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Onirim – Solitaire Card Game ($0.99) by Asmodee Digital is yet another board game that has been turned into a digital game for your mobile device. If you liked other titles such as Potion Explosion, Sushi Go!, and Exploding Kittens, then Onirim is a perfect addition to your digital board game collection.

Board games — we all love them, but let’s face it, sometimes it’s just hard to play them because you can’t get enough people gathered up in person to play them when you want to due to conflicting schedules or you just don’t want to plan everything out. This is the problem I personally have with board games, so I just end up not playing them as much as I’d like to, even though I enjoy them and the interaction I get with others while playing. This is one of the biggest reasons why I end up playing more video games over board games, because I can enjoy them myself without much fuss. So naturally, when I see popular and current board games getting brought over to digital versions, I’m intrigued, as it’s my chance to try out a board game I otherwise wouldn’t have even heard of. Having the digital versions also has helped me discover these games and go out to buy the physical versions to play at social gatherings too, so it definitely helps having a virtual board game as a “sampler,” per say. And as a fan of solitaire-style card games, Onirim certainly piqued my interest.

Visually, Onirim is gorgeous with the original painting-like artwork style, which is pulled directly from the Onirim base game. So if you’ve played the real game before, then you will recognize everything in an instant. The art looks hand-drawn and is beautiful to look at, even for newcomers, and the nightmares are somewhat mesmerizing and hypnotic. The color palette of Onirim features dark and gloomy colors that contrast nicely with the bright and vibrant colors of the colored cards themselves, so everything stands out as you play. Animations are fluid and smooth in the game, so there is no lag on my iPhone 7. The game also has a hauntingly atmospheric soundtrack that is a nice addition to a once physical-only board game and is also fun to listen to. The sound effects feature realistic card sounds, which just makes it feel even more realistic. Asmodee Digital has been doing a great job with their virtual board game releases, and Onirim is just another fantastic addition.

If you have played Onirim before, then you will be familiar with this game’s only mode, which is the base game in solitaire mode. Unfortunately, for die-hard Onirim fans, Asmodee Digital does not plan on adding expansions to this version of the game, so you are only going to have the base game solitaire mode available on your iOS device. However, the base solitaire version is great for quick-play sessions, so this does not bother me too much. For anyone who is a newbie to Onirim, the game is a unique take on solitaire. Players will be a Dreamwalker that is lost in a mysterious labyrinth, and the only way out of it is to discover the oneiric doors before the dream runs out — otherwise, you’re trapped forever.

With this in mind, the goal is simple: work against the game and find the eight doors before the deck runs out of cards. There are two doors for each color of card in the deck, and the ways to earn them are by playing three cards of the same color in a row, or discarding a key card in your hand when you draw a door card. However, there are also the devious Nightmare cards that are lurking in the deck as well, which trigger tough decisions when drawn (discard your hand, discard top five cards of the deck, discard a door or key card if available). The goal is to get all eight doors before you’re out of cards in the deck, which is much harder than it looks.

Controls in Onirim are simple and intuitive, though it does take a bit of time to get used to everything if you’re new. To play a card, just tap-and-drag it to the playing area, which is like a ribbon. After you have played enough cards, you can scroll through it horizontally if you want to see what you played. If you’re not able to play the card, it just goes back to your hand. Like solitaire, you can’t play a card if it has the same symbol (sun, moon, or key) as the last card you put in the stack. To discard an unnecessary card, just drag it to the discard pile in the bottom right corner. Any time a card is moved from your hand, you draw another card from the draw pile so you always have five cards ready. If you throw a key card away, you’ll be able to see the next five cards in the deck and rearrange them to a better order, as well as discard one (hopefully a nightmare). When you draw a Nightmare card, you’ll have to make a tough choice, and if you draw a door card, it will go into the “reshuffle” pile, you draw another card, and then anything in the reshuffle stack goes back into the deck. Everything in Onirim is automated, so it’s easy to learn the game even if you’re completely new to it.

For newcomers, the game does take a bit of getting used to, but once you understand the rules, it becomes rather addictive and hard to put down. And because of the intricate rules, there is quite a bit of strategy and depth to the game. There is also a statistics section that lets you know how you’re doing in the game since you’ve started, in case you’re wondering about your game records.

I’ve been playing Onirim over the weekend and have been thoroughly enjoying it, despite still not winning a game just yet (have come close though!). I love the beautiful visual style and music, and the fact that everything is mostly automatic makes it easy to see what’s happening and understand. It’s a bit disappointing that the developers don’t plan on adding the expansions to this version, or even adding more game modes in the future. But if you’re looking for a great solitaire game for quick sessions, then Onirim is a pretty good fit for the price of a dollar.

I recommend giving Onirim a try if you are a fan of the physical game or just enjoy solitaire-style card games in general. Onirim is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $0.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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Slayaway Camp ($2.99) by Blue Wizard Digital is a puzzle game with the theme of 80’s horror films. If you love the thrill of a good slasher movie but also have a thing for puzzles, then Slayaway Camp is the perfect mix of the two. The game is brought to you by some of the guys behind classics like Bejeweled and Peggle.

