Icon for Harbor Master

Two Captains will sink the Ship

Harbor Master


Just another busy day at the docks: soughing loading cranes, small transport ships and huge freighters coming and leaving. And you, the harbor master, are right in the middle of this, being responsible for every container to be lightered at its proper terminal safely and on time. But don’t worry, the cargo ships are at the command of your finger tips. It’s a piece of cake — as long as you can avoid lapsing into sheer panic.

From Stem to Stern

Depending on the harbor map you choose, there are three to six cargo docks scattered throughout the screen. From time to time a ship will appear on the border of the screen and steer aimlessly into the scenery.
These ships have no idea where they’re headed, so it’s up to you to take the initiative. Just touch them with your finger and draw a line (or merely a curve) leading it safely to one of the docks having the same color as some of the containers on board.

There are various kinds of ships: small speed boats with just one container, medium-sized transport ships loaded with two containers and sluggish freighters heavily laden with three or four containers.

As soon as a boat reaches its designated port, it’ll start unloading the containers. The more cargo aboard, the longer the unloading will take. If a ship carries additional containers that don’t match the color of the current port, you’ll also have to take it to the appropriate docks afterwards.
As soon as there are no containers left on a ship, you can guide it back to the open water by drawing a line to the border of the screen. And that also means it’ll be out of your hair...

Weather the Storm

But watch out — some cargo docks work faster than others: take a ship to a fast unloading dock and it’ll be ready in no time, while sending it to a default dock means you’ll have to wait for a few seconds until you can proceed.
The longer you keep a boat on the screen, the more dangerous the whole enterprise becomes. Why? Because the game will be instantly over if any two ships collide.

But of course there are even more dangers ahead: prancing cyclones might mess up your ship’s heading, angry krakens could detain a boat in a dock until you come to the rescue or a bunch of pirates may raid one of the ships, steal the cargo and sink it unless you prevent this by using one of the cannons stationed at the shore.

More and more ships will flood the harbor and you’ll have to run them closer and closer to each other. Sometimes taking them into waiting loops helps until a certain port becomes available.
But eventually you’ll lose track of meandering vessels and then you’ll soon know if your final score suffices to beat you’re wife’s high score.

Mind your P's and Q's

The iPhone version of the game comes with a lite edition that offers only one map. If you want more maps, you’ll have to purchase the full edition. Another great feature is the multiplayer mode which allows you to connect with another player via Bluetooth in order to see who of you both can finally stand the heat.

For the iPad, there is only one edition. The app is basically free, but there also is only one map included. If you want more maps you can get them as additional In-App purchases. Unfortunately there currently is no multiplayer mode available for the iPad, so when playing the HD version, you’ll always be on your own. But the big screen of course also means more fun and more space for impatient speed boats.

Harbor Master is one of the games that can be learned in just a few seconds but will keep you busy for weeks. So be warned — it’s gonna be full time job.

Affirmation
5.0 / 5  (1 vote)
Date
November 2010
Categories
Tags
App By
Imangi Studios, LLC
Dealer

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