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Hi, my name is Kristina and I work as the office manager of Mid Atlantic Consulting. We are a Macintosh Support, Service, and Consulting Company. I will review one iPhone app every day coming from a non-tech like me. Add your comments and I will try to reply.

Take the Road Not Taken in Spry Fox’s New Roguelike Puzzler

Road Not Taken ($4.99) by Spry Fox, LLC is a puzzle game about the surprises of life. If you enjoy turn-based puzzle games that are as challenging as life itself, then Road Not Taken will be right up your alley. Don’t be fooled by the cute fairy tale style — this game won’t be easy.

Over the years, I’ve played a lot of video games, especially on mobile as I’ve been here at AppAdvice. While I do enjoy a wide variety of games, some of my favorites on mobile continue to be puzzle games, with roguelike games also quite high on the list. So when I saw Road Not Taken on the App Store, I was pleasantly surprised. After all, this game also came from Spry Fox, which is one of my favorite game development studios at the moment after the release of Alphabears and Bushido Bear. I mean, who can resist their adorable art style and addictive gameplay? Road Not Taken may not feature the same cute bears from these releases, but that’s completely okay — Road Not Taken has its own set of challenging charm that sets it apart from recent Spry Fox releases.

The visuals in Road Not Taken are beautiful and stunning. From the App Store screenshots, you’ll immediately think of some kind of fairy tale or something that is whimsical like that. But the truth is the game is far from it. Still, I found the game’s cartoonish graphics to be rather impressive, as everything is packed with texture and detail, and character sprites are bouncing with life and emotion. The colors that are used are a nice range of soft pastels to rich and vibrant hues, depending on the situation that you find yourself in, of course. Animations in Road Not Taken are smooth and fluid, so I had no lag on my iPhone 6s Plus. Music in the game is also incredibly well done, as there is an evocative and atmospheric soundtrack in the background that reflects the challenges you’ll be facing. If only real life worked the same way, right? Overall, Spry Fox did an excellent job in creating a gorgeous world for a charming and engaging game.

In Road Not Taken, there aren’t exactly levels for players to go through. Instead, you’ll get dropped into the story of a ranger, with the magical capability of levitation and telekinesis, who finds himself in a remote village during the aftermath of a powerful winter storm. Being the good guy that you are (as the ranger), you end up taking on quests to help out the villagers who have lost their children in the forest as they were sent to help their parents pick winter berries. Each time you play, you will experience a procedurally generated story, so every run you try will be different. Naturally, as you talk to the villagers, they will describe to you an ideal way of life that involves getting a job, falling in love and getting married and then having children. But as you start each new journey for the day, paths will change, characters are different and result in different relationships to forge, just like in real life. And since everything is procedurally generated as you set out for the day, there are unlimited possibilities of what you will encounter. The replay value is definitely up high with Road Not Taken.

The controls in the game are simple and straightforward. To move, just swipe on the screen in the direction you want to go, or hold down on the screen to continuously move in that direction. To interact with objects, like trees, lost children, bee hives, and more, just tap on them when you’re adjacent to them. You can carry the items around as you move, but this will take up energy (one for each square you move), which is shown in the top left corner. If you tap on the screen as you’re carrying an item, you will throw it in the direction that the item was facing. If you have not yet moved while holding an object, you can simply put it down without throwing it by doing a long tap on the screen.

As you explore each path and try to accomplish the quests, you’ll encounter many challenging puzzles along the way. It’s important to pay attention to the signs — they will tell you what you need to do to unlock the path to the next area (such as matching a group of trees), or even give you some helpful hints, such as telling you that four bee hives will give you honey, which replenishes energy (any type of food will have this effect). Any enemy characters you encounter are dangerous, so you’ll want to steer clear of them. But sometimes you may not have a choice and you’ll be face-to-face with danger, since the enemies move when you do. But since you have telekinesis, you can also pick up enemies and throw them, so make sure to take advantage of that if the situation arises. The game has a wide variety of dangerous foes that you’ll face, and there are also boss battles. Essentially, you will have to think before you move in this game.

If you run out of energy, then it’s game over. You’ll see what you’ve accomplished on that run, and then you’ll find yourself back in the village once again, ready to set out on the next journey. Each run will be different in terms of paths, characters, enemies, and obstacles, so the surprise is a great element to keep you coming back time and time again.

