Jack of All Tribes follows the titular character as he goes to an amusement park for some R&R time. As he enjoys the latest rollercoaster ride, the last part of the ride has him falling down a waterfall and landing into a tribal society. Suddenly, he is elevated to the rank of chief. Now, it is up to him to lead the tribal folks to victory and find a way back home.

The plot can be considered pandering at best. It doesn’t keep one interested in playing the game, though there are all sorts of pop culture references. On the bright side, this means it doesn’t take things seriously. It knows what it is and what it is not.

Graphically, the game has a cute anime/cartoon look to it. Everything is bright and colorful and looks downright tropical. The workers and opponents move around the screen smoothly and important places are clearly marked. The character portraits, on the other, are bland. Each character looks very much like the other, making it difficult to tell who is who.

So how does the game play? Jack is a casual real-time strategy game. You “click” on the proper hotspot with your finger and build up the village. The more huts that are available, the more people there are in the village to complete tasks. The higher the quality, the more money you make. Gold can then be used to initiate high-end projects that are required for certain levels. And just like any other strategy game, you have to make certain everyone is well fed and kept entertained.

There are a few problems with this setup. First, there’s no way to quickly know your worker population. Second, the pathfinding is not as accurate as one might wish as they tend to take the “long way.” To be fair, a lot of RTS games have this problem. Third, you don’t get to build up the villages the way you might wish. You’re stuck with whatever the basic frame is and have to “carefully” manage things from there. Some people will be OK with it and see it more as a puzzle. I find it confining as what is the point of introducing new concepts if one is not going to continually use them? Fourth, and most important, the touchscreen mechanic is not as accurate as it should be. Granted, this is not a game that requires major precision. It does make things frustrating when trying to collect wood behind a hut and all I can initiate are upgrades.

Sound design is rather solid. Saws and nails, screeches, fires and the ever popular “selection noise” are all heard throughout the game. Music mainly consists of two tracks: tropical tribal drums and synthesized sounds that motivate one to work. The music isn’t bad, just bland. Another slight point against it is the lack of voice acting. It gives the game a weaker feel than it deserves.

And that’s a real shame considering that Jack of All Tribes does a solid job of being a casual RTS. Could things be different and draw in an ever larger crowd and introduce them to the joys (plus challenges) of the genre. It’s short, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome. However, this is not a game you may want to return to since there’s little variance between levels (the hidden object aspect just feels tacked on).

Ultimately it costs about $3. For a game that seems to be a port of a PC game, it is a well done one. If you’re looking for a solid RTS game to be introduced to the genre, give it a whirl. So while this game may be a master of none, it will give players the confidence to master more games in the genre.