Title: rop Developer: Gamebra.in Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $0.99 --- Don't be fooled by rop's early levels. It's quite fitting that the game's network of ropes and nodes resemble the threads of a web, as those beginning challenges introduce the core idea and mechanics before entangling your brain in tricky head-scratching puzzles.
Rop's set-up is deceptively simple. The screen is divided in the two parts: the top half depicted a figure, the bottom of hexagonal grid and a network of interconnected ropes and nodes used to replicate the above figure. By manipulating the ropes, you're able to mimic triangle, rectangles, and other shapes. But soon those simple shapes grow increasingly complex and you find ropes connected and crisscrossing in odd ways. There's no time limit here, no move counter, no pressure or need to rush; rop is a calm test of your spatial aptitude, challenging you to consider the effect of every move you make. Thankfully rop is simple to control; manipulating ropes is tactile, fun, and easy. It's satisfying to see your figures take shape as you drag and shift nodes across the grid.
Rop offers a wealth of challenging puzzles built around a simple core mechanic and minimalist presentation. The developer is currently working on a second level pack which will introduce a new gameplay element. You can purchase rop for $0.99.
Title: Dark Echo Developer: RAC7 Games Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $1.99 --- 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.
Title: Sunburn! Developer: Secret Crush Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $2.99 --- 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.
Title: Zengrams Developer: Andreas Boye Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $2.99 --- There are numerous puzzle games about manipulating colors, and many games about forming and reshaping figures, but Zengrams combines those two concepts to deliver a fantastic minimalist puzzle game, perhaps the best I've played since Blek. Zengrams excels at taking a simple mechanic and exploring it in myriad challenging ways. Each level provides a collection of shapes and an outline of a figure; you must manipulate the shapes to fit the outline. Where Zengrams stands out is its use of color. Overlapping shapes of different colors results in each shaded area becoming its own shape, while like-colored shapes merge together, allowing you to seamlessly combine and split shapes into new figures. Honestly, the GIF below demonstrates the concept in a more succinct fashion.
'Simple to understand, difficult to master' aptly describes Zengrams' puzzles. Not only must you be mindful of how and where you place shapes, you also have a limited amount of moves for each level. The early stages ease you in, but soon the challenge ramps up, due to shapes merged or offset in tricky ways or the number of moves you can perform. It's the kind of game where you'll spend 30 minutes on a puzzle, trying it this way and that way, and then came back an hour or a day later with a fresh approach and realize the solution was staring you in the face this whole time. The obvious solution isn't always the correct one, forcing you to think of more concise and efficient ways to complete puzzles. Each new level invokes that sense of "Is this even possible...", and finally solving a particularly challenging level feels so rewarding.
Zengrams' minimalist presentation is merely a stylish facade hiding the challenging nature of its puzzles and the seamless way shapes merge makes each of the game's 70 levels a satisfying experience. You can purchase Zengrams for $2.99.
Title: Framed Developer: Loveshack Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $4.99 --- 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.
Title: Joinz Developer: Noodlecake Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $1.99 --- Tetris-inspired games are nothing new. Many games have put their own spin of the classic formula. Joinz stand out through its polished presentation and interesting twist of the gameplay. While Joinz does feature tetromino shapes, the game is more akin to Threes than Tetris. Colored tile appear on the grid and you must maneuver and combine these tile to form the indicated shapes. While the controls are as simple as swiping, earning a high score is a challenging endeavor as the screen grows cluttered with tile and more colors. Each move also spawn a new tile, so you must plan ahead, be economically in your movements, and predict how tile will combine. Power ups allow you to clear tile with bombs, separate connected tile, and more, providing a strategic element as you decide when and where would be the opportune moment to use your power-ups.
Joinz is a challenging fun puzzle game that's equally viable for a quick game or a careful methodical attempt to top the leaderboards. While I do feel the game would benefit from aspects such as knowing what color tile would spawn next or having tile spawn more predictably (i.e. if the game was more like Threes), those are personal gripes that doesn't lessen the quality, fun, and polish of the title. You can purchase Joinz for $1.99.
Title: Phantom Rift Developer: Foursaken Media Platforms: IOS Universal, Android Price: $2.99 --- I'll be honest, I'm somewhat biased towards Foursaken's games. From Block Fortress and Heroes & Castles to Bug Heroes 2, I've enjoyed all of their unique genre-blending experiences. I didn't think Bug Heroes 2 would be topped any time soon, but I was wrong. Phantom Rift is an excellent mix of twitch action and tactical strategic gameplay. You're a wanderer among the tiles of the Rift, journeying across its portals to defeat the powerful bosses that control each realm. Phantom Rift is a sprawling adventure, its hub world alone fraught with danger and secrets and merchants to purchase new gear and magic. Each area feels unique, with new enemies to face and environmental features, from the misty darkness of the Rift itself to the deserts, lava, ice fields, and more of the other levels.
But Phantom Rift's strongest element is its combat, providing challenging action that's both twitchy and tactical. Upon encountering enemies, you're whisked to a grid divided into your half and the enemy's half. Enemies are varied and diverse, offering a strategic challenge as they're able to steal tiles on your side and encroach your territory or perform attacks that affect certain tiles. Knowing how enemies behave and avoid their attacks is the twitch side of Phantom Rift, dodging arrows as hulking beetles charge onto your side and spear-wielding goblins steal tiles.
The tactical side is even more engrossing, and makes every battle of Phantom Rift a test of timing, positioning, and smart use of your spells. You're presented a selection of five spells from your spell pouch at certain intervals, allowing you to tailor your strategies to the foes you're facing and the play style you prefer. Would you rather steal tiles and attack up close? Or use range attacks that effect certain tiles? Or summon phantom helpers? Or buff your armor and deflect projectiles? And these strategies are possible with only a fraction of the myriad spells available in the game. Gear you equip, from gauntlets and helmets to robe and staffs, add more diversity, allowing you to improve your stats and grant you new abilities.
Phantom Rift impresses not only on a mechanical level, but visually as well. While the game certainly isn't the next Infinity Blade, it's charming and loaded with great details, from the lighting to the effects of your spells. My main gripe with the game - the slow walking speed that made exploration a slog - was addressed in the latest update and even that issue couldn't diminish Phantom Rift's strengths. You can purchase Phantom Rift for $2.99. (Android)
Title: Doppler Developer: My Go Studio Platforms: IOS Universal, Android Price: $1.99 --- 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.
Title: Pentumble Developer: Helftone Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $1.99 --- 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)
Title: Spooklands Developer: Luderia Platforms: IOS Universal, Android Price: $0.99 --- 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.
Title: Pako Developer: Tree Men Games Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $1.99 --- 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.
