The new year’s still only just begun, and we’ve already got one of the best stealth games this year. Just be mindful of the challenge ahead.
We don’t get a lot of really great stealth games on mobile. The level of precision most standard stealth games require is pretty hard to replicate without going through some serious hoops. However, we do have an exceptionally abundant amount of puzzle games. That’s where Maruta Escape comes in.
Maruta Escape is as much a puzzle game as it is a stealth encounter.
Maruta Escape is as much a puzzle game as it is a stealth encounter. In fact, it’s probably the best hybrid of Portal and Metal Gear Solid I’ve ever experienced. Through clever use of time manipulation, multiple viable control schemes, and a clear, crisp presentation, it’s hard to not fall in love.
if you want a hardcore stealth experience on the go, Maruta Escape is one of 2019's very best.
It’s a deceptively simple gameplay loop. You have to stand in the sphere of objects to activate or deactivate them, avoiding patrols while escaping an illicit research facility. You slowly unlock the ability to not only rewind time, but your own movements in time. Through these powers, you find a means to escape the laboratory of a deluded madman, whose audio logs you find along the way.
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Normally this is the part where I’d explain what’s wrong with Maruta Escape, but really, my only complaint is that it is a HARD game at points. The free trial available on iOS only has the first few stages, but should be more than adequate a test to see if you’re up for the challenge Maruta Escape offers. It’s not unfair, but those expecting a casual experience will be disappointed; Maruta Escape plays for keeps.
Really, my only complaint is that it is a HARD game at points
You will get a marvelous stealth game out of this experience, with beautiful sound design and equally wonderful minimalist visuals. This is a top-tier game, but it will test your wits and reflexes equally. If you’re looking for something puzzling that’s a bit more relaxed, there are gentler options. That said, if you want a hardcore stealth experience on the go, Maruta Escape is one of 2019’s very best.
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
Learn the page, and tile, turning story behind iTunes’ latest hit game Roterra.
Roterra is the hot new fantasy tile-turning game on iTunes, and we had the pleasure to sit down with project lead Suzi Keehn of Dig-IT! Games to dig into all the wondrous details. We’re also happy to present it as the first of our new video interviews! Just click on the video below, watch some beautiful gameplay of Roterra in motion, and learn the story behind this brilliant puzzler:
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
It’s a new year, but apparently Forged Fantasy’s still kicking it 2018-style. We’re as confused as you are.
A sequel, spiritual successor or otherwise, should offer something fresh.
Just weeks ago, we named Hothead Games’ Hero Hunters as one of the best games of 2018. It’s a spectacular near-future blend of deck building, hero shooter mechanics, and on-rails action. Today, we’re talking about Hothead Games’ Forged Fantasy, a steampunk fantasy blend of deck building, hero shooter mechanics, and on-rails action. If that sounds at all familiar, you’re not wrong. The design, pacing, controls, levels, progression system, multiplayer – even the campaign structure, down to the point that in both games you unlock a green crossbow archer as the first new addition to your team.
What happened here? I can understand iterating on a familiar formula, but the additions, if you can call them that, to the Hero Hunters framework seem to actually take away more than they add. Your starting characters even have the same abilities, though the cover-based shooting aspect seems to have been made easier. So much easier, in fact, that there there’s now a handy auto-play option for if you want to just not play the game at all.
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
This difficulty shift at least feels apt, given that can also be said for the new melee hero class that you can’t really control beyond just tapping to slash orcs with your sword, which isn’t that all engaging. Certainly there’s a new art aesthetic and soundtrack. There’s still no consistent voice acting for the story campaign, which is something I’d have thought might have been given more of a budget if everything else was so much the same, but no such luck.
It’s a struggle to figure why this is its own standalone game, rather than an expansion pack to Hero Hunters. Fans who have been away grinding in the original are basically setting themselves up for the exact same mountain to climb, with no real surprises in store and arguably less content, at least for the moment. It’s not that Forged Fantasy is a bad game, but by offering nothing substantively new, it basically bets its entire existence on a reskin and some token changes that don’t really evolve anything. The fact you can actually engage less with the core systems and easily clear through whole levels is concerning in of itself. An easy difficulty setting would be one thing, but all of this is built into the game and actively encouraged.
