14 DAY TRIAL // I love sports-simulation titles and they tend to make up a big part of my gaming diet over the year, with the clear frontrunner of the moment being Football Manager 2014 and with more than one hundred hours of playtime also devoted to Pro Cycling Manager and FIFA.
I’ve even dabbled with Blood Bowl, a game that simulates an imaginary version of American football that tends to focus more on violence and special abilities.
But I have never before been challenged to play a game that tackles chariot racing, a form of athletic competition that existed in the Roman times but would be probably impossible to stage in modern days because of human and animal safety concerns.
Qvadriga is one of the biggest surprises for me so far in the year and it manages to capture what I feel would be the spirit of the races, while also introducing a solid set of mechanics that are constantly exciting and filled with interesting decisions.
The development team at Turntopia needs to be commended on their knowledge about chariot racing and on the way they managed to translate that very complex endeavor into an activity that a player can understand in less than half an hour.
My first few races in Qvadriga were disastrous, mostly because I failed to read any sort of the gameplay instructions before I played, but with each failure, I understood a little more about the game world and the mechanics and how I could create a path towards victory.
Basically, each race requires players to make a set of decisions before any reins are used in anger, which determine the way the coming competition will be approached, the most important being whether to go with power or speed.
Once all the chariots, their horses and their aurigas (a fancy way to refer to a driver) are on the road, the player needs to see what his enemies are doing and implement his own plan while making sure that their actions cannot interfere with his intentions.
Initially, races in Qvadriga might seem a little sluggish, but as soon as speed is gained, it becomes a nail biting affair, with constant evaluations of the tactical situation and moments when a small drift or the loss of one horse makes the difference between defeat and victory.
The game can be a little sparse at times, but I know of no other video game that has made me as excited for a sport that no longer exists.