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Kalimba ($3.99) by Flashbulb ApS is a cheerful and charming puzzle platformer that’s sure to delight players of all ages. If you liked titles such as Mr Future Ninja and Sally’s Law, then you’ll enjoy what Kalimba has to offer.

As someone who grew up in the golden age of gaming with the NES and Genesis consoles, platformers have a special place in my heart. Nearly all of the games I’ve played as a kid were platformers, so it’s not surprising that I’m always eager to check new ones out. Another genre that I love are puzzles, because they keep my mind stimulated. So when the two are combined, I can’t resist. That’s why when I saw Kalimba on the App Store, I had to check it out for myself. Needless to say, this is one that does not disappoint.

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Nanali Inc.

Visually, Kalimba is gorgeous. The game features an aesthetically pleasing minimalist design that is full of geometric shapes that come to life. Everything is rendered in 2-D with bright and vibrant colors and amazing textures. The totems and narrator have distinctive appearances so it’s always easy to tell each character apart from one another. Environments dynamically change once the toggles get activated, and it’s all done in a seamless transition that’s rather mesmerizing with particle effects. Animations in Kalimba are buttery smooth and fluid, with zero lag on my iPhone 7. There’s also voice acting through the narration, and it’s incredibly well done. A quirky soundtrack plays in the background, which fits in with the overall quirky theme of the game. Overall, Kalimba is beautifully designed inside and out in terms of visual and audio.

Like many other puzzle platformers, Kalimba is level-based, and players must progress through the game one stage at a time. The story of Kalimba involves a good and evil shaman, with the latter overcoming the former and spreading darkness throughout the land. But the spirit of the good shaman is able to possess totems in order to restore the light to the land. And that’s where the player comes in.

To help the shaman with the ultimate goal, one must help guide the two totems simultaneously through treacherous environments to rebuild the original totem pole. Your score on each stage is determined by the number of pickups you’ve collected, and any deaths will deduct from that. Otherwise, there are no stars to collect, and no time limit, so you can enjoy Kalimba at your own pace.

The controls in Kalimba are easy and intuitive. In the bottom left corner are directional buttons that let the totem pieces move left and right. On the other side are the action buttons, letting players make the totem pieces jump and swap places. Remember — the totems move together simultaneously, so when you need one to jump, the other one does too. And sometimes only one totem can pass through a specific colored barrier, so the timing of swapping is key.

My testing of the game was with my iPhone. But for iPad players, there’s an iPad-only co-op mode where two players can work together on one device. I wasn’t able to test this out, but the developers say it can “make or break any friendship,” so take heed!

The real challenge with Kalimba is collecting all of the golden totems. These elusive totems are only earned by collecting all pickups on a stage without dying. Considering the difficulty of the game as you go, this is much easier said than done. To keep players coming back, there are secret challenge rooms too, in case you’re looking for more replay value.

Kalimba is a true gem of a puzzle platformer on the App Store. The game has a stunning aesthetic that is true eye candy, and the music is just delightful. The controls are easy to work with and responsive, so there was no problem with accidental deaths or mistakes. The concept of the game is simple enough, but having both characters moving together makes everything much more challenging, which is always welcome. The co-op mode for iPad players is a nice addition.

While Kalimba is an excellent game, it’s definitely one that can easily frustrate less-skilled players who may not have a lot of patience. I also wish that co-op was available on iPhones as well, but I can see why it’s an iPad-only feature.

I have only recently started Kalimba, but I can see this as being a title I return to until I beat it. Kalimba is perfect for sitting down with and enjoying a longer play session. And as a fan of beautiful aesthetics, I will enjoy every minute of playing it. The music is zen-like, and the controls are super responsive. The levels are pretty lengthy, and you get a lot of content for your money, so the value is there. Kalimba is definitely one that shouldn’t be missed.

I recommend grabbing Kalimba if you’re a fan of puzzle platformer games. Kalimba is on the App Store as a universal download on the iPhone and iPad for $3.99.

