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Soul Knight (Free) by Zeyang Li is a roguelike dungeon-crawling bullet hell shooter game that is similar to the likes of The Binding of Isaac, Enter the Gungeon, and Nuclear Throne. If you enjoy frantic roguelike shooters like those mentioned titles, then Soul Knight is definitely one that you must add to your mobile game collection.

Over the past few years, roguelike games have gained immense popularity, especially on the mobile game space. For those who aren’t familiar with the genre, roguelikes are usually dungeon-crawler type games that feature procedurally generated levels, turn-based or bullet hell gameplay, and perma-death of your characters if you die, so the next run involves losing your progression and starting over from the beginning. While these types of games are not everyone’s cup of tea, I personally love them because they always bring in a new experience and I love the crazy action that the shooter style games tend to have. When I heard that Soul Knight had hit the App Store after a bit of a delay, I was eager to get my hands on the game since I love roguelike shooters as a way to detox after a long day. I’m so glad that the game has finally arrived, because it’s definitely one of the better roguelike shooters you can grab on the App Store.

Soul Knight features a gorgeous retro and pixelated art style that will make old-school gamers feel right at home. Despite the pixelated aesthetic, the game is full of finer details like textures, dynamic lighting, and shadows when they’re necessary. The color palette ranges from dark and gloomy tones in the dungeon rooms to bright and vibrant hues for bullets and character sprites, which are all rendered beautifully. Animations in Soul Knight are incredibly smooth and fluid, so I had no issues with lag on my iPhone 7. To top everything off, there is an awesome chiptune soundtrack that will certainly bring a smile to your face as you maneuver your way through stray bullets and lay waste to your foes through a wide arsenal of possible weapons. The sound effects are also delightfully quirky, so I recommend playing this game with the sound on and a good pair of headphones if you can. The developer has knocked it out of the park with Soul Knight’s visuals and audio.

As with other roguelike bullet hell shooter games, Soul Knight features randomly generated dungeons that will never be the same thing twice. There are no level select screens and each run has you starting from the beginning, trying to best your own previous record. The goal is to get through each dungeon by clearing out all enemies in each room and reach the portal that takes you to the next level, at which point you can select a random upgrade for your hero. One of the best things about Soul Knight, though, is that even though it’s a free game, there is no energy system or ads whatsoever, so you can play the game as much as you’d like without any interruptions.

However, before you start a run, you’ll be able to select which hero you want to use from the main room, though only the knight is available at first. To unlock the other characters, you’ll have to accrue enough coins by playing the game, as they all cost a different amount and also have their own unique abilities that can help you out in battle. There are also some characters that can only be unlocked through in-app purchase, such as the Vampire and Engineer, but considering how good this game is for the mobile platform, I would say that it certainly does not hurt to throw a few bucks to the developer for awesome characters. If you’re curious about what each character’s special skills are, you can tap on them from the main room to view their ability description.

Controls in Soul Knight are simple, straightforward, and intuitive. Before you get into the real game, there will also be a brief introductory tutorial that explains the basics to you. Essentially there is a virtual joystick in the bottom left corner that you can reposition anywhere on the screen with a tap, and there are three buttons in the bottom right corner: the aim/attack joystick, special skill, and weapon switcher. If you’ve played dual-stick shooter games before, then the two virtual joysticks will feel natural to you. Soul Knight does include an auto-aim functionality that makes it easier to hit your targets, which is nice.

Each character’s special skill can be used with a tap, but then has a cooldown period before it can be used again, which you can see in a glance thanks to the button’s charge gauge. The weapon switcher lets you switch between two weapons, which can be found in chests that you break open and collect while tossing out the previous weapon with the interact button (the aim/attack joystick converts into an action button in certain situations like picking up loot or interacting with NPCs). Your hero’s stats, such as health and defense, are in the top left corner, so make sure to keep an eye on it if you don’t want to die.

Another control option for the game are MFi controllers, if you happen to have one laying around. I did try and use my new Gamevice controller with Soul Knight, but it was not as responsive as I had hoped. I’m not sure if this is just a compatibility issue with the Gamevice itself, but your mileage may vary with other MFi game controllers.

As you make your way through the dungeon rooms and dispatch your foes while avoiding their attacks, you’ll be able to find goodies like chests and other breakable objects that may get you more coins. There are also some NPC heroes that you can come across, and these guys can be hired to fight alongside you for a price. You can also have a companion pet that accompanies you wherever you go, also helping you take out the baddies.

