"If there is an app for that"

Love You To Bits

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Love You To Bits ($3.99) by Alike Studio is a cute point-and-click adventure puzzle that tells the story of a young space explorer who sets out on a journey to collect the pieces of his robot girlfriend that got blown up in a fatal accident. If you enjoy games that tug at your heartstrings, such as Stay, Mum, then you will like what Love You to Bits has to offer.

I’m sure it’s been said before, but one of the biggest dreams of any person is probably to go in space. Yeah, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to achieve that in my lifetime, but one can always continue dreaming, right? And hey, we still have video games that can make the dream feel a bit more obtainable, so there’s that. Oh, and love is a great feeling, though it can bring you a lot of pain too, but it’s essential to our lives. When you put all of these together (puzzles, space travel, and love), you can get quite a concoction of a game, especially on mobile. That’s just what Love You To Bits is, and it’s executed extremely well.

The visuals in Love You To Bits is stunningly beautiful and looks great on Retina screens. The graphics appear as a cartoon-like style, but if you look closely enough, it also has a bit of a paper craft aesthetic to it due to the subtle textures. The colors in the game range from soft and muted to bright and vivid, depending on the locale that you’re in. Regardless, though, the colors are vibrant and rich, making the graphics pop out on the screen. Animations are smooth and fluid, and the whimsical, piano-heavy soundtrack is a delight to the ears, especially if you’re using headphones. Overall, Alike Studio has done an excellent job in terms of looks and sound in Love You To Bits.

In Love You To Bits, players are first greeted with a scene that introduces Kosmo, a clumsy, rookie space explorer who is traveling the universe with his robot girlfriend, Nova. However, their time is cut short when an accident occurs on the ship, resulting in the loss of Nova as her robotic body gets blown up into pieces and scattered throughout the universe. Now, Kosmo sets out on a journey to explore various planets one-by-one, solving puzzles and discovering new life as he collects her bits piece-by-piece, with the end goal of rebuilding her so that they can be back together once more. Yes — cue those feelings and teardrops, everyone!

Each planet that Kosmo will encounter acts as a level, with one piece of Nova that is scattered somewhere on the stage. Your goal is to retrieve the piece to reveal the portal that takes you to the next planet, and repeat the process until Nova is rebuilt. However, this is easier said than done sometimes, because the puzzles that the game throws at you can take some brainpower to solve. And if you’re a fan of Monument Valley, then you’ll feel right at home because some of the levels feature some tricky optical illusions. Each puzzle will take a few minutes to solve, though you can’t really get stuck on a stage since the events happen pretty chronologically. You’ll have to collect items to use on other objects, activate switches, and more on your journey for rebuilding your love.

As mentioned from the start, Love You To Bits is a point-and-click adventure, so moving is done by tapping the spot that you want Kosmo to move to. It’s simple enough, though Kosmo does move a bit slower than I’d like. When you come across something that Kosmo can interact with, whether it’s picking up an object, using something in your stash, or activating levers and pushing buttons, a bubble pops up above Kosmo with a hand icon. Tap on it to interact with the object. Like other point-and-click adventures, it will take a bit of trial-and-error and time to figure out everything to solve a puzzle. Fortunately, there is no time limit or points to worry about in the game, so you can play at your own pace. Additionally, there are other hidden items that you can find as you explore the vast universe for your robotic love, so make sure to check out everything there is on a level. These special items will reveal the touching past of Kosmo and Nova, in case you weren’t done riding the feel train already.

I’ve only just started Love You To Bits, but I’m already in love with it. The visuals are adorable, the ambient soundtrack is a joy to listen to as you play, the controls are simple enough, and the puzzles are fun and challenging. Plus, with the developer already promising more levels in the future (with no in-app purchases), there is plenty of reason to keep coming back to this adorable point-and-click puzzle adventure.

I highly recommend checking out Love You To Bits if you like cute stories and love a good point-and-click adventure with challenging puzzles. You can get Love You To Bits on the App Store as a universal download for the iPhone and iPad for just $3.99.

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Vertical Divide

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Vertical Divide ($2.99) by Emmet Morris is a new number puzzle game that will keep your brain stimulated for hours to come. If you are a fan of other games like Threes! and The Mesh, then you will love Vertical Divide.

As you have probably guessed from what I do here at AppAdvice, I definitely consider myself a word person, and not a big fan of numbers, personally. However, one of my favorite game types are puzzles, and my love of puzzle games does not stop me from trying the numerical ones, even though I am probably terrible compared to many other players out there. My scores in Threes! are abysmal compared to what I’ve seen some of my friends get, and I always end up failing on The Mesh at around the same point. Still, that doesn’t stop me from playing and just having a good time, so naturally, I was excited when I first heard about Vertical Divide.

