Jelly Reef Review

Developer: Adriaan de Jongh
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone 5

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Overall Rating:

In a curious twist, Jelly Reef manages to be both relaxing and surprisingly tough. Maybe it’s the fact that most games set underwater tend to feel quite serene that ensures that this is a relaxing yet challenging experience. As a roguelike of sorts it could do with a little more depth (no pun intended) [Editor's Note: I bet.], but Jelly Reef is still really quite entertaining.

You’re attempting to guide jellyfish from one end of a world to the other. Each world is broken up into various stages with you able to choose which segments to negotiate. It’s all laid out as a hexagonal grid, with you able to take different paths to explore. Levels are procedurally generated, meaning every time is going to be different.

The seabed itself is pretty dangerous. Mostly everything is out to get you with your defenses being non-existent. All you can do to survive is duck out of the way of danger, by dragging a finger around to guide the jellyfish to safety. This often means that Jelly Reef feels quite fraught. One wrong move and it can be game over, leading you to go right back to the beginning of the world.

You’ll carry on though. It doesn’t take long to progress within Jelly Reef so you’ll find yourself wanting to beat it. Unlike other rogue likes, your jellyfish don’t get stronger as you go, but you’ll feel keen to keep chipping away at things. At times, you’ll lament your impatience, causing you to die yet again, but Jelly Reef feels consistently quite delightful and entices you back. Looking visually quite gorgeous helps too, with everything around you moving vibrantly and in a lively fashion.

Don’t expect to beat it any time soon, but do enjoy learning how the currents can help and hinder as you scratch away at this undersea world.