Rise of Lost Empires is a different take on RTS and RPG games because it integrates both genres into a single engine on Apple’s gaming devices. You start out as a hero and must guide him and other heroes that will be playable on the way through a series of stages. The level design is varied which makes the game not a chore to play. Some levels are timed, while others require you to hunt down and destroy enemies, buildings, catapults, and so forth. There are also rescue missions and objectives where you must protect the castle. The game is fun to play, but there are some control issues that need to be brought to attention.

With almost every touch game, there is one button: your finger. Finding ways to use the solitary digit is tough and as games get more complicated, it becomes a hindrance. An example of such in Rise of Lost Empires is when you try to scroll the map back and forth. In an RTS, you need to know what is going on all over your world, but if you have a character selected, and you drag across the screen, your character will often just start walking away. It’s difficult to know exactly when your players are highlighted. Also, you need to make a box with 2 fingers to select units, but this is also unresponsive too often. Thirdly, the AI is not so great. Often three of your squad will be attacking one goblin as 3 others wail away on you. The game has a lot of potential and great ideas. Some improved control and AI glitches make it not as fun as it could be, but still worth checking out as it currently is if you like RPG/RTS.