Hello. As anyone who goes to OVS knows gaming has been banned in the dorms. There is a grayish area however (More of a ignorable area). iPhone Apps, more specifically iPhone Games can be amazing.

A great strategic game for iOS is 9 Colonies. 9 Colonies is a simple real time strategy game developed by XOR Gaming.

It is the year 2180 and humanity has expanded to all nine planets in the solar system.  Each of the nine planets vies for control of the solar system and the rest of humanity. Your job is simple, join a planet, conquer other planets, and unite the solar system.

 9 Colonies has an interesting mechanic to keep track of players progress. Although the date of 9 Colonies begins on 2180time moves forward via an in game weekly calendar.

For example if a player wanted to research a STARBASE, a planet defense upgrade, that research might take the player five weeks. Or if a player needed to invade another planet it might take them ten weeks to travel there. XOR Gaming put in place this clever mechanic to make the player understand there is a price to every ship they build, every structure they construct, and every technology they research.

The more advanced your colony and technology is the more likely you will be able to defeat your enemies. However as you upgrade your arsenal and planet’s defenses your enemy does the same. To make the game more difficult XOR Gaming implemented three critical attributes that the player must manage.

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