Back in the day, when PopCap still existed as a sole entity, I remember when Bejeweled and Peggle used to be great. However, ever since EA bought them, the quality of their recent releases has gone down, and the more recent versions of Bejeweled Stars, Peggle Blast, and even Plants vs. Zombies 2 became forgettable to me. However, I think it’s amazing that the original guys behind classic puzzle games Bejeweled and Peggle are still out there making games, and Slayaway Camp is the result of this. While I don’t consider myself a horror movie connoisseur, I still enjoy a good horror thriller every so often, especially around Halloween, but Slayaway Camp was too unique to turn down. Since Slayaway Camp comes from some great minds in the industry, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this game does not disappoint. It’s a mobile port of the Steam game (PC and Mac), which is also available for free on Kongregate (with ads).

Visually speaking, Slayaway Camp features blocky voxel graphics that are reminiscent of Minecraft and similar games. While some people may be tired of this type of art style, I still enjoy the 3-D pixelated look because it reminds me of the games that I grew up with, except it’s rendered in 3-D. Despite the jagged, blocky aesthetic, Slayaway Camp still packs in an incredible amount of detail, from the textures of the camp environment, to character appearances, to gory kill scenes, and even the lighting and VHS video effects. The color palette used in the game features dark and moody scenarios that are lit up with bright and vibrant colors of campfires and colorful characters that you’re out to get rid of as Skullface. Animations are buttery smooth and fluid in the game, so there was no lag issues on my iPhone 7. The game also has a synth-infused metal soundtrack that fits the mood of the game perfectly, and it’s rather fun to listen to as you play the role of a horror movie killer. The sound effects are akin to what you’d expect in a slasher film and a video store, and the voice acting (Mark Meer from Mass Effect and Derek Mears of Friday the 13th) is superb. For their first game as Blue Wizard Digital, Slayaway Camp features top-notch visual and audio design.

Since Slayaway Camp is still a puzzle game, it’s level-based like many others. However, it does things a bit differently. As Slayaway Camp is themed like 80’s horror movies, the level packs are split up into 11 movie videotapes, and each film features at least a dozen scenes that serve as the puzzles themselves. Every “movie” features a different costume for Skullface, and there are other killers that you can unlock later on as well. Once all of the scenes are completed, the movie is finished and goes on the shelf of the slasher horror collection, but you can replay levels as you desire. The goal of the game is pretty straightforward: kill all of the people in each scenario and then get to the portal to get out of there. While there aren’t any move restrictions on most stages, some do require you to complete them in a certain number of moves, which helps keep things interesting. And if the gratuitous amount of violence and gore is too much for you, then there is an option to turn it down to a PG level, rather than R.

Controls in Slayaway Camp are intuitive and responsive. To make your killer move around, just slide your finger in the direction you want him to go in. He will continue sliding until he hits an obstacle, such as a wall or fence, or even a person. You can also push objects over and crush others with them, such as large bookcases. With this in mind, players will have to plan their moves ahead of time because some scenes have tricky, intricate layouts that will take some skillful maneuvering to get around. We’re talking about six-feet deep holes, bonfires, and cops who are just waiting to bust you. But once you maneuver the killer to a person, you get an optional kill scene that’s pretty fun to watch. Murder scares other people who were adjacent to the victim, so you can use that to your advantage by having them run into holes, fire, or even into the water. If you make a mistake, you can always hit the “rewind” button to undo your last move (all the way back to the beginning if need be). There is also a restart button, and you can “fast forward” through a scene if you are stuck, but hints cost you some shiny gold coins.

Speaking of coins, after each scene will be a bonus opportunity kill. There will be a bar along the bottom of the screen with a section of it colored red. A marker will move horizontally along the bar and if you tap on the screen while it’s in the red zone, you’ll be awarded with another kill scene and bonus coins. The coins can be spent in the shop for “Gorepacks,” which are basically different ways that your killer will perform the kill scenes. Getting them all will take some time, as they’re all a bit pricey, but at least there’s plenty of chances to get some coins (and no in-app purchases). Another way to spend your coins is by getting the Mystery Box in the “Killers” section, which will get you a random playable killer that you can use. If you’re a horror movie buff, prepare to be delighted as there are some characters that are based on cult classics.

I’ve only just started Slayaway Camp so I’m still in the beginning movies, but man, this game is downright fun. While I’m not a huge horror movie fanatic, the game is still incredibly enjoyable. I love the graphics, the music is amazing, the dialogue for kill scenes is hilarious, the Gorepacks are fun to watch, and the puzzles themselves are challenging. The best thing about the game is the fact that there are no in-app purchases, so even though getting all killers and Gorepacks is expensive, it’s great that you can’t just buy your coins to get them before other people. It keeps players coming back for more gory horror movie fun while earning coins to get optional collectible content. And while I prefer to keep the game in R-mode, it’s nice that they included a less bloody PG-mode to keep even the squeamish satisfied.

I highly recommend Slayaway Camp if you’re a fan of horror and puzzles. You can find Slayaway Camp on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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