New releases: Gurk and Gurk II

Gurk and Gurk II, Android apps from developer Larva Labs, Ltd. are top-down, turn-based role-playing games that are at least superficially reminiscent of Ultima V.

We’ll start with Gurk, a free game that offers “a 3-character party, 24 dungeon levels, 44 different items, 23 unique monsters and a vast wilderness.” It seems fairly basic, but again, it’s free. And at a mere 100 KB, the game is pretty compact to boot.

Gurk II, released last year, is decidedly un-free at $0.99, but it’s also more ambitious. For your minor expenditure, the devs say you’ll get the following in return:

Quests, boats, potions, music, more boats, tons more monsters, items, spells. The super-charged sequel to the famous 8-bit RPG, Gurk II is a huge new adventure with all of the most requested features added: quests, music, sound, potions, and an improved look! Fans of the original will be shedding tears of joy as they roll for their character’s stats, board ships, summon monsters and cast powerful area of effect spells. Players not previously familiar with the realm of Gurk will simply stare in slack-jawed wonder at the beautifully pixelated graphics, all the while being serenaded by the lush and authentic MIDI soundtrack. Only the viscerally-compressed sound FX and challenging new combat tactics will snap them back to their senses.

I’ve found at least one review that says Gurk II is a tactically involving game well suited for playing in short bursts, and a second that strongly recommends Gurk II over its free predecessor. Interested? You can grab Gurk II for less than a buck right here.