Genre: Tower Defense
Developer: Juhu Games
Publisher: Juhu Games

Like a lot of contemporary mobile titles, Arcanox looks like it was-- and may very well have been-- implemented in Flash. Character designs aren't bad per se, but they are clearly designed not to offend the sensibilities of someone's fifty five year-old mother, who just might pick up and play the game, and maybe even spend a few dollars on the title's "premium" currency.

Arcanox features a tower building song, and a battle tune. They are vaguely folksey and fantasy-image invoking, but like the graphics they were clearly crafted to lure in the traditional non-gamer. Sound effects are simple and effective, fitting the overall style of the game well.

Arcanox involves the placement of guards and traps in a castle, which other players then attack in an ascynchronous manner. Upon starting the game, the player is alerted to the success or failure his design had against the various attacks that had taken place since the player's previous session. The player, then, may choose to attack other players' castles, in an attempt to win gold, which can be used to further upgrade his own castle.

Like nearly every modern-day mobile title, Arcanox is essentially a Skinner box. But amongst Skinner boxes it is one with at least a modicum of solid design behind it; the asynchronous tower defense concept is neat, and it takes some skill to send minions into combat at just the right moments. The world would probably be a better place if the resources that went into this game went into a non-Skinner box; but as it is, Arcanox is a solid freemium title for those that like such things.