I’ve only really just started Soul Knight, but so far I’m loving the game aside from the iffy Gamevice controller support I’m experiencing. Hopefully the support for Gamevice gets optimized in a future update, because this is the type of game I would prefer physical controllers for. Anyway, Soul Knight features awesome pixel art, lovely chiptunes and sound effects, intuitive and responsive touch screen controls, and challenging gameplay. And the fact that it’s a free game with no ads or energy system is pretty rare, so I will surely be purchasing a few extra IAP heroes in the near future.

I highly recommend checking out Soul Knight if you’re looking for a crazy fun roguelike dungeon crawler and bullet hell shooter in one. You can find Soul Knight on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free. There are in-app purchases.

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Hidden Folks ($3.99) by Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvian Tegroeg is a modern day “Where’s Waldo?” that is designed for mobile devices. If you love a good hidden object game like Where’s My Geek?, then you will get a kick out of Hidden Folks.

As I was growing up, I remember “Where’s Waldo?” being quite popular, though I didn’t get into it too much. But when I did go through some Waldo books at school or even friends’ houses, I did find it pretty fun and enjoyable to scan the pictures in my sometimes futile attempts to find Waldo. Even if you don’t find him, checking out every inch and detail of a picture is a great way to pass the time and it makes you appreciate things even more. Normally I don’t actively look for hidden object video games, but I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Hidden Folks over the past few days, so it became something that I knew I had to check out for myself, even though it’s not my usual cup of tea. I’m glad I decided to give it a try, though, because it does not disappoint.

Hidden Folks has a unique art style that is completely hand drawn and animated, so it looks fantastic and is especially sharp and crisp on Retina screens. The cartoonish aesthetic is perfect considering the nature of the game, and the developers and artists made sure to spare no detail, because there are even shadows and other textures that are represented by small black dots. Even though the landscapes can be rather small and cramped with a ton of various people and things, there are fine and intricate details woven throughout the image that make it full of life. By default, Hidden Folks uses a white background with black ink for the drawings, but there are two other color options available through the settings: Sepia (beige background and black ink) and Night Mode (black background and white ink). Since the landscapes come to life with bouncy movements from all living creatures that are in the level, all animations in Hidden Folks are smooth and fluid, so I experienced no lag on my iPhone 7. There is even haptic feedback for those who are using an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, which is nice to have when you’re scrolling through the things that you must find in the scene. As far as music goes, there isn’t much of a soundtrack in the background, but Hidden Folks is jam packed with plenty of realistic background noises and the sound effects of things when you interact with them is fun and charming.

Like many games before it, Hidden Folks is level-based and players must progress through the game in a fairly linear fashion. At the moment, there are four different types of environments that you can explore, and each section contains two to five stages of hidden object goodness. From the level select screen, you’re able to see your progress on a stage through the circle that is underneath it — if there’s a lock, it’s currently unaccessible until you meet the requirement threshold, a circle partly filled in means that’s how far you are in that stage, and a completely filled in circle means you’ve cleared that level. For each scene, you’ll have to find a certain number of objects in the environment before the next level becomes accessible to you, but if you’re a completionist, you can go back and find all of the hidden items if you so desire. While some of them are easy to find, others won’t be, and when that happens, it’s best to tap around and interact with everything you can, because some of them are just hiding better than others.

The controls in Hidden Folks are pretty straightforward and intuitive, given the type of game that it is. Along the bottom is a scrollable ribbon of the objects that you must find in the scene. Just swipe your finger left and right along it to see a description of the thing you must find. You can pan around the scene by dragging your finger around the screen, and tapping on the landscape lets you interact with various things, such as cutting through leaves and bushes, opening and slamming doors, and poke different people and animals. Once you find a target, it gets highlighted with a circle and tells you the name of what it was, and then it gets checked off from the ribbon. The end of the ribbon informs you of the remaining number of targets you have to find before unlocking the next area, but finding all of the targets on a scene is entirely up to you.

I am taking my time with Hidden Folks since diving into it this weekend, and as someone who doesn’t normally get into hidden object games, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it. The hand-drawn visuals are done incredibly well, the sound effects are original, fun, and charming, and the controls are designed for touch screens, making this a perfect modern age “Where’s Waldo?” kind of game. Having the three different color mode options is much appreciated as well, since the default option can be blinding if you’re trying to play before bed. All-in-all, Hidden Folks is a wonderful hidden object game that is suitable for everyone and worth checking out.

Hidden Folks is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for just $3.99. There is also an iMessage Sticker Pack that is included with the download.

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