Traps 'n Gemstones

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id887421672?mt=8
2.99usd, universal, 17mb download, gamecenter enabled.

New Metroidvania genre game hit thursday, I would of missed it if it werent  for my co-worker and toucharcade declaring it their favorites of the week. For those not in the know, the term metroidvania describes both the snes metroid era games and the same era of castlevania titles. The entire game is side view, its a solid action platformer, full of puzzles and lots of things to collect. Also a staple of the genre, the game has a large amount of exploration and plenty of ways to get you lost.

This game feels like your playing out an indiana jones adventure, someone stole abunch of relics in a pyramid and the local.. enhabitants who are normally quite inert are now running around trying to kill anyone including you. Equipped with a whip and an assortment of tools that you find as you explore, your job is to free the explorers tied up in the place and recover the relics.

There is a score system which is pretty much 'how far can you go before you die'. Its tied to gamecenter, achievements, leaderboards, friends list. The score is your 'personal best', not an accumulation of all your play sessions. Leaving the game does reset this score however re-entering the pyramid restocks the thing with everything you looted so if your determined to beat a friends score, have at it.

So far, one hit from an enemy kills you. Graphics are simple, and good. Sound is fine. Controls are straight forward. Left bottom screen has your left/right movement arrows. Bottom right has a jump button, a roll button and your attack button. When ever you are near something that you can use a tool to interact with, a button will appear on the interactable object.. Top right corner opens your backpack which shows map, inventory, etc. Top left pauses to return you to the menus.

This game is on sale for july only, august it goes up to normal price, 40% increase. So... I'd expect 5 bucks next month if you don't pick it up right quick.

Two thumbs up, get it.

o7