The fact you can actually engage less with the core systems and easily clear through whole levels is concerning in of itself.
A sequel, spiritual successor or otherwise, should offer something fresh. Even Angry Birds shook things up with new modifiers and sub-systems for its army of spin-off games. Forged Fantasy only has the ability to make your game easier and less interactive. It’s basically the same game from before, with all the PvE and PvP elements one would expect. I can’t say you shouldn’t be playing Forged Fantasy, but I also struggle to find a reason to advise it over its more engaging sibling. It’s not even been a full year since Hero Hunters released, I can’t believe fans are already bored.
What happened here?
Forged Fantasy may be perfectly serviceable, but that’s about all that can be said. It’s a good template, and if you prefer a fantasy skin to cartoonish futuristic warfare, maybe you’ll find your fun here. Everyone who tuned in last time though, has already seen this song and dance number.
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
Revisit gaming classics from the arcade and beyond, all in the palm of your hand.
Mobile gaming has come a long way in just a few short years and there are some amazing, even free games available today but there is nothing quite like looking back to where it all started and revisiting the games that started it all.
Below are five apps that take you back to the golden age of gaming:
Tetris, a game that everyone knows and loves, even if just for the nostalgia effect, is now even better than ever with a modernized look and a number of brilliant new features that will keep you playing for hours. There are now two new ways to play, either stick to the tried and tested swipe controls or try out the all-new one-touch controls that make for an even smoother gameplay experience. There are also a number of new modes to try out including puzzle mode giving you the chance to dig through the galaxy in this multi-level mode. You can also compete against friends in head-to-head mode.
Breakout takes the arcade classic and gives it a new lease of life, with brand new graphics, all new brick types and boost controls. New and challenging bricks make for an all-new gaming experience, including mystery bricks and exploding bricks but don’t fear because there are also new balls such as acid balls and grenade balls to help you survive each level. Enjoy turning back the clock of gaming and test putting your brick breaking skills to the test, how many walls can you break your way through?
No retro gaming list would be complete without PAC-MAN, running through mazes, collecting dots and avoiding those fearsome ghosts. The mobile version of PAC-MAN brings you all of the game-play you love and remember with a few extras to help PAC-MAN jump into the 21st-century. All new mazes add a great challenge to old pros looking for something new in their old favorite. You can choose between two different control modes, and enjoy a graphical update with your old friend PAC-MAN!
Snake, the game that started it all, bringing gaming to our mobiles, the game that caused us to spend many hours buttons mashing until our thumbs hurt, is now available on 21st-century mobile devices. If being able to play Snake again after many years apart isn’t enough, you actually get to play the game on a virtual old Nokia, even pressing the “buttons”, recreating the days before touch screen, with a varied selection of popular Nokia phones to choose your favorite from. Snake ’97 has done a truly brilliant job at bringing back such a well-loved classic.
Evoland isn’t exactly a retro game reinvented for your mobile but instead an entirely new game that takes you on a journey through the history of classic adventure and RPG gaming. Start with 2D monochrome graphics and old style controls and advance through levels to unlock new technologies that slowly bring you to modern day gaming. Evoland takes adventure/RPG gaming to a whole new level with addictive gameplay that really takes you on an adventure not just through the game but also through history.
Can an app promising real prizes for playing minigames be worth your time, or is The Ready Games just a cash grab?
The Ready Games is a bit on the nose, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s effectively a hybrid one-touch rhythmic WarioWare clone crossed with a game show competition. Every 48 hours, a new game is unveiled, and with it, another chance to reach the top 20% who earn a small cash reward sent to your PayPal account.
Each new challenge is a different sort of reflex test, some with distinctive themes, while others seemingly drawn out of a hat. Given the mini-game focus, it’s a bit disappointing you can’t revisit your favorites (without putting down $5 USD a month), but you do have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the current game through a practice mode. There is the option to turn a majorly successful run into your official one, yet every time I pressed the button, it’d only offer me the option to spend money on additional retries. By default, they give you one free retry.