I’m still very early on in Road Not Taken, but so far, I’m enjoying the challenge that the game presents. The visuals are top notch, just as I’d expect from Spry Fox, and the soundtrack is truly captivating and immersive. I think the controls could be better optimized, though, as I did have some moments of struggling when I was trying to figure the game out, especially when it came to throwing and placing things down. Still, the story of the game is vast, and reflects real life well. And the puzzles themselves are rather tricky and devilish at times, which is nice to have. Plus, the randomly generated runs each time mean you’re always going to be in for a surprise.

I highly recommend checking out Road Not Taken if you are a fan of Spry Fox, or just like roguelike puzzle games in general. You can find Road Not Taken as a universal app on the App Store for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for just $4.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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Connect the Dots and Don’t Implode in Comblosion

Comblosion ($1.99) by Sebastian Miedtank is a twitch reflex arcade game that is all about connecting and collecting. If you want a much more fast-paced game about connecting dots, compared to Dots & Co and other puzzle games, then Comblosion is just your style.

Even though I have several different console systems, I still do most of my gaming on my iPhone these days just because of the convenience. While I get the most enjoyment out of puzzle games (they’re a great way to relax), sometimes I do want something that moves at a faster pace and lets me chase high scores all day long. Comblosion is one of those games, and while it’s about connecting the dots, it’s much different compared to some of the popular games out there, like the Dots series.

In terms of visuals, Comblosion features a super simple, minimalistic style that will appeal to everyone who likes a clean aesthetic. The game sports a black background with colored dots and lines that contrast nicely due to the bright and vibrant hues. The animations are buttery smooth with no lag on my iPhone 6s Plus. The game doesn’t have a continuous soundtrack in the background, but it does have charming little sound effects as you connect and collect. While Comblosion is pretty no-frills in the visual and audio department, the developer still did a great job in creating something that just looks great on your Retina screen.

Since Comblosion is an arcade game, it’s essentially just a high score chaser. There are no levels — you just play infinitely as long as you can, progressing to the next stage layout as you rack up the points. The objective of the game is pretty straightforward: connect the dots as they appear on the screen. Once you connect to the dot, a new one appears. But you can’t cross over previously drawn lines, and you only start out with a few seconds on the clock, but each dot you connect with adds another second to the countdown. There’s no end to connecting the dots unless you run out of time, which can be pretty fast. Sometimes items will appear on the screen, like gifts, extra time, and point boosts. If you see those, make sure to collect them before connecting to your next dot, as they disappear otherwise.

The controls in Comblosion are easy enough — just connect the red dot to the other red dot (with the orange dashes around it) with your finger. However, I recommend watching how you draw the lines, because the placement of the next dot is always random, and sometimes the game puts it in a spot that you can’t get to due to trapping yourself. Sometimes it just can’t be helped, though, and the procedurally generated nature of the game keeps things interesting. Again, if a power-up item spawns on the screen as you’re trying to make another connection, make sure to collect them along the way for nice bonus.

Despite the game being an endless high score chaser with no levels, there are times when you will advance to the next stage once you obtain the power-up or get enough dots, which means a different layout. In addition to not being able to cross over previously drawn lines, you cannot touch the red areas that are on the screen, which will always vary with each attempt. If you touch the red areas, your line breaks and you’ll have to try again, hopefully circumventing that section and any other existing lines already.

If you are good enough, you’ll eventually get the rocket item, which can be used to give yourself a head start and net you several hundred points before you even make a single connection. I have yet to unlock these rocket items though, so I’m assuming you have to reach a certain point threshold to get access to them.

I’ve only just started playing Comblosion, but so far I’m enjoying it, even though I’m doing terribly by trapping myself in my own web of connections. As a fan of minimalism, I like the aesthetics, the sound effects are whimsical, and the gameplay is simple but challenging. The only thing that would make the game even better is different game modes, if possible, but the infinite high score chasing right now is sufficient enough.

I recommend checking out Comblosion if you are searching for a fast-paced high score chasing arcade game to pass the time with. You can find Comblosion on the App Store as a universal app for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews