Great Potential...Poor Gameplay Interface, Missed Opportunities
Chronicles of the Ancients introduces a lot of cultural references in it's anagrammed puzzle play, half of which often cite gods, practices and cities. Most of them are probably unfamiliar to all but the most enthusiastic academic—which, in this case, can be a good thing. Having a fun way to educate players about subjects that may seem boring, too complicated and off the beaten path from most people's common information sources is a great way to expand everyone's knwoledge. But this game often forces the user to leave the app and switch over to a web browser in order to either find the answers or correct spellings, as opposed to leaving a sucession of clues for each wrong answer and supplying the solution after X number of tries. There's no explanation given anywhere on HOW to enter your answer works. A second row of blank squares for dragging jumbled letters to rearrange them would have helped players to visually work on each puzzle while also using its display to serve as a retentive means of reinforcing each solution. Trying to drag and shift letters around into their sequential spelling positions had no luck. After some trial-and-error, it became evident the letters have to be selected in the order of their spelling for each jumble. But even with this limited method of playing there are no color shifts or other possible indicators that could mark what part of each solution a player is at while composing their answers. Spaces are apparently involved, which the sparsely described HOW TO PLAY instructions never even mention. Some solutions have spaces which were not present in most web search results until progressively pursued. If the clue's spelled incorrectly, the user has to deselect all the letters—one at a time. There's no "Clear Board" button, and some clues are so ridiculously long for any jumble, making their length counter productive to its gameplay for solving them without far more considerable time and effort. Each puzzle has to be solved before advacing to the next one—there's no option to pass on one and move on to the next. An option to do that and return later to solve unfinished ones or review correct ones as a learning aid for their retention isn't available either. But where this app really falls short of its true potential is in failing to use the game to educate players. The developer is clearly captivated by ancient cultures, their religions, various gods, cities, and their scientific and technological accomplishments. The ill