If you want a constant stream of simple to learn games, it’s not a bad option
Visually, it leans into a modern animation aesthetic, with high contrast colors, simple shapes, and clear design. Nothing groundbreaking, but it works well. The area where The Ready Games actually falls flat is its generic, poppy music. There’s no real identity to the tunes played, and they’re all so basic that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were used in a department store’s spring sale commercial. The countdown timer at the beginning of your officially run is also a tad distracting, though you can thankfully mute the music and skip the intro, streamlining the experience while listening to your own tunes.
Monetary prizes vary, typically hanging around the $500-1000 USD range. Except, divide that by however many people are in the top 20%, with the highest scores receiving the most at around $7-15 USD. It’s not impossible, but seeing as this is a competition above all else, each game leans a bit into the masochistic side of things, some more so than others. Fans of the likes of Super Meatboy and its kin will be pleased. More casual players may want to rely on the practice mode.
It should also be noted that the primary monetization in The Ready Games is via life packs that offer more retries. There’s even a subscription model for recurring lives every month. Parents considering this game for their kids, or those with impulse control, may want to steer clear of these menus and prompts.
Fans of the likes of Super Meatboy and its kin will be pleased.
Purely as a game, The Ready Games isn’t going to set the design world on fire, but if you want a constant stream of simple to learn games, and like the chance of earning a few bucks by playing them, it’s not a bad option.
Our Rating
Pros
Cons
Regular new challenges ensure there's always something for everyone. Solid visual design.
Sound work is grating. Life system monetization and high difficulty curve may be a turnoff for some.
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
We sit down with Nikita Sherman, Game Insight’s Head of Strategy, to learn about the “Gods of Boom” competition raising Guns of Boom to the next level.
Appolicious: How did the eSports league for Guns of Boom come about?
Nikita Sherman: With a team-based shooter like Guns of Boom, finding an audience that thrives on competition was always going to be key to the game’s success. But even knowing that, the competitiveness of the players that flocked to Guns of Boom exceeded all expectations. As we continue to grow Guns of Boom, we’ve listened to what our players. It became clear even from our earliest days that the thing they most desired was a chance to prove their skills in a more organized manner.
Our journey to esports started with the introduction of Pro Play mode, which ensured an even playing-field for those who wanted to know that their wins and losses were based on pure skill. Following this, we began to take steps to organize a proper league structure, which we have done in close collaboration with our partners at ESL.
We are currently in our second professional season, and have expanded to four major territories – North America, Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. This season’s prize pool is $500,000. ESL has been an incredible partner, and together we’re doing our part to put mobile esports on the main stage. And in the case of IEM Katowice, we did this quite literally.
App: What don’t people realize about the mobile eSports scene?
NS: The significance of mobile esports has been greatly underestimated by mass audiences so far, but we’re on the cusp of seeing that change. If you look at the numbers, the mobile gaming market is much bigger than PC and console combined.
In some parts of the world, mobile games are the only games that are being consumed by the masses. This is due in part to limited accessibility to hardware. While the average home in some regions might not be able to afford a gaming PC and a stable home internet connection, Low-end mobile phones proliferate in these markets and keep people connected. And games like Guns of Boom account for this. Sure it’ll run beautifully on your new Galaxy S10 — but Guns of Boom has also been optimized for low-end devices, ensuring a solid competitive experience no matter what you’re playing on. This opens up the doors for players from all over the world to participate in esports — not just those with tricked out gaming PCs and access to fiber.
Mobile gaming is far more accessible than any other platform. This will have an incredible impact on the growth of esports.
App: Can you give us some insights on what goes into organizing an event like the IEM Katowice competition?
NS: Our partners at ESL are responsible for IEM Katowice, and were kind enough to welcome us onto the Spodek Arena main stage for our first ever Gods of Boom competition (a new tier introduced in Season 2 for top-level play at mega-stage events). We are very happy to have such a professional and experienced partner as ESL to pioneer this market with us together.
When it came to making sure that Guns of Boom was ready for such a huge opportunity, we put a great deal of thought into making sure it would be just as exciting to watch in a broadcast as it would be to spectate on the spot. This meant making sure the event was promoted to our players within the game, and that we offered different levels of interaction with the audience to get gamers involved on a deeper level.
App: Will Guns of Boom be aiming for more of an eSports focus in the future, retain its more accessible identity, or a bit of both?
NS: Definitely a bit of both. Guns of Boