QONQR (pronounced conquer) is a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game for your Windows Phone that is location based. You find yourself in the middle of a battle between the Legion, the Swarm and the Faceless factions.
The storyline goes that a power artificial intelligence known as QONQR has emerged and propagated itself throughout your world. Those who first detected the presence of QONQR have argued fiercely over its intentions. They have split into viciously rival factions, each battling for control of the world and its resources. As you start QONQR you'll have to side with one of the three factions. From there you'll jump right into the battle.
Let me say this from the get go. QONQR is a complex but not difficult game for your Windows Phone. There is a lot to the game but it's gradually thrown at you as you advance in rank. The more you play, the game grows and expands, in a manner of speaking, unlocking more abilities and capabilities. It will take some time to get a handle on it all and luckily there are tutorials and a decent help section to help you sort it all out. QONQR game could easily have a twenty page instruction manual (shame the developer doesn't offer such as a .pdf from their website).
After you register and choose your allegiance to one of the three factions, you'll be sent to the game's Home Page. The Home Page for QONQR has your vital stats up top, button bars to send you to various areas of the game and your nanobot and energy levels. There's also a gear button in the upper right corner to send you the game's settings. The game's settings cover your profile, live tile settings, systems prefs (locations services), notifications and messages. QONQR has notification alerts to let you know when your zones or bases are attacked.
The various game areas accessible from the Home Page include:
Current Zone: This is your current location/zone where you can attack, defend, support and create bases in. There are approximately 3 million battle zones spread across 250 Countries. You can attack and defend zones in the area and your reach is based on your rank and experience. You start with the ability to attack and defend areas nearby (just a few miles) and work your way to where you can reach zones a considerable distance away.
Bases: Bases are encampments that you use to harvest resources that will earn you Qredits that in turn can be used in the Depot. The monetary system has Qredits and Cubes as currency. Consider Qredits as dollars and Cubes as gold bars. At current exchange rates, a Cube is equal to 1,000 Qredits. If you need a jump on things, you can always go to the Depot and purchase Cubes. Prices range from $.99 for one Cube to $200 for 500 Cubes.
You're ability to build bases is dependent on two factors, experience and location. The more experience you have, the more bases you can build. In order to build a base, you have to be in that particular zone. You can manage your bases from a distance but to build them, you have to physically be in that zone.
Mobile Operatives: This is where your profile is listed and you can search for other players. There is a messaging system with QONQR where you can send messages to other players when you find them.
Inventory: These are your upgrades and ordnances you have access to.
From the button controls at the bottom of the game screens you can access additional areas such as the Home Page and...
Maps: QONQR's game map is your local map (provided by Bing?). Hexagonal grids create the zones which you attack, defend and build bases in.
Depot: This is where you purchase upgrades, ordnances, and cash.
Wire: This is your messaging center for in-game notifications and player messages.
Again, there's a lot to this game and the general gist of things has you invade zones with your nanobots and conquering them in the name of your Faction.
You battle and defend zones within your area with a series of formations using a combination of your nanobots and energy. As you become active in a zone, your nanobots and energy levels will deplete but with time these levels will replenish. You just need to pace your world domination.
You have a few ways to be active in a zone. First, physically travel to that zone and it will become your Current Zone. Just tap on the Current Zone bar from the Home Page to see your offensive and defensive options. The other option is to access your Map and you can attack, occupy and defend zones without the need to physically travel to that zone.
However, there are limitations to your reach. As you move up in experience, your reach grows but there are limits to what you can do. For example, I can attack a distant zone but can not build up defenses in that zone unless I physically move closer to the zone or build my experience. It may change as you move up the experience ladder but I wasn't able to build bases without physically being in a zone.
QONQR is a fun game that does have a slight addictive quality to it. Especially if you have players from rival factions in your area. The potential downside to things is that you have to travel to take advantage of the full game and remember to play the game while out and about. QONQR is a great way to pass the time while shopping with the wife, waiting in a restaurant, have a little down time at work or any other time you're away from the house.
Oh and to expand your player base, QONQR is also available on iOS and will soon land on Android devices soon.
While QONQR is a nice game, it does have some performance issues and a few areas I wouldn't mind seeing improved. I found the map was slow to load sometimes painfully so. And speaking of speed, some of the transition times between screens also had a bit of a lag but not as consistent as I experienced with the maps. The other performance issue was that the on-screen navigation buttons were not always responsive. There were several times I had to double and triple tap buttons to get moving to one area of the game or another. Luckily, QONQR isn't a fast paced game and while the slowness requires a little patience, it's not a game killer.
As far as improvements, I wouldn't mind seeing a filter on the map view to sift out the zones you occupy or maybe just identify a certain faction. Along the same lines, while you can see how many zones you occupy a listing of those zones could be helpful. Lastly, there needs to be a way to change your allegiance at least once. You may choose a faction then discover your entire area shares that allegiance. While you can attack zones held by the same faction, it kinda takes the fun out of dominating the game when your beating up a kindred spirit.
Even with the lagginess, QONQR is a good choice for an MMO game for your Windows Phone. It's a complex game but not too complex to get a handle on and enjoy. I do wish the game had a better help section. It the basics but several aspects of the game you'll have to figure out as you play the game. If you like location based, multi-player, online, fantasy games.... or are just looking for a fun game to pass the time with... QONQR is worth a try.
QONQR is a free game that you can find here at the Windows Phone Store.
