Titans is a mobile battle card game from Uken Studios.  First released for iOS devices, the game is now available for Android.  Titans combines elements of crafting along with strategy  and real-time multiplayer game mechanics for a unique card battling experience.

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Titans takes place in a fantasy universe where alchemists wage war with giant golems crafted from various elements.  Work your way through the storyline as you explore the various environments of the world and once your collection of golems is strong enough you can test your skills against fellow alchemists in a PVP arena.  With Titans, the crafting element is seamlessly built into both the storyline and the gameplay and not simply tacked on as it is in many other games.

In Titans there are 15 map areas to play through.  There are also over 100 materials to be found throughout these areas.  These uniques materials can be used to craft and enhance the golems called Titans.

There are many elements to Titans gameplay.  To start, players can go on quests in which they will progress through the map area and face random encounters, collect materials and battle bosses.  On a quest player's will be presented with a field of cards which leads to a gate.  The goal is to get to the gate by choosing a card in each row that leads to it.

The chosen cards in each row are revealed one by one to show either a crafting material or an enemy opponent.  All enemy opponents must be defeated in order to get to the gate and clear the stage.  All materials discovered will be awarded to the player and can be used to craft and upgrade golems in your deck.

This first stage of selecting cards is a simple gambling game.  There's no real strategy to it but getting through a stage with out running into an opponent or finding good materials will feel rewarding.  If you run into an opponent, then the real strategic gameplay starts.

The golems that have been selected for your team will battle in a turn-based fashion against a team of enemy Titans.  Some cards have special abilities that can be activated while others will strictly deal damage.  Choose your actions and order of attacks carefully or your Titans may wind up down for the count.

If one of your Titans has its HP lowered to zero it won't be able to fight if you run into another opponent before clearing the area.  This can be problematic if you lose a golem before a boss fight, and if your entire team is defeated you can choose to either retreat or pay to revive them.  Use in-game currency for healing and boosting items and/or recruit the help of fellow players so Titans make it through a fight.

Players will be incentivized to go back and replay stages to grind for materials giving it an RPG feel. Players must fully enhance a Titan in order to fuse it together with another golem to make a new one.  This helps make even the weakest of the collected Titans in a roster useful.

The story line is conveyed through text, delivered by still images of NPCs, one runs into while progressing through the quest map.  In this same fashion the game teaches players how to navigate the menus and mechanics of the game.  The tutorial's for Titans are well executed and do a good job of showing players what they need to do however the story is a bit dry and uninteresting excuses to justify a fantasy war.

Titan's art style is pretty and imaginative fantasy fare.  The music also is well composed fantasy tracks fitting for an exciting battle or browsing menu's.  Nothing novel, yet it doesn't detract from the gameplay.

Battling through quests is pretty simple and straight forward with very little necessary strategy; either your team of Titans has more power than the enemy or not.  There's a bit more strategy involved in crafting and comprising your team, choosing the right combination of Titans to use together.  However, the real strategy in Titans lies in the "Arena Wars".

"Arena Wars" are PVP battles where Titans players can pit their best golems against other players in real-time combat.  To play in the Arena players need to have a deck of 20 Titans. If they haven't collected enough on their own they can pay to draft some golems to fill out their deck.  Players also choose 3 tactics cards that can be purchased in the game shop to use during the game.

In an "Arena War," combat progresses much like in a quest battle with each golem facing off against its opponent but in real-time.  Yet because this is an epic war and not merely a battle, more Titans are involved and it goes on a bit longer.  Between each round players can activate their tactics cards which will give boosts (i.e. health, attack or defense increases) to their entire team.  Knock out all the opposing Titans and be the last man standing and you'll win the "Arena War" and collect the spoils.

While the "Arena Wars" add more strategy to Titans as a card collecting battle game, strategy is probably this games weakest feature.  With PVP battles and ever-increasing quest goals to keep you exploring, collecting and crafting Titans  is definitely fun and has a lot of gameplay available.  However, there is a lot of micro-transactions going on that may make the term 'pay-to-win' come to mind.

Pay for potions, boosts and summoned golems to keep you in the fight longer and temporarily make your team more powerful.  A player who invested in these resources, whether through the time it takes to earn in-game currency or real money, to pay for them will absolutely be at an advantage against a player who didn't.  Titans does not have a waiting mechanic though, making you pay or be denied access to gameplay features, like some other free-to-play micro-transaction games. So it has that going for it.

Mobile gamers who enjoy gambling, crafting and collecting mechanics will likely find Titans an enjoyable game.  Those looking for a strategic battle card game on mobile however may be a little disappointed with this one.  Titans is a fun battle card collecting game available for iOS and Android from Uken Studios.  Download it yourself and see what you think.

This game was free to download and was reviewed on a Samsung Galaxy S4.