The visuals in Vertical Divide are simple and clean, which should appeal to all of the minimalists out there. In fact, the game has a style that is very reminiscent of Threes!, which may rub off the wrong way for some, but I believe the developer is just drawing heavy inspiration from one of the most popular iOS games ever made. For me, I don’t mind the “inspiration,” because it just works well. Vertical Divide features a lot of whitespace, grays, and soft pink and blue number tiles that contrast nicely against the background. Animations in the game are smooth and fluid, and the upbeat, quirky soundtrack is rather pleasant to listen to. Overall, the heavily-influenced design of Vertical Divide is familiar and comforting, despite the completely different gameplay involved.

There are two game modes in Vertical Divide: Classic and Strategy. While the gameplay remains the same in both, there is just one difference: Classic spawns blocks at random, and Strategy has a specific sequence for the spawning blocks. I would recommend starting out with Classic before attempting Strategy, as the game does take a bit of getting used to before you understand the basics. In fact, Vertical Divide has a rather drawn out tutorial in the beginning to explain how the game works, so I endorse reading it thoroughly to get the basics.

Essentially, the board will start out with some pink “1” blocks. The game spawns blue blocks at the top, and you need to move them by dragging your finger horizontally on the screen, then release to drop the blue tile on the board in the column you want. The blue blocks need to be placed on each other so that the bottom one will be divided by the top one. You can also combine blue blocks that are next to each other so that they are a larger number, but then you also need to divide by a large number as well. The division result will then remove that many pink blocks underneath. However, if you don’t divide evenly, the remainder gets added back on the board as pink blocks. Once the board is filled to the top and you can no longer make any moves, then it is game over.

I know — it all sounds a bit confusing at first, but once you see the game in action and try a few rounds, you’ll pick it up quickly. But don’t be fooled by the simplistic appearance, as the game is much more challenging than it looks. Despite only having two game modes, the game has a high amount of replay value, since you’ll keep coming back in attempts to beat your previous high score. There is also Game Center integration for leaderboards so you can compete with friends.

I’ve only just started Vertical Divide recently, but so far I’m enjoying the challenge that the game brings, despite not being a big numbers person to begin with. The game looks great with the minimal aesthetics, the music is fun to listen to, and the unique gameplay is interesting and refreshing. The only thing I don’t like about the game is the fact that you can’t see which column you’re going in without looking at the top, and sometimes a slight adjustment in your positioning results in the number tile going in the wrong column. I hope the developer considers optimizing the controls, as it would lead to less frustration down the road. For now, though, you just have to be very careful with where you’re putting that number down.

I recommend giving Vertical Divide a try if you’re in the mood for a simple but challenging numerical puzzle. You can get Vertical Divide on the App Store as a universal download on the iPhone and iPad for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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Blackbox - think outside the box

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Blackbox - think outside the box (Free) by Ryan McLeod is a new kind of puzzle game that has you thinking of creative new ways to solve puzzles without ever touching the screen. If you’re tired of the same old puzzle games on iOS, then Blackbox is something refreshing and different.

If you have followed my work here at AppAdvice, then you will know that I can’t help but love a good puzzle game. However, over the years, it seems that puzzles have become a tried-and-true genre, where developers go with the same old gameplay concepts and challenges, just don’t in a slightly different way. None of them have brought something completely different to the table in terms of iOS gaming, so while I love the genre, sometimes it starts to feel a bit stale. So when I got a message in my inbox regarding a new puzzle game that makes you think outside of the box, I was intrigued — what could this possibly mean? Turns out that Blackbox is a puzzle game that is unlike anything you’ve ever played before. So take what you know about puzzles on iOS and throw it out the window, because none of that will help you with this unique twist to the genre.

Visually speaking, Blackbox is very simple and fairly barebones, to be honest. It goes along well with the clean and flat aesthetic of modern day iOS, and fans of minimal design will fall in love. Blackbox, as the name suggests, features a crisp, black background that fills the entire screen, and neon lines, shapes, and dots contrast nicely against the darkness. There isn’t much else to the game’s graphics other than that, but the animations are fluid and smooth, making for a seamless playing experience. The game has no sounds or music, but that doesn’t detract from the experience at all — in fact, it adds to it.

