Rum Run is a new game for our Windows Phone and we have been able to get our hands on an advanced copy. Rum Run is a game that tests your skills as a Captain on the high seas as well as your skills as a trader.
The game premise is that you have to supply food to a village to help feed 100% of the population. You buy and trade food and rum to finance your operation and provide food to the hungry villagers. You have pirates roaming the waters who will raid your ships of rum and storm fronts that will destroy food shipments.
Rum Run may not be an action packed game but it does have a fast pace to it. You'll have to stay on your toes to keep the village fed and avoid running dry on funds.
The main menu for Rum Run is set in the cargo hold of your ship. Lean your Windows Phone this way or that and the crates shift as if the ship is riding the waves. Options on the menu include playing a new game, viewing your gaming options, viewing the game stats, and visit the upgrade store.
Game play takes place in five locations that are spread across three maps. Each map location is progressively unlocked and challenging.
Rum Run's game screen is laid out with your silver coin count in the upper left corner, your rum and food inventory in the lower left corner, and your village stats in the lower right corner. One port will be where food is produced and purchased from and another for rum. The village you are supplying food too will have a bar meter over it. As you provide food to the village, the bar meter will fill up and as the food is consumed, the bar will decrease. If you don't provide food quick enough, the meter runs dry and the games over.
To navigate your ship, simply tap on your ship and drag a line to the port you want to sail to. Purchasing options for rum and food will appear as you travel to make those purchases. As you travel to the village, you'll see similar options with regards to how much food you want to deliver.
There are additional ports on the map that will have placards appear showing what that particular port is looking to buy. And that is how you keep a steady flow of income. Buy food/rum at a low price, sell to other ports at a higher price for a nice little profit. Use the profit to fund the food headed to the village.
Along the way, you'll earn credits that can be used in the upgrade screen to enhance your ships speed, capacity and buy additional ships.
The game concept is simple but the challenge comes with the pace of things. You have to maintain a constant supply of food to the village to avoid the timer bar from timing out. As you play Rum Run, storm systems and pirates appear that will slow things down. You'll have to navigate your trade routes to avoid these dangers.
Rum Run is a nicely animated, challenging game for your Windows Phone that does have its challenges. It takes on a bit of a management challenge when you purchase and sail multiple ships. While I liked Rum Run, there is some room for improvement. For starters, the game lacks a help section. The game isn't difficult to pick up and you are taken through a tutorial before diving into the full game. But a help section for reference wouldn't be a bad touch.
Lastly, I was really hoping to do ship battles with the pirate ships. As is, if your ship makes contact with the pirates you lose some of your rum cargo automatically. It would be nice if you could battle for a chance to save your cargo. Maybe even plunder the pirates for extra coin.
When all is said and done, Rum Run is a fun game for your Windows Phone. The game is due out any day now and once we spot it live in the Windows Phone Store, we'll let you know. There will be a trial version available to let you try things out before buying and the full version of Rum Run is expected to run $.99.
