IOS Review #92: Dark Echo

Title: Dark Echo
Developer: RAC7 Games
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $1.99
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What do you envision when you think "horror game"? The jump scares of Five Nights and Slender? The otherworldly dread of Silent Hill? Or perhaps the nightmarish monstrosities of Dead Space and The Evil Within? The recently released Dark Echo boasts the most minimalist of visuals, instead conjuring horror from the unknown and unseen and an atmospheric soundscape.

Massively expanded and improved from the developer's Ludum Dare entry You Must Escape, Dark Echo is a sound-based horror game. While that may sound similar to other IOS games like Papa Sangre and The Nightjar, Dark Echo is very much a visual experience while those were audio-only. A black screen, with your white footprints the only color amid the surrounding dark. Every level in Dark Echo begins this way. Move forward and lines emanate in all directions, the sound of your footsteps visualized, bouncing off the walls and revealing the environment. Without sound, you are blind. Your goal is simply to find the exit. However, that task is easier said than done, because you are not alone in these passages. Things lurk in the darkness, drawn by the sound of your movement. Hunting you. 

What's most impressive about Dark Echo is how it builds on its core mechanic of seeing through sound. The beginning levels lay the foundation: walk around to reveal the surrounding, stomp to send out a larger wave of sound that lets you see more of the level. Soon you're introduced to the creatures that are attracted by sound, followed by the fact that you can tap slowly to take soft silent steps and throw stones as distractions, turning Dark Echo into a tense game of cat and mouse where sound is your only means of sight. Water that amplifies your footsteps and slows your movement, switches, crushing walls, deadly terrain, and more add to the challenge and complexity of later levels.

Dark Echo is a masterful execution of minimalist design. Each step is tense, drawing you forward through the necessity of sight and the need to explore. The visuals, stark lines contrasting against black, are simplistic yet work so well, reminiscent of splattering paint to reveal the world in The Unfinished Swan. But it's the sound design that truly sells the game's atmosphere. Your footsteps, hollow against stone and squishing against undergrowth. The guttural growls of those things lurking in the dark. Water splashing and sloshing, or dripping overhead. Flies buzzing in agitated swarms, croaking frogs. Heavy locks and groaning doors. 

Listen to the game's advice and play this with headphones, in the dark, alone.

You can purchase Dark Echo for $1.99.

IOS Review #91: Sunburn!

Title: Sunburn!
Developer: Secret Crush
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $2.99
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This is it. Your spaceship, in pieces after a catastrophic asteroid impact. Your crew, drifting helplessly through the void, doomed to die a slow death as their oxygen depletes. And you, their captain, with a jetpack and final promise to keep: no one dies alone. That's Sunburn in a nutshell.
Now despite the morbid tone, Sunburn is actually a whimsical lighthearted platformer about diving into the sun. If I had to compare it to the other games, Sunburn would be akin to a precision platformer meets Lemmings, with a dash of the movie Gravity. Each level consists of planets and other hazards around a red sun(s), and it's your mission to reach your fellow crew members so you can die together. Rescued members trail behind you, linked by an elastic tether; it's not long till you have a lengthy tail of astronauts in your wake as you weave between fiery asteroids and escape black holes. Levels grow quite complex and sprawling, with obstacles such as glass orbs that break after a few impacts, rotating lava planets with patches of safe ground, and rocky planets that drift when you land on them. Using your jet pack, you must navigate through zero g, while also keeping track of your limited oxygen meter; each jump costs oxygen, forcing you to consider the most effective path between planets. Thankfully, the controls are simple and responsive, allowing you to rotate and boost effortlessly around hazards. The colorful pixel art and humorous dialogue from your stranded crew members round out this fun challenging experience.

Sunburn is a fun physics platformer, turning what could have been a dark morbid premise into a bright cheery game, complete with great level design and solid controls. You can purchase Sunburn for $2.99.