Blackbox has over 50 distinctive puzzles for players to solve. They are not split up into various chapters like other games. Instead, they are color-coded, and you unlock more available puzzles as you solve other ones. The colors each have a different meaning, but one thing is for certain: they all utilize some aspect of your iPhone’s hardware, so you’re going to have to really understand how your device works in order to solve the puzzles.

The controls in Blackbox are special, because you will never use the screen to solve anything. You can tap on the screen to pause and return to the level select screen, or perform a 3D Touch on a compatible device to quickly go back home. But for actually solving the puzzles, you will have to figure out what the puzzle is asking you to do, and make use of the component on your iPhone to solve it. This ranges from using the device gyroscope and accelerometer to get colors on the screen to go where you need them to, using the mirror to reverse what is on the screen, adjusting the brightness of your device, tinkering around with the buttons and headphone jack, blowing into the microphone, and much more. This is just a sample of what I’ve tried so far, and I’m just a few puzzles in.

While the game certainly has a new perspective on puzzles, be prepared — some of these can be rather maddening at first, so you’ll have to return to it at a later time to solve if you can’t figure it out immediately. The game also has some hints that you can use, though they should be kept as a last resort when you just can’t seem to figure out what to do. Blackbox is a challenging puzzle game that requires brainpower, time, patience, and perspective to solve.

I’m still fairly early on in Blackbox, but I am in love with it so far. As a big fan of puzzles, this is the most invigorating new game I’ve played in a while due to the exclusive gameplay concept and controls. Plus, the minimalist visuals and text look fantastic on the screen. The developer is also actively looking for user feedback, so if you find something broken or have ideas for new challenges, make sure to let the developer know.

I highly recommend giving Blackbox a try if you haven’t already. It’s great to see someone come up with something that has yet to be done in the iOS gaming world until now.

Blackbox – think outside the box is available on the App Store as a free download for your iPhone only. There are in-app purchases for hints and an all-level unlock.

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Sparkwave

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Sparkwave (Free) by Crescent Moon Games is a fast-paced hex-style twitch reflex arcade game. If you enjoyed games like Pivvot, HEX:99, and SHREDD, then you will get a kick out of Sparkwave. Be warned — these twitch reflex games are definitely not for the faint of heart.

Ever since Super Hexagon, I’ve fallen in love with the challenge of the twitch reflex genre, and while they can be infuriating most of the time, I still keep coming back to them. I think that the mobile platform is perfect for the genre, due to the simplistic controls provided by touch screens and the fact that a lot of games are best enjoyed in short bursts throughout the day. Whenever I have a few moments to spare, I like being able to pick up my phone, launch a twitch reflex game, and test my reflexes for a few minutes at a time. For me, it’s fun and it’s rather nice when you’re able to best your own previous high score because you’ve been doing better at the game over time. That’s why twitch reflex games will always have a spot on my iPhone, so when I heard that Crescent Moon Games was coming out with a new addition to the genre last week, I had to check it out myself.

Sparkwave, like many other games in the genre, features a gorgeous, minimalistic art style that looks sharp and crisp on Retina screens. While the game starts out with a dark colored background with light specks that represent stars, the colors change as you get further along the tracks. The background colors range from darker tones to more vivid hues, but they all have rather nice color gradients that go together seamlessly. In the foreground will be hexagons of many different sizes that appear as you move, forming a trail for you to follow in your spark-covered ship. Even though there can be many colors appearing on the screen at various times, your ship will always be recognizable due to the bright, contrasting color. Animations in Sparkwave are smooth and fluid, which is absolutely necessary for a twitch reflex game, of course. There is a quirky EDM soundtrack that is fun to listen to, and will appeal to fans of the EDM genre. Sound effects add a nice finishing touch to the game’s audio package.

As with most twitch reflex games, Sparkwave only has one game mode, and it is essentially an endless run to see how long you can survive. The objective is to fly as far as you can without hitting annoying obstacles (dark tiles) that show up along the way. The game moves quickly, and the track will form as you go, so it can be rather unpredictable at times, especially when you encounter random angle shifts that change the direction of the entire path, forcing you to react rapidly. There are crystals to collect along the way, which can be used to purchase additional spark colors for your ship, or some booster items from the shop. Since the game is free, it does show ads every now and then between runs, and you get five free continues per day at the cost of watching a video ad. If the ads bother you that much, you can always opt to get the in-app purchase for removing ads.

Controls in Sparkwave are simple enough: tap the left half of the screen to steer your ship to the left, and tap the right half to go right — you will move forward automatically. You can do short taps to move just a little bit, or hold your finger down to move continuously in that direction. But since the track moves rapidly and can shift position at any time, I would recommend sticking with quick, short taps for better control.

