A Brief History of the World App Reviews

The only reason I am not giving this terrific game of world conquest over the centuries is the AI occasionally locks up. Kind of irritating twenty minutes into a game.

The app stops responding a few step into the tutorial on my iPhone 4S.

A very good game, AI extremely competitive, easy to learn, commands simple to use, a great value, you will play this constantly!

Great game that is now mostly fixed after the new update. Solid AI play and both local and online multiplayer. Small text though as the game was originally developed for tablets

This is a really solid game. Fortunately most of the bugs have now been fixed.

The UI looks slick, but I cant even get through the tutorial without the becoming unresponsive and leaving me stuck. I think its some kind of layering issue with pop-ups that dont dismiss properly, and it could an issue with iOS 7, but the app is unplayable.

This is a fun strategic turn-based game that is kind of like Risk on steroids. Many more options for strategy than Risk, and you can play a game in 30-40 minutes easily because there are only 6 turns. The great thing is that the AI is very strong (and has selectable levels of difficulty). With many strategy games I have played, I can beat the AI easily after one or two games, but this AI really gives you a run for your money. One thing that I would like to see is to easily be able to tell what empire you and the other players are when selecting event cards. This would make a big strategic difference. Highly recommended if you like this genre of games.

Bottom line up front: this is the REAL DEAL! But first, some background. The Ragnar Brothers designed and released a boardgame called History of the World (HOTW) in 1991. A couple of years later it was picked up and published by Avalon Hill, and then republished by Hasbro when that company acquired Avalon Hill. When the Hasbro version went out of print, the rights to the game eventually returned to the Ragnar Brothers, who apparently did a complete redesign that did much to streamline game play while adding fresh elements of historical chrome. They released this version as a boardgame called A Brief History of the World (BHOTW) in 2009. And now its available for the iPad! For those who played the Avalon Hill HOTW boardgame as I did for years and years, and longed for it to come to iOS, rest assured, its all here in BHOTW - epochs, lands, areas, empires, events, etc., plus many new and clever touches and an intelligent AI. Ive already played dozens of games on the iPad, and it continues to impress. I look forward to trying the online play. I noticed a couple of reviewers had trouble with the tutorial because it froze. The first time I tried the tutorial, it also locked up on me, but seemed to work fine the second time. Although a troublesome tutorial can be frustrating, the rules are clearly written. I recommend skimming them and then just dive right in and learn from how the AI plays. Happy gaming!

Fun quasi historical world empire game. The computer at the top level is challenging. Most fun against humans. A couple of annoying bugs: game makes everyone wait while the last player "chooses" the last event and empire card. Also when undoing a decision to not play a card the game can completely skip your turn. Another request is that players can post messages in the log and thus taunt / advice each other.

I cannot believe this game will allow you to end your turn with doing anything, a conformation dialog would be nice...

I rarely review. I own this board game and played hundreds of times with friends. I also play lots of iOS games. This is, thankfully, in another league as far as quality and game play. Similar port quality as Ticket to Ride. They kept everything to a tee based on rules. A few changes that I disagree with. For example, picking epoch cards are blind picks and can be passed. This game just allows you to make an open pick of remaining cards with no pass. Thats a big difference. A few other knit picks. Amazing job making feel as close to playing the board game. Highly recommend the game and dont listen to the 1 star reviews. My only question to developer is why not allow players to play defensive dice rolls? Hopefully developer offers other rule variants. Minor quips and possibly a good argument why not to. Congrats. I will spread word in my gaming circles.

The board game is fantastic, and this app is simply fantastic. Thanks to the creators for making this product. Worth every penny. That being said, this app appears to have one major bug; which is: if you click "undo" while on a minor empire the game will sometimes skip your for the rest of theta me.

Im still learning so I refer to help from time to time. But half the time it tells me I should end my turn even when I havent played any of my armies! And its frozen. I cant actually end my turn or make any other play. It is a fun game for the three minutes it actually works. I want a refund!

Got this game to play with my spouse, but the multiplayer freaked out and started repeating the required AI players turn over and over and over again. I counted 6 times before I decided this was a waste of money and time. Sadness.

Outstanding app! Faithful translation of classic board game onto iPad. Board game was fun to play and this version is equally fantastic. Easy mechanics, challenging gameplay and plenty of replayability. Offers nice strategic level play without getting mired in tactical level minutiae.

Was very happy to find this game as an app. Faithful to the board game. Can play in less than an hour, unlike an all night event that the board game is.

Might be good. Cant tell since the tutorial keeps locking up the game in the same place over and over...

Great game, must buy for fans if the board game. I would give it 5 stars except some of the empire special abilities do not work. Very disappointing because it breaks some of the game balance. Also the AI does some silly things like alternate attacks between two regions. This negates the bonus the attacker gains for losing. But overall minor flaws.

I loved this game before we had iPads and love it now on the iPad. I just we could see more great games come out on the iPad.

Of an outstanding game. Ive got the original History of the World. This up is just right for when Ive got 20 minutes to spate.