Mobile gaming is becoming more and more commonplace but sorting through that junk is often pretty difficult. Writing full reviews for mobile games is often tedious and boring but we still want to be able to help you guys out when it comes to figuring out what is worth your time, so sorting through the crud is what Wandering Wednesdays is all about. Each week we’ll look through the app store and try out a few of the latest releases, letting you know if something is worthwhile or not. This week ~Chris
[one_half]
Rovio, makers of Angry Birds and Bad Piggies, have started an indie label called Rovio Stars, and the second game under that label is Tiny Thief. Tiny Thief is a stealth, puzzle, adventure game where players control a would be Robin Hood as he steals from those most fortunate. The puzzles are fun, inventive and filled with charm. It’s $2.99 USD price point might seem a little high but much like Bad Piggies, Tiny Thief offers something different than Angry Birds but still manages to be incredibly well produced and a ton of fun to play, making that price point a moot point.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
On the surface Sprinkle Islands is like a ton of other mobile games out there, rating you based on how well and fast you do a task. Where Sprinkle Islands differs is that it adds in an extra layer of depth by forcing players to manage a finite resource. In the game, you take control of an island firefighter tasked with putting out the village fires. these fires are spread throughout the geometry and the water cannon must be used to both put them out and create new paths but running out of water will cause the level to end in failure. I found a lot of the puzzles quite fun to play but I did get frustrated at points because water does run out very quickly. [/one_half_last]
[one_half]
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is loved by a great many action RPG fans but I’m pretty sure they were not expecting its follow-up to be a mobile game. Deus Ex: The Fall is a big budget mobile game that features stellar production values, solid voice acting and sometimes decent gameplay. That said, it also features some poor mechanic design, long load times and during my time with it, numerous crashes. When it works, it works great, unfortunately it doesn’t work often enough consistently to justify its $6.99 USD price point.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Zynga has struggled a bit as of late and Baseball Slam is probably not going to be the game to turn it around for them. Just in time for Major League Baseball’s All Star game, Baseball Slam is a simple arcade styled home run derby game where players swipe at the ball aiming at different environmental objects to maximize their scores. Like many Zynga games, it is free to play with a bunch of content locked behind in app purchases via the in game currency. I had fun with it for the few rounds I played but I also quickly deleted it off my iPhone so… maybe that tells you something. [/one_half_last]
[one_half]
I’ve long been a fan of the Worms series and was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Blastron was basically an iOS version of that style of game. It lacks the polish of Worms and relies a bit too heavily on micro-transactions but it does pack tons of charm and mostly solid gameplay that make it easy to recommend to players looking for a Worms styled game.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
I think there is an unwritten law somewhere that says if you are a big budget, summer action film, you need to have a tie in game come out around the premier of your film. Sadly most of these licensed titles turn out to be rather poor excuses for games and thus it scarred me off of trying Pacific Rim. That and the $4.99 USD price point for a game described as Infinity Blade in approach. Still I thought it needed mentioning and I besides, I needed a sixth title to even this all out. [/one_half_last]
Are you you sampling any mobile titles this week? What are you playing? Let us know in the comments below.
About Author