IOS Review #89: Framed

Title: Framed
Developer: Loveshack
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $4.99
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I've been anticipating Framed for a while. It's the kind of game that encapsulates everything I look for a quality mobile experience: an interesting concept, smart use of touchscreen that goes beyond an UI cluttered with buttons and icons, a compelling aesthetic. And thankfully Framed lives up to the hype, delivering a polished puzzle game.

Yes, Framed is a puzzle game first. There's a wordless noir narrative and it's an engaging wonderfully artistic experience, but it's first and foremost about the puzzles. The concept is so simple and yet explored masterfully; a man fleeing the police through the panels of a comic, briefcase in hand, and you must rearrange the panels to change the context and help him escape. Run headlong into a cop? Order the panels so you turn a corner or climb a ladder first. There are constants - ladders and stairways make you descend or ascend when you reach them, approach police from behind to avoid them or knock them out, etc. - and new elements such as rotating panels and reusable panels add complexity. The puzzles hinge more on trial and error and experimentation than hard logic, but the trial and error in Framed is fun, due to the seamless permutations that result from different panel orders.

Framed is a short experience (my playthrough lasted around 90 minutes), but don't let that brevity dissuade you. Framed is a shining example of quality over quantity, between its atmospheric art style, jazz soundtrack, ingenious design, and challenging puzzles.

You can purchase Framed for $4.99.

IOS Review #86: Doppler

Title: Doppler
Developer: My Go Studio
Platforms: IOS Universal, Android
Price: $1.99
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Doppler is a multi-touch twitch game for IOS, that stands out by delivering a unique mechanic that's more than the usual dodge left, doge right style of gameplay seen in the genre.

Doppler asks you to place your fingers on the screen. Do so and two gears appear beneath; your goal is to guide them along the undulating line between them for as long as possible. The catch is that you must keep these gears in close proximity to each other without touching the line, so they're linked by crackling energy. Stray too far apart or collide with the line and the energy dissipates. Your playthrough ends once the energy bar runs out. Doppler's multi-touch gameplay requires focus and synchronization, as you must maneuver both fingers carefully to thread the curves. It's more challenging than it sounds, especially once the speed increases. You can test your skills across three modes: Infinite, Extreme, and increasingly fast Time Attack levels.

Doppler offers a different and interesting take on twitch evasion and makes smart use of the touchscreen to create a challenging arcade experience. You can purchase Doppler for $1.99.

IOS Review #85: Pentumble

Title: Pentumble
Developer: Helftone
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $1.99
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Pentumble is a challenging precision platformer, that stands out among others in the genre thanks to its great level design and adhesive mechanic.
In Pentumble, you control a small spherical robot, equipped with a set of suction cup-esque legs that allow you to cling to platforms and travel up walls. Levels are short, usually only around 10 or more seconds to earn the three-star time, but require timing, speed, and precision to succeed; while the stages may start out relatively easy, soon you're dealing with flame jets, saw blades, moving platforms, spikes, and more. These hazards aren't static, but filled with spinning, shifting, moving obstacles, giving the platforming action a dynamic vibe. The 2.5D visuals and responsive controls make each level a joy to play. 

Pentumble may be on the short side, but each of its 36 levels offer a fun well designed challenge for fans of speedrunners and platformers. You can purchase Pentumble for $1.99. (Currently on sale for $0.99)

The Watchlist: Rapture World Conquest

Title: Rapture World Conquest
Developer: Tundra Games
Platforms: IOS Universal
Releasing September 2014
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Rapture: World Conquest is an upcoming game that blends RTS and god game mechanics as you battle the followers of rival deities to take control of earth and mankind during the Rapture. Across thousands of years, you guide your followers against nations of heathens and crush the unbelievers with your godly powers.