9.4

OVERALL

Game Controls 10

Graphics 10

Replayability 9

Sound/Music 9

Gameplay 9

$3.99

Kalimba™

Flashbulb ApS

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Futurama fans rejoiced recently, as the latest installment in the story of the Planet Express Ship was released. This time, though, it wasn't a new season. Instead, it was a new game with all of their favorite characters. How well does the game shape up to the competition, though? Let's take a look.

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In the latest installment of the Futurama story, the world (the universe, in fact) is in peril. It seems that when two Hypnotoads mate, it can cause a rift in the prophylactic membrane. Or, as Amy Wong's father puts it, a space hole.

That's exactly what happened. Two Hypnofrogs were making out, and the universe got torn apart. Now, New New York is half-embraced in a death grip of Hypnowaves, and it's up to Fry and the rest of the crew of the Planet Express Ship to save the city and the galaxy.

As you control the various Futurama characters, you'll lead them on missions around New New York and throughout the galaxy. You'll seek out artifacts, fight dangerous aliens, and try to mine meteorites.

All in the name of science, right? Well, the Professor might try to say that, but the truth is that your crew is all pretty broke since the planet got torn apart by a space vortex. So there's a definite financial incentive to save the world and the galaxy.

Futurama has plenty to love, beyond just the characters. Sure, the story line might be a bit cliché and cheesy, but the missions are straight out of the Futurama universe. That's definitely worth something to fans of the franchise.

The game provides plenty of opportunities to earn cold hard cash and experience points. That's a good thing, because you'll need it. Experience points level up not just your characters, but the Planet Express team as a whole. As your team levels up, you earn more fuel to take the Planet Express Ship on space missions.

The voice acting is great, with the original cast stepping in to provide catch phrases and quotes. I just wish there was more of it, especially in the "cut scenes."

Each character can also level up, and can unlock special outfits. Strangely, these different costumes have their own levels, so a Level 7 Fry isn't the same as a Level 3 Robot Fry.

With the various costumes come new actions, which means more ways to make money and experience points. When you aren't going on missions in outer space, you'll be collecting rent and sending your Futurama characters to do actions. You need the money and experience points to rebuild and save New New York.

After all, building a city don't come cheap.

The game isn't perfect, unfortunately. Like similar titles, there's too much focus on completing actions and earning money or experience points.

There's also a bewildering array of in-game currencies. There's Pizza Slices, which you can use to speed up actions and unlock items. You also have cash, which is used in leveling up your characters and purchasing buildings (when you aren't using Pizza Slices for that).

If that wasn't enough, you also have to keep track of fuel for your space ship and Hypnotons for clearing the Hypnowaves from New New York. It's all just too much, and it takes away from the enjoyment of the game.

While Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow is free to play, enjoying the game without spending any real money might be a challenge. Things happen slowly, and the impatient will end up dropping a lot of cold hard cash to speed things along.

There's also no mechanism to trade one form of currency for another. I'd love to see a way to buy pizza slices with in-game Nixonbucks, for example, or vice versa. That's not possible, however. If you have plenty of Pizza and are out of Nixbonbucks, you have to buy Nixonbucks separately or wait until you build your cash reserves back up for that next big purchase.

Finally, some missions have to be completed multiple times to fully finish them. This seems silly to me. I should only have to complete ranch tasks in the right order once. After that, it gets boringly repititious.

If you're a fan of the Futurama franchise, this is definitely a must-have game. If not, you might not understand many of the nuances or character interactions. The game doesn't provide any real back-story, expecting you to already know about Bender's attitude towards human women (especially Amy Wong) and why other characters behave the way they do.

With that said, the game can be enjoyed even without that understanding. It's a fun game, if you're willing to invest more than just time into it. You also have to be willing to endure a lot of repetition. I wish there was less need for in-app purchases, but I've come to understand that developers have to make their money somehow. I'd rather have a free game I enjoy that I can pay money into when I want than a game I have to pay for and possibly hate.

8.0

OVERALL

Game Controls 9

Graphics 9

Sound/Music 9

Gameplay 8

Replayability 5

FREE

Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow

TinyCo, Inc.

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