly more engaging than simply tapping on them until they die.
Fellowship of Ananias really shines when you’re knee deep in dungeon loot.. The continuous desire for treasure is addicting, resulting in the game encouraging players to search every room on each floor. Once players get into a nice groove, Fellowship can be pretty fun, and reaching the next section feels satisfying. However, how far you get in each run is ultimately dependant on the items that spawn in each floor. This is when the game goes through difficulty spikes, making certain runs feel more challenging due to the lack of useful items. There will be times where you’ll run out of healing items, repair scrolls, and other useful items, simply because there weren’t any to be found during that particular run. Also, it is extremely important to keep your animal companion alive, since the game becomes exponentially more difficult without it, to the point where it’s almost worth restarting every times it dies. Finally, while the game is good in short bursts, playing for long stretches can become a bit repetitive, especially if you find yourself repeatedly dying.
Fellowship of Ananias is a good blend of simple gameplay with surrounding RPG elements that give it an added layer of depth to the base game. It’s easy to load up a quick game if you want to waste some time, while still providing a satisfying experience. If you’re looking for an easy to play mobile game with a little extra meat, Fellowship is worth sinking your teeth into.
Is it Hardcore?
Yes.
Ananias takes a simple mobile game and adds enough RPG elements to give it an added layer of depth.