After choosing a nation, your followers begin amassing armies and resources; surrounding countries fall as your forces spread and conquer, collecting resources along the way that allow your scientists to build new technology. Or perhaps you can focus on religion and food to gain more followers and increase your mana production, granting you the power to unleash devastating miracles upon your enemies. Summon earthquakes and volcanoes, call down meteors, decimate their ranks with disease and famine. Control the world and your followers will be rewarded with heaven, while those opposed your might will be banished to hell post-Rapture.

Rapture World Conquest will feature numerous missions and achievements, as well as various world configurations, each offering a unique challenge. You'll be able to control the globe when Rapture releases later this month, as a paid Universal game. Learn more about the game on Tundra Games' blog.

IOS Review #84: Spooklands

Title: Spooklands
Developer: Luderia
Platforms: IOS Universal, Android
Price: $0.99
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The arena shooter is one of the more ubiquitous genres on mobile, from Radiangames' popular titles to Minigore and Infinity Field. Spooklands may not have the flashy screen-filling effects or varied modes of other games, but it more than compensates with its wonderful art style and unique gameplay.

Across three arenas, each with its own diverse enemies, you evade and blow away the growing hordes. Rather than the familiar dual stick set-up, you maneuver your character by tapping the screen, your gunfire doubling as thrust. This unique control scheme gives Spooklands a different pacing than other arena shooters. You're not firing wildly while weaving between the hordes, but must instead be mindful of every gunshot, carefully clearing a path through the hordes and then being able to navigate that path. While other shooters are all visual overload and frenetic firing, Spooklands feels more subdued, as timing your shots and creating space to maneuver is as important as evasion. If you're not in control and just tap wildly, you'll likely just run headlong into an enemy.

Completing specific high score goals unlocks new power-ups to use; these power-ups spawn randomly on the map, turning your default shot into a shotgun-like spreadshot or slowing time and allowing you to line up shots without moving or increasing the size of your projectiles. Holding the screen unleashes a powerful piercing shot so timing the use of these charged shots is vital to surviving for longer periods and clearing away the overwhelming numbers of enemies.

Spooklands' colorful and vibrant art style completes this fun and finely crafted game. Varied power-ups, tap to move controls that totally change the pacing compared to other shooters, and intense challenging gameplay makes Spooklands an addicting arcade action experience.

You can purchase Spooklands for $0.99.

IOS Review #83: Pako

Title: Pako
Developer: Tree Men Games
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $1.99
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After ten seconds in the first stage, you know exactly what Pako is about. Control your vehicle in increasingly cluttered mazes of houses, streets, and other cars as a growing legion of cops close in. One collision into a wall, a police car, a light post ends your run. Only through deft evasion and skillful maneuvering can you achieve a high score and climb the leaderboards.

Pako’s gameplay is simple, but the game is never dull. Each area offers a new twist on that core gameplay seen in the first stage. You evade police in a small mall parking lot. You thread a hearse through rows of tombstones as zombies rise from the dirt. You weave between traffic on a freeway and dodge cannon fire from tanks in a rickshaw. The controls take some getting used as you adjust to the physics of each vehicle, but prove to be responsive, allowing you to pull off tight turns and donuts with ease. A great soundtrack and stylish visuals complement the action.

Through intense hair’s-breath close calls, fast paced evasion, and a varied array of stages, Pako delivers an exciting new addition to the arcade action genre. You can purchase Pako for $1.99.

IOS Spotlight #80: QB1-0

Title: QB1-0
Developer: Can Factory
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $0.99
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QB1-0 released in 2012. It received a Universal update in May, a new trailer in June. I just discovered the game today. Searching online, I couldn't find a single review and that's a damn shame. If you're a fan of arcade shooters, I recommend giving OB1-0 a try.

At first, I wasn't feeling the game, mainly due to the controls. They're relative touch, but not your usual v-stick style. Instead, your ship is perpetually moving and firing and dragging your finger rotates your ship. It's definitely a different movement style that takes some getting used to, but the controls work well, revealing themselves to be very maneuverable and responsive, allowing you to spin on a dime. That level of maneuverability is key to survival here; within a wave or two, you're dealing with more than simple asteroids. Dangerous enemies begin emerging: quick homing rocket-spewing ships, slow ships that leave bullets in their wake, ships that unleash blasts of lightning that streak across the screen. The frantic action ramps up fast and power-ups that provide extra lives, upgrade your firepower, and more only add to the chaos.

QB1-0 isn't just a fun game, but a stylish one as well. There are some Geometry Wars influences, from the area backdrop warping beneath you and the geometric shapes, but in the midst of battle, with particles and projectiles and ships and asteroid debris flying everywhere, QB1-0 stands out as a visual spectacle. Adding to that spectacle is the fact that the arena is "open", with you, your enemies, projectiles all warping around the screen.

Compared to other games in the genre, QB1-0 is very bare bones. You won't find any extra modes, or upgrades, or different ships to unlock. You won't even find an options menu. But you will find a stylish frenetic arcade shooter with responsive controls, that fills the screen with particles and enemies and bullets, and for that reason, I think QB1-0 is worth checking out if you enjoy these kinds of games. You can purchase QB1-0 for $0.99

IOS Spotlight #79: Alphabeats

Title: Alphabeats
Developer: Rad Dragon
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $1.99
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Word games come in all shapes and styles on the App Store. From classics like Bookworm and Scrabble to genre blending games such as Word Mage and Spell Quest, it's a very well presented genre on the platform. Alphabeats offers a new twist on the word game, combining fast paced spelling with rhythmic evasion.

Playing Alphabeats couldn't be simpler. Letters descend from the top of the screen in sync with the soundtrack, and you must catch letters to form words by dragging between columns. Swipe up once you're satisfied with your word to collect points. As you might expect, longer words equals more points; however this is where Alphabeat's twitchy elements reveal themselves. Longer words take up more space, and if you hit a letter that messes up your word (i.e. MAN to MANX), you lose all your letters and need to start constructing a word from scratch. Thus, Alphabeats becomes a game of reaction and focus, as you watch for letters to create words and move into position to collect them, while weaving between letters you don't want. Deciding between short words that allow you dodge more easily, or risking it all with a long word for many points, forms the core of Alphabeats' challenging gameplay. Powerups that let you shrink words, clear the screen, and provide a points multiplier add to the strategy.

Being a rhythm game, Alphabeats wouldn't be complete without a great soundtrack, and the mix of electronic, techno, and dubstep perfectly complements the twitchy word game fun. It should be noted that you only get five songs with your initial purchase; more songs can be purchased individually or as part of a $7.99 "Everything Ever" pack that provides all current songs as any future additions. You can purchase Alphabeats here.

IOS Spotlight #77: Causality

Title: Causality
Developer: unexpect3rd
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: Free
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I discovered Causality last week, and unfortunately, it seems like another hidden gem has slipped through the porous cracks of the App Store. This is a quality puzzler with a hefty amount of levels and a wealth of interesting mechanics.

Casuality starts off simple enough. You're presented with a grid of two differently colored tiles. Tapping a tile swaps its color and the color of the tiles adjacent to it. Your goal is to make the entire grid one color and preferably with a limited number of taps. Through logic and planning, you can figure out which tiles to tap and in what order. But those are only the early levels. Soon, Causality begins layering on new mechanics, new twists on the rules and tiles every chapter. Linked tiles that swap with colors with each other across the grid. Tiles that only swap colors in specific directions. Tiles that disappear after use. Tiles that must be swapped a certain amount of times. Combine these added mechanics and the others that are introduced throughout Causality's 240 levels, and you have a fun puzzle game that's definitely not lacking in variety or challenge. The minimal design just adds to the great package.

Causality is worth checking out if you're looking for a challenging puzzle game with a nice amount of content, interesting mechanics, and minimalist style. The game is extremely generous; you get 120 levels for free, the rest available with a single $1.99 purchase or unlocked in chunks by watching ads.
You can download Causality here.

IOS Spotlight #76: Cally's Caves 2

Title: Cally's Caves 2
Developer: Jordan Pearson
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: Free
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Almost eight months ago, I wrote about the first Cally's Caves. It was a game I considered to be a great hidden gem, with a cute visual style and fun gameplay. Now the sequel was just released and it improved on everything that made the first game so fun, bigger and better in every way.

I can't really talk about Cally's Caves 2 without first commenting on the visuals. This is what the first game looked like:

It was certainly a game that put gameplay first, although I did find the art style quite charming. Cally's Caves 2 is a huge upgrade over the first game in terms of visuals, with a great pixel art style, a vibrant color scheme, and numerous enemies and weapons. Gameplay-wise, Cally's Caves 2 retains the same fun platformer-shooter action of the original, with a bigger emphasis on RPG elements and just more content.

Wielding an array of powerful weapons and your trusty sword, you journey through the caverns below your home to rescue your kidnapped parents. Make no mistake; Cally's Caves 2 is a difficult game. You'll need quick reflexes and a quick finger to evade enemies and projectiles and deliver your own firepower. From charging wolves and spiders to gun-wielding foes and tanks, the variety in enemies is pretty impressive. RPG elements such upgrades and leveling up add to the mechanics in cool ways; using a weapon upgrades that gun, which not only grows more powerful but also changes appearance. Collecting coins and gems from defeated enemies and chests allows you to purchase sword upgrades, increased your chance to dodge attacks, unlock a triple jump, and more.

Cally's Caves 2 takes what worked in the original - the challenging gameplay, the fun weapons and upgrades, the varied enemies - and makes a bigger and better sequel, with an new art style, more levels, and new secrets to uncover. And incredibly, the game is free to download, with the only IAP being a single $0.99 purchase to remove ads, equip poison bullets, and make enemies drop gems.

You can download the game here.

IOS Spotlight #75: super ccatch

Title: super ccatch
Developer: Eduard Anton
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $1.99 (currently on sale for $0.99)
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Another week, another minimalist twitch game. And that's not a bad thing; I love the genre and the varied games it offers. super ccatch is my newest addiction, thanks to its great soundtrack and hectic gameplay.

The IOS version of Anton's original browser game, super ccatch feels right at home on mobile. Your goal is drag your platform across the screen to catch like-colored shapes while evading shapes of different colors. This task starts out simple enough, but soon that beginning sprinkle becomes a geometric deluge, as shapes pour down from above. It's at the moment that super ccatch sunk its hooks into me, delivering a lightning-fast challenge as you weave between shapes to intercept the ones you want, with mere moments to react. As you catch shapes, the screens fills up, reducing the space and time you have to maneuver. Catch the wrong shape and your platform switches to that shape's color, forcing you to adapt in an instant. It's just an addictive frantic experience, and the game's minimalist style keeps the screen uncluttered from any distractions. The touch controls are responsive; your reactions may fail you, not the controls.

super ccatch delivers a fun frantic high-scoring experience, bolstered by a slick minimalist presentation and an awesome chiptune soundtrack. You can purchase the game here.

IOS Spotlight #73: Trigger

Title: Trigger
Developer: Spelkraft
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $1.99, currently free till July 20th
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On one hand, I love finding hidden gems on the App Store; it's always cool to discover an fantastic game you never heard of. But on the other, it speaks volumes about how hard it can be for IOS developers to find an audience or exposure and attention for their game. I hope Trigger gets the attention it deserves, because it's a fun colorful game and the best same-screen multiplayer game I've played since Wrestle Jump.

Trigger is a simple game to control. Each player has a button in the corner of the screen and controls a small tank. Tapping the button simultaneously rotates your tank 90 degrees to the right and fires a projectile. This simple control scheme makes what could have been mindless arena combat into a hectic game of skill, positioning, timing, close calls, and near misses as you evade enemy shots and plan out your movements. Various power-ups appear through the arenas, granting you abilities such as laying down mines in your wake and bouncing projectiles. Getting hit isn't the end; instead you find yourself on foot, forced to race back to an vacant tank. Besides the fun gameplay, Trigger stands out thanks to its colorful charming art style, as you fight among pencils, erasers, and other everyday items. These objects aren't static; they can move, pencils can break in half, balls roll around if pushed, making the arenas feel dynamic and interesting.

Trigger can be played solo against bots, but the best experience is with friends. I recommend checking Trigger if you're looking for a fun multiplayer game or just something fast and hectic to play when you have a few minutes to spare.

You can download Trigger here. It's currently free till July 20th (usually $1.99)

PC Spotlight #96: VVVVVV

Title: VVVVVV
Developer: Terry Cavanagh
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, IOS Universal
Price: $4.99, $2.99
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So...I'm pretty late to the party here. Actually, given my love for precision platformers, I'm surprised I hadn't played VVVVVV earlier. But now I have, on both PC and IOS, and if I had to use one word to describe the game, it would be "masterful", Cavanagh's best work.

VVVVVV drops you onto a weird alien environment, one of the few survivors of a crash landing that leaves your fellow crew members scattered across the world. In that aspect, VVVVVV already separates itself from most precision platformers: it's non-linear. Actually it's almost in the vein of a Metroidvania; you travel to different areas, find teleporters that let you jump around the map or back to a central hub. Each area offers its own unique challenge, a twist on the core mechanics. At its core, besides the truly challenging gameplay, that diversity is what makes VVVVVV such a fun experience. Mechanically, the game is so simple: move left, move right, and jump (or rather a reversal of gravity that lets you navigate from floor to ceiling) You can control your movement, but can't change your gravity mid-jump, so each switch must be deliberate.

Yet from those simple controls, VVVVVV crafts such a wide range of challenges, hazards to avoid, and interesting scenarios. From the ubiquitous spikes to moving enemies, from barriers that switch your gravity orientation in mid-air, to utilizing screen wrap, VVVVVV takes its precision platfomer roots and not only delivers on that front, but also creates head-scratching puzzles and challenges to overcome

If you know Terry Cavanagh, you know what kind of experience to expect from VVVVVV. Brutally challenging, stylish with a chunky retro aesthetic, a fantastic soundtrack. Regarding the IOS version, I wasn't sure if touch controls could offer the required precision. But my fears were quickly swept aside once I started the game; the touch controls are responsive and precise, much better than I would have anticipated. I was even able to complete the infamous VeniVidiVici section on IOS (after 389 deaths, but I did it!).

If you're like me and somehow haven't played VVVVVV yet, then you're missing out. It's just a fantastic experience. You can purchase the game from its official site, Steam, and the App Store.

IOS Spotlight #72: The Day of The Totems

Title: The Day of the Totems
Developer: Cesar Varela
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $0.99
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The Day of the Totems is a puzzle platformer. Now there are a lot of puzzle platformers on IOS, but Day of the Totems stands out due to its cute style and interesting gameplay.

Your goal is to reassemble your scattered totem and reach the exit platform. Each level contains four totem pieces, and while the early levels are straight forward, easing you into the mechanics, soon the game becomes quite tricky. With each piece you collect, your character becomes taller, preventing you from passing through openings that you could jump through before. Figuring out where you need to move the totem pieces and which order you need to collect them so that you can gather all four pieces and still reach the exit can be challenging, especially once mechanics such as portals, pressure switches, and movable blocks are introduced. At one point, actually in the first few levels, I was stumped on how to collect all four pieces, until I had a great "aha!" moment, which allowed me to see new solutions I hadn't considered before. Moments like that is what makes a puzzle game surpass others in my opinion, and The Day of the Totems has no shortage of those.

Cute colorful visuals, a nice amount of levels, solid controls, and a fun puzzle mechanics makes The Day of the Totems a puzzle platformer worth checking out.
You can purchase The Day of the Totems for $0.99.

IOS Spotlight #70: OTTTD

Title: OTTTD
Developer: SMG Studio
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $2.99
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The tower defense. By now, we all know what to expect from one of those. Lanes, enemies, tower placement, upgrading and repairing. OTTTD takes the TD framework and offers a unique take on the genre with RTS and RPG elements, humor, and copious gore.

It should be noted that OTTTD stands over Over The Top Tower Defense and that name couldn't be more accurate. Across the three worlds, you face diverse enemies, such as flying armored shark, killer eyeballs, and chopper-riding squids,...and leave them littered across the battlefield in pieces. You have four towers at your disposal - rocket, plasma, gatling, and shock, and while that may seem limiting, you unlock two upgrades for each tower, so rocket tower can become an anti-air battery or you shock tower can become a shield generator.

So far, OTTTD sounds like any other tower defense game, but what makes it stand out is the heroes. While Kingdom Rush has a similar system, OTTTD injects an RPG-style leveling system, complete with skill trees, special skills, and weapons to equip. The game offers seven hero classes, from the long range Recon to the rocket-wielding Rocketeer, the clone-crafting Scientist, and others; you can only bring three onto a map, allowing you to customize your playstyle. Like an RTS, you can move your heroes around the map and use their abilities to turn the tides of battle; those mechanics makes OTTTD feel more hands-on and involved than other TD games I've played. You're not waiting for enemies to reach your turrets; you're moving your Heavy into position, using the Engineer's tower boost skill to take out an incoming boss, while you call in a missile strike with your Rockeeter.

Besides the involved gameplay and hero mechanics, OTTTD rounds out its action-packed package with vibrant visuals and a silly humorous tone. You can purchase the gamr for $2.99. The developers plan to update the game with another set of levels and other content in the future and a PC version is also in development.

IOS Spotlight #69: Perfect Paths

Title: Perfect Paths
Developer: Hyperbolic Magnetism
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $3.99 (currently 50% off)
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Let's get it out of the way now: Perfect Paths is clearly inspired by SpacChem. And as a mobile game, I feel that Perfect Paths is the superior experience. SpaceChem was a port; this was built from the ground up for IOS.

Smooth responsive controls and a touch-friendly interface makes Perfect Path easy to control and that's a big plus, allowing you to focus more on the execution and planning and timing and less on the actual act of drawing out your path. But what always matters first is the gameplay and in that aspect, Perfect Paths does not disappoint. At its most basic level, your goal is actually quite simple. All you have to do is move the colored blocks onto the like-colored tiles. It's reminiscent of Trainyard, but Perfect Paths has its own style and challenge. This is a game of logic, of step-by-step planning, of counting turns and meticulously setting up your commands and paths. It's the kind of game where, once you know how all the elements work together, you could succeed on your first try if you think ahead and consider how and when and where each move will affect the next. Unlike Trainyard, where you'd just draw rails, Perfect Paths'...paths are incremental, designed around intervals of commands. You can make blocks move in various directions, push each other, link together, disconnect. The early levels are easy, but soon more mechanics are layered on and the simple obvious solutions won't work. Synchronizing paths, figuring out where and when to make blocks interact with each other, while still allowing them to reach their own tiles, watching your carefully-designed array of commands in motion, refining and improving and perfecting, that's what Perfect Paths is about.

If you enjoyed SpaceChem and/or Trainyard, or like logic-based puzzles, you'll probably like Perfect Paths. It's challenging and tricky and satisfying and just a fun puzzle game.

You can purchase Perfect Paths for $1.99.

IOS Spotlight #68: Robot Tsunami

Title: Robot Tsunami
Developer: Ground Up Games
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $4.99
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True to its title, Robot Tsunami is about fending off massive hordes of mechanical foes. Armed with an array of weapons on variety arenas, you must blow away your enemies as they approach from all angles.

