Towel Tim Review

It is the future, and poor Tim finds himself running along rooftops, facing off against robots who wish to maim him with their metallic arms, shoot gadgets at him, and then launch missiles. What does he have? A towel. Thankfully, a towel is significant because it is so versatile. Of course, this does mean that Tim often finds himself rather nude while using it to whip at the robots, or to glide down to the next rooftop. The sacrifices made are surely worthwhile.

Which is not to say Towel Tim is attempting to be lewd — far from it. While platforming and fighting, the animations tend toward the cute and adorable, rather than the sexy and awkward for any onlookers (though it is possible to still draw stares). The backgrounds are similarly impressively imagined and portrayed as this futuristic skyline being traversed, albeit one riddled with lens flare perhaps too liberally. The robots stick out in this odd assortment of bold colors that clash with the general peaceful attitude being present by the rest of the game, in a way that just fits.

Generally, Towel Tim makes good use of everything possible with iOS devices. To climb, use tilt to go either down or up a ladder-esque challenge. Hit with the designated button, jump with another (or hold the jump to glide), and run back and forth with either a joystick or button control. Unfortunately, it does not always work as well as it seems it should, with the controls being a bit of an obstacle at times; not enough to ruin the game, but enough to make them apparent. This paired with the very loose physics can lead to some hilarious challenges. Alongside some very frustrating ones that feel like they should have been tweaked to be just a bit more tight.

The only other odd thing that somewhat adds to the charm of this game is that the translation into English is just a bit off. Again, not enough to fully detract from the experience, but enough to make itself apparent with very odd articles being used, or prepositions that aren't quite right. I say it doesn't detract because the game is just kooky enough that it recalls certain campy sci-fi film premises, and has that touch of the b-side romp through the future, or that of a b-side game just being there for zany fun.

Towel Tim is not the best of its kind in any regard, but it is just enjoyable enough that it should have a niche audience who could find Tim to be quite endearing. Given that the game does not take itself too horribly seriously, it presents as more a goofy and humorous time spent traversing the rooftops, one that seems it is in on the joke, rather than just presenting off-the-wall shenanigans that make no sense.

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