Friday, October 24, 2014

Midweek Release Followup

Time for a quick peek at the ones that actually made it to my ipad. Note, not all the ones listed last night made it. Early feedback on The Arrow Game, I determined it to not be my type. Never been fond of tilt games, meh.

So here we go.

Puzzle to the Center of the Earth
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id905462619?mt=8

Controls are good, there's a big grey bar bottom of your screen. slide and hold your finger left right or up to move in those directions. Visuals aren't unappealing either. Core gameplay is literally a match three game, all blocks are colored and you drag your finger to match between three and five (currently, possible I may be able to match longer chains later) to destroy them. This creates a path that you then guide your character through. Swiping down on a block with no block underneath it causes the block to fall. There is an energy limit to each stage, limits how many moves you can make. The goal is to reach the bottom (though ive read elsewhere that this isnt always the case). Finishing levels unlocks futher stages below the house.

Thing to do in the stages. Ok so obviously its a goal to reach the bottom of the level (usually). Tapping on a level also reveals three total goals. One is the above, the other two are optional. As an example, level one wants you to get to the bottom as first goal. Second there is a star hidden somewhere that is 'need to move on to new areas'. Third there is a hidden switch. 'Activating all hidden switches in an underground area to open a door hidden in one of the levels!". Okey dokey.

Fourth or so stage you unlock the market in the game that has alll sorts of in game currency upgrades available. Also three iap purchases at bottom that should not be used. These are one use consumed from what I understand and thats bad iap. Want to support the developers? Buy the one time infinite lives iap top right corner of screen when looking at your home. Thats a better investment.

As for depth, fourth stage gold coins were added that are used in the market. Fifth stage unlocked two things. 1, you can now chain six of the same color. Doing so drops a red diamond. Pick it up because... 2, chemical combinations! The fifth stage where this unlocked every time I had a red diamond (can stack these just like energy), I could drag blue -> green -> red to make a large explosion. Very cool! Unlocking chemical combinations also expands the merchant shop where you can upgrade your combinations and unlock new formulas.

So, thats my summary of this game, I recommend it. Its free, the infinite lives iap is 5 bucks, worth it if this is your type of game. Avoid the consumable iaps though.

Miika
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id913167103?mt=8

A simple 3d puzzler. You have this furry... ferret? Squirl? Not sure but anyways, you have this critter that never stops walking on these floating paths, you just use one finger to pan the enviroment around until the path the critter is on lines up with another segment of path. The critter walks on to that one and so it goes until you reach  Decent game if its your type, good graphics, good music, good controls. Not much depth beyond what I just described though. You receive star rating based on how quickly you solve the puzzle and then you move on to the next.

Mecanic
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id919122624?mt=8

Simple game, in two of the game modes (easy, hard) you will see a design top of the screen. Left side has two panels, one full of pieces, another full of screws. Drag the pieces to the outline in the middle of the screen to build the object requested, drag the right screws to the right places. I like this one, will probably hold my attention for a good while. There's also free mode where you can build what ever the heck you want.

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And thats that, the beast game didn't hold me more than afew minutes. Still hoping to eventually find a battle beast collect/levelup type of game that I stick too. They look like alot of fun, just none have quite hit the mark with me yet.

o7

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