Perhaps it's best to first talk about what Robot Tsunami does well. It's a fun dual-stick shooter with solid controls and you have a diverse arsenal at your disposal. Even better is that each weapon has a secondary firing mode; the lightning gun fires bolts that slows enemies, the assault rifle shoots grenades, and so on. Further expanding your arsenal are the special towers and defensive items you can collect and place throughout the arena. Rocket turrets, laser walls, force fields, teleporters, and more allow for a nice range of different strategies. The robots are equally diverse, from charging fodder to explosive-wielding grunts as well as shielded enemies and other larger, better-armed foes.

However, while Robot Tsunami is enjoyable, there were several areas where I felt the game faltered. I felt that the weapons didn't seem powerful. It's a plus that they're different and have alternate firing modes, but they just felt weak and not that satisfying to use, no matter if it was a rocket launcher or flame thrower. Also the item pick-up system seemed unbalanced and unpolished. As far as I could tell, there was no way to really set where the items go, so you might activate a turret and barrier and end up with your rocket turret stuck behind a force field (which it can't fire through). On that same note, you only have a limited amount of time to grab items so if you miss one, you have to wait up to 30 or 40 seconds for new pick-ups to appear. I felt this hurt the game's pacing and its hook of shooter + tower defense, because I found myself either without items and just relying the usual tactic of running and shooting or saving items rather than using them tactically because I wanted to have some back-up if I got overwhelmed and missed a pick-up.

There also wasn't a tangible sense of progression. Playing the game unlocks new maps and challenges, and maps offer different weapons, but I felt like the game grew stagnant after an hour or two, without much to look forward to or encourage me to improve my scores. And lastly, while artistic tastes are subjective, I thought Robot Tsunami's visuals were kind of bland, compared to the vibrant and unique styles that other shooters and similar games offer.

I wouldn't say Robot Tsunami is a bad game; it does quite a few things right. It has solid controls, the gameplay itself is fun, and I liked the varied enemies and weapon modes. But I think there are some issues that hold the game back from being great.

You can purchase Robot Tsunami for $4.99.

IOS Spotlight #67: Biosis

Title: Biosis
Developer: Concolor Games
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $1.99
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I've said it before and it's worth repeating: good games get buried all the time on the App Store. It's so easy to overlook a great experience. Seeing the few reviews and lack of attention for Biosis is pretty disappointing, because it's a fantastic game, in both its visuals and mechanical elements. The screenshots might make it easy to compare to something like Contre Jour or Cut The Rope, but I think that's unfair, since Biosis outclasses those games in terms of gameplay, visuals, and variety.

Biosis is a story of love in an otherworldy landscape. You control a small being, gathering enough plasma to resurrect his mate. And the landscape does truly feel otherworldy. The art style is key here. Biosis has an almost Giger or Cronenberg-esque vibe, a world that's just wet and dripping, organic, alive, yet gorgeous in its own way. You feel less like you're simply activating puzzle pieces but rather manipulating an alien ecosystem to your advantage.

This element of activity and life is present in the gameplay as well. While Biosis and Contre Jour share some similar mechanics in terms of linking to objects and swinging between them, Biosis is much more varied, with interactive creatures offering growths that push or attract, swinging cables, light bridges, cannons, retractable platforms, and more. Each creature also has a secondary function, and Biosis combines these numerous mechanics in various ways to present interesting puzzle scenarios. Magnetic creatures repel you when angry. Cable-like tongues can be drawn in. Light bridges can be sped up. Having to activate and deactivate these creatures and switch their states manually makes the act of playing Bios feel far more involved and interactive compared to similar games.

Biosis is not an easy game. Levels soon feature numerous creatures and an equally varied amount of hazards to avoid. The game becomes as much about figuring how to use all the elements on screen in conjunction as it is about enacting that plan, requiring tight timing and precision. Reaching the exit is hard; collecting the three plasma nodes (or four if you purchase the special Pro Mode) is a challenge.

You can purchase Biosis for $1.99