Tag: Blocks »

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what to make of Ciganoid. On one hand it's an entertaining Arkanoid clone with the added incentive of purchasable upgrades. On the other hand it's essentially an interactive anti-smoking ad which has players more-or-less playing the part of cancer as it destroys a smoker's lungs. Brick-by-brick. It's actually pretty twisted, the more I think about it.

It makes me a little uncomfortable when I play it, actually. The concept, I mean. I'm moving this cigarette paddle around, using the little ball (cancer?) to break up the lungs and grab falling green stuff (??). The green stuff can then be used between games in the store to upgrade the paddle or ball, but really it's being used to make the cancer more effective. Creepy.

I find it a little odd to have an interactive anti-smoking ad that has participants play the role of the "badguy." Although I suppose making it the other way around wouldn't make for much of a game. Still, as a game and not a condemnation of one of the world's most disgusting habits, it's fun. Ignoring the moral dilemma, Ciganoid is actually a fairly enjoyable game. It's retro in all the right places (looks and sounds), and I'm enjoying chasing the upgrade carrot quite a bit. As with most iOS games that taunt players with new, oh-so-close abilities, I want to keep playing (and inevitably failing) so that I can earn more cash and get better stuff. So I can use it to kill people more effectively.

It's interesting that Black Phoenix Games' other title, Don't Die, involves a vaguely similar idea. Granted it has more to do with unhealthy eating habits (and platforming) than lung cancer, but I'm starting to notice a pattern here. I'm not implying that they're crusaders for public health or anything, but it's interesting to see more developers creating games with a real message.

Chuck's Challenge is a game about a guy (Chuck) who's been kidnapped by a purple alien monkey-thing (Woop) and forced to create "games" for it to "play" because it's bored. I think. It's essentially a follow-up to Chip's Challenge, with the original game's creator, Chuck Sommerville, acting as both the designer and main character.

Niffler may have carried over a good deal of concepts from the older title, but the most significant aspect is the community integration. Sure, Chuck's Challenge features 100 levels, about a quarter of which are free (the rest can be bought through in-app purchases), but the real draw is the ability for users to create and share their own. In a way the concept's not all that dissimilar from Media Molecule and their community-centric platformer, LittleBigPlanet.

Level editors and sharing aren't new ideas, even on iOS, but they're very rarely incorporated as lovingly as they are with Chuck's Challenge. Heck, the entire game is essentially designed and built around the concept of creating and sharing levels among the community. I kind of wish more games, both on the App Store and just in general, would think about doing things like this more often.

Chuck's Challenge is available right now for absolutely nothing. Check it out, maybe?

The last thing I needed was another pipe-building puzzle game. Or so I thought. Aqueduct is the latest app from the Kieffer Bros., makers of excellent puzzlers such as Abca (formerly Lexic), and it breathes new life into some over-utilized genres. By combining a pipe-building motif with sliding block style gameplay and sprinkling in a variety of special tiles, Aqueduct brings just enough originality and polish to the mix.

Each level in Aqueduct is essentially a large grid on which you need to move and connect a series of blocks that have different shaped pipe segments on them. The goal is to connect the pipes so that there is a closed loop from the water source to the drain. This is easier said than done, as there are various obstacles in your way such as unmovable blocks, conveyor belts, warp portals, and locked gates triggered by floor switches. The levels themselves have various tight corridors, or even large chunks of empty space, that need to be navigated skillfully, sometimes with the use of moveable bridge blocks. Unlike most pipe-building games, the tube segments cannot be rotated, and there isn't the timed threat of slowly advancing water. The real star of Aqueduct is the strong, spatial element of the game, as you need to skillfully maneuver the blocks in physical space to unblock, decipher, and build the perfect waterways.

Aqueduct was released with a whopping 140+ levels over 6 chapters, and has since received 2 more chapters to bring the total to over 190 levels. The first group of 23 levels serves primarily as a tutorial, introducing you to all of the obstacle types that you'll be encountering. After that, it's basically more of the same, although progressively harder. With each level solved, you unlock the next 3, and you must complete a chapter to get to the next. Because of this no nonsense structure, where progression is your sole reward and the basic bag of tricks is revealed early on, Aqueduct loses a bit of its excitement after a few chapters. The clever level designs and core mechanics, however, are always top-notch, and they offer up a welcome challenge when you need to scratch that puzzle-solving itch.

With Aqueduct, initial looks can be deceiving. It's a somewhat no-frills, yet highly polished package. Aqueduct innovates in some tired territory, and offers a lot of stimulating content in the process. Besides having been quickly updated with new levels, it was also upgraded with universal support across all iOS devices, which only adds to the quality and value of the game. So, although my gag reflex was initially triggered by the thought of more pipe themed puzzles (I'm looking at you Bioshock), I'm glad I suppressed that instinct. Aqueduct's mix of pipe-building, sliding tiles, unblocking, and special hazards, is a truly holistic effort. It's good fun, too.

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