I’ve only spent a short amount of time with Sparkwave so far over the weekend, but I’m finding it to be an enjoyable twitch reflex game when I need my fix. The visuals are sleek and gorgeous, the music is fun, and the fast-paced gameplay means it’s addictive and challenging at the same time. However, if you’re the type of person who will rage quickly at these types of games, then it probably isn’t something you need to go grab, but if you want a challenge test of reflexes then it’s a great addition to your collection. I just wish that the game was a bit less ad-heavy and didn’t have restrictions on the number of continues you’re allowed per day. I’ve also noticed some crashes after viewing an ad to continue, which is annoying and can be frustrating, so hopefully the developers fix that in the near future.

Despite the minor flaws, Sparkwave is a delightful game for fans of the twitch reflex genre. You can find Sparkwave on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free with in-app purchases.

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Waste in Space - Endless Arcade Shooter

March 18, 2016 by macjeff

Waste in Space - Endless Arcade Shooter (Free) by Marco Tormento is an endless arcade shooter that also throws in ragdoll physics into the mix for a unique and hectic game that will keep you busy for some time. If you enjoy being out in space, ragdoll physics, and shooting up garbage, then this game is the right mix for you.

Even though I’ve gone through hundreds of iOS games in the past several years, some of the ones that I just keep coming back to are endless arcade games because, well, they are just downright tons of fun. These are the games that you can pick-up-and-play at any time, even if it is just a few moments to spare, and you can put them down just as easily when needed. These are not lengthy games, so they’re perfect for playing in short bursts throughout the day, and that’s always something I’m looking for in a mobile game. Plus, having a sense of humor doesn’t hurt either. So when the news of Waste in Space hit my inbox a week ago, I was intrigued because it combined pretty much everything I would want in a mobile arcade game.

The graphics in Waste In Space are a bit crudely drawn, giving it a jagged, cartoonish aesthetic that reminds me a bit of “South Park.” Despite the rough look, the animations are fairly smooth and fluid, which is always necessary since there is plenty of ragdoll physics involved here. The background color is always going to be rather dark, considering that you’re out in space, but the asteroids, floating bits of trash, coins, and the space station that you launch out from are all bright and vivid, contrasting nicely with the dark and cold reaches of space. The upbeat and quirky soundtrack is fun to listen to, and will help lift your mood for such a fun and lighthearted game. The sound effects are a nice touch too.

With Waste In Space, there is only one game mode and the goal is to swing through the asteroids and shoot the trash before they fall down onto Earth. I mean, yeah, sending all the garbage on the planet into orbit in space will get rid of it for now, but that stuff has got to come back down at some point, right? And that’s exactly what’s happening in Waste In Space. You get points for each piece of trash that you manage to destroy, with the larger ones nabbing you more points, of course. Other ways to earn points involve doing sick tricks and performing combos to maximize the points earned, and there is a ranking system with missions to complete in order to level up. You get some nice rewards for completing these tasks, so always make sure to look them over and strive to achieve them during each run.

The controls in Waste In Space are simple and intuitive, requiring just one touch on the screen to do anything. To make use of your character’s grappling hook, just tap-and-hold on the screen to latch on to the nearest asteroid. When you see pieces of trash floating around, just do quick taps on the screen to shoot and destroy them. Your ammo supply is finite, though, so you’ll have to try to acquire more along the way. If you have a boost power-up item, just slide your finger across the screen to activate it.

In addition to the trash floating around space, there are coins that you can collect as well. These coins are also earned by watching videos (it’s a free download, after all) and daily gifts, similar to games like Crossy Road. The coins are used to get prizes, which can be either new characters or gravity hats, both of which have their own special attributes. So not only do new characters and hats change your aesthetic, but they also change up the gameplay a bit.

I’ve only spent a little time with Waste In Space so far, but I’m enjoying the game quite a bit. The visuals are cute and humorous, the music is catchy, and the intuitive controls are super easy to pick up, but can be difficult to master. The gameplay is fun, crazy, and challenging, so you’ll always be coming back to the game in order to try and best your own scores. This is just a lighthearted game that anyone can enjoy, and it also has a nice lesson — that trash isn’t really going away just because you send it up to space.

I recommend giving Waste In Space a try if you’re looking for a fun time wasting arcade game this week. You can get Waste In Space – Endless Arcade Shooter on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free with in-app purchases.

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