One Tap RPG Review

One Tap RPG is less a role playing game than it is an arcade game disguised underneath a leveling system, fantasy tropes, and dungeon backdrops. In reality the game is accurately described by the developers as "pachinko-like" (think Peggle), and makes for a pretty fun, but very casual, experience.

In One Tap RPG, players tap the screen once at the beginning of playing the game. Once tapped, players see a knight begin traversing the game map from the top of the screen to the bottom, moving in a straight line until encountering an object. If the knight hits a stationary obstacle, like a pot, the knight reacts by dealing some damage to it before bouncing upward and away from said object and continuing down the map again. Upon hitting a creature the knight reacts similarly, although the bouncing motion is less severe and damage can be dealt to the knight. The ultimate goal of each round is to get the knight down to the bottom of the screen to collect a treasure chest without dying.

Once the initial tap has been made, players can still influence their knight by tapping the screen to initiate a slide maneuver, which speeds up the knight. Players can use this ability to pass by certain moving enemies, strike stationary objects with additional force, or begin their descent more quickly. All of these actions can spell the difference between recording a high score and killing the knight.

Feature-wise, One Tap RPG only has two modes" Normal and Daily. While the normal mode generates a random map for players to challenge themselves on, the daily mode provides a standardized map in which all players of can compete for a high score on. High scores are determined through a combination of treasure collected, levels gained, and life remaining.

As for the RPG elements, One Tap RPG features a leveling system that influences the knight's ability to attack certain enemies without being damaged. Players that attack too many high level creatures without leveling-up will likely lose all of their life and die before reaching the end of the map, although there is always a chance that they'll strike some luck with power-ups such as a fireball spell and a shield that can make dealing with these enemies more manageable at a low level.

These elements, while certainly RPG-like, act more as simple mechanics rather than any deep or persistent systems common to proper role playing games. Gold, levels, power-ups, etc - they never carry over between rounds, and really only serve to modify the final high score of a given round. This may be disappoint some players, but there are plenty of games that aren't One Tap RPG that can provide a more involved set of RPG systems.

Overall, One Tap RPG isn't particularly deep but it's fun and provides the exact kind of entertainment it tries to deliver. It's hard to fault a game for nailing its premise so soundly, but its concept is so simple that it's similarly hard to get particularly excited about.