Troll for Windows

Troll is a basic fantasy game in which the player, acting as the troll, defends helpless villages from an onslaught of Orcs. Despite the game's unsophisticated graphics and basic tasks, we found it surprisingly addictive.

The publisher's description of Troll promises "a beautiful fantasy adventure," but we wouldn't go that far. The graphics are basic and a bit silly. Users choose a village from a map and are then taken to the playing area, which was more or less the same in each level we tried; in the foreground, the village, in the background, the evil castle and a fire-spitting dragon, and in between the two, you, the troll. The troll can move side-to-side and can swing his sword or use his shield. And that's really the extent of the game's controls. You're in one place, fighting the bad guys to the death. In spite of this very basic setup, the game is surprisingly fun to play. The object of the game is to destroy the castle by deflecting the dragon's fireballs away from the village and aiming them toward the castle instead. At the same time, users must fight off a variety of creepy creatures that issue forth from the castle. It's a simple game, and we were initially unimpressed with it, but the more we played, the more we liked it. Users who don't expect too much out of it will likely enjoy it very much. An online Help file explains the game's basics.

Troll has a 60-minute trial period. It installs desktop icons without asking and leaves a folder behind upon removal. We recommend this game to all users.