Timecrest Review

Our Review by Jennifer Allen on September 29th, 2015

Rating:

:: CUMBERSOME

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Timecrest is a neat idea for a story that gradually unfolds, but it's too slow.

Developer: Sneaky Crab, Inc.
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.1.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone 6S

Graphics / Sound Rating:

Gameplay Rating:

Playtime Rating: halfstar

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Overall Rating:

Rob was right when he said we’d see more games like Lifeline. One such game is Timecrest - a tale of time traveling wizards who are trying to save their world. It’s a kind of adventure game book app with you having to make multiple decisions to see how things work out, with different endings encouraging you to try out different paths. There’s an almighty catch though, that soon puts you off.

That catch is time. Timecrest is a free game that is utterly littered with timers. As the story unfolds you regularly find yourself having to wait. A few lines, maybe a whole paragraph or two, of story are provided to you, along with a couple of choices as to what to do next. Hit one of those choices and invariably you’re left having to wait to see how things pan out.

Sometimes, those waits simply consist of a few minutes. Other times, they can take upwards of 30 minutes or more. It’s frustrating to say the least. Of course, you can always skip ahead by using some premium gems but these soon run out, and you’ll end up having to pay up for more. So you find yourself trying to be patient instead.

The key problem here is that oftentimes, the timers take so long that you forget to check in with the game for a while, then when you do return, you’ve lost all the suspense that could have come through the story. Perhaps if you have an Apple Watch you could enjoy seeing things unfold a little more readily, but for those of us stuck with just an iPhone or iPad it’s an awkwardly slow experience.

Stick with more conventional adventure game books. They might embrace new technology less so but their gimmick-free nature is far more endearing.