ORBB Review

ORBB is a simple puzzle game by Mochibits. Essentially, players are tasked with launching an orb between spinning planets to collect light sources. It's not an entirely new concept, but even if it was, ORBB's gameplay and sense of challenge is so stripped-down that it feels rather directionless.

In any given level of ORBB, players tap the screen to launch their orb along a specific trajectory. They determine said trajectory by waiting for the rotating planet they're on to line-up with the right spot before tapping. The ultimate object of each level is to collect all light sources as quickly as possible. Beyond that, however, there is precious little to it.

More specifically, players can take as much time as they want per level. Similarly, they can tap over and over again with no real penalties. The game describes itself as having "no death" and "no time limit" and that's completely accurate. Unfortunately though, leaving out these additional challenges makes the game feel pretty devoid of depth. The only time that any part of ORBB ever feels satisfying is through completing a level perfectly - a feat that would require undesirable amounts of repetition to achieve.

All of that being said, ORBB does have a nice look and feel to it. It uses simple light contrasts to make everything on screen stand out, and it has a smoothness to it that other games don't typically display. One particularly clever feature to prevent fail states is how the orb can continue past the edge of the screen only to appear on the other side, moving along the same trajectory (think Pac-Man tunnels).

Overall though, polish and tone alone don't quite make feel ORBB substantive. There is a level progression that introduces things like different planet rotation speeds and worm holes, but even these can't keep it from feeling fairly shallow. In the end, ORBB's simplicity keeps it from feeling like a good value.