The iPhone version of Neuroshima Hex is a faithful recreation of the Polish tactical board game of the same name, with the series' four distinct armies and multitude of units arriving intact on the mobile device. Unfortunately, the complexity that makes the game so compelling also renders it extremely difficult to learn, much less master.

While the world of Neuroshima is well-known to fans of tabletop roleplaying games, to most iPhone gamers it is likely a new name. The original game is a tabletop roleplaying game, similar to Dungeons & Dragons but taking place in a science fiction-based post-apocalyptic setting. While the RPG is only available in its original Polish, a board game based on the world of Neuroshima has since been made available in English.

That game is Neuroshima Hex, which places the mutants, robots and brave humans of the original RPG into a new format, similar to German-style board games like The Settlers of Catan. Big Daddy's Creations has now successfully brought the game to the iPhone, allowing gamers to have intense strategic battles any time they get the urge.

Gameplay begins with the user and between one and three computer opponents placing their headquarters on a hexagonal board. Then, during each turn, players draw hexagonal cards from their deck up to a maximum of three, which can then be placed on the board. The cards can be roughly divided into three types: Units, modifiers and special cards.

Units can attack headquarters, other units and modifiers on the board, while modifiers give bonuses to your units or handicaps to those of your opponent. The special cards can accomplish a number of feats, including moving or instantly attacking units. Players take turns placing cards on the board until it is either filled up, or someone plays a "battle" card, at which point all units attack based on their initiative score.

After damage is dealt casualties are removed from the board, play continues until another battle. The game comes to an end when either one player's headquarters is completely destroyed, or every player runs out of cards. At that point, the remaining player, or the one with the most hit points left on their headquarters, is declared the winner.

If this all sounds difficult to wrap your head around, that's because Neuroshima Hex is extraordinarily complex, with dozens of interlocking strategies. Things are made even more complicated by the fact that the game boasts four distinct armies, each with their own unique decks of cards. Gamers must not only learn how to play with each of the four armies, but also what purpose their myriad units, modifiers and special cards serve.

Neuroshima Hex's gameplay is bound to impress even the most jaded strategic gamer, and is kept interesting by the element of luck and chance that goes into each turn's draw. Unfortunately, first-time players will definitely be overwhelmed when they start up the game. And while there is a tutorial option, it is nothing more than a five minute video, which effectively lays out how the game works but does nothing to help users understand the game's wide variety of cards and how they are used.

That vagueness and confusion is the biggest problem with Neuroshima Hex. The game does feature explanations of what each card in each army does, but instead of popping up when you see a new card, usersmust access the information through a series of in-game menus. Expect your first five or six games of Neuroshima Hex to be slow, frustrating affairs as you stop frequently to check the function of not only your cards, but those of your opponent.

If you can muscle through Neuroshima Hex's extremely steep learning curve, however, you will be rewarded with a fascinatingly deep strategy game that is enhanced by the random nature in which cards are drawn. Unfortunately, while the game's description in the AppStore claims that Neuroshima Hex boasts multiplayer abilities, they are as of now still unavailable.

Though the lack of any type of online play is regrettable, Neuroshima Hex is still a full, robust game, even considering its $4.99 pricetag. Expect to play through the game a number of times before you even become familiar with what different cards do, and then several more times before you begin to understand the game's deep strategy.

Neuroshima Hex's remarkable complexity makes the game both an engrossing experience as well as a frequently frustrating one. If you are a fan of strategy or war games, Neuroshima Hex could easily become your new favorite iPhone diversion, but to get there, you will need to suffer through gameplay that gleefully throws users into the deep end, with little to no handholding.

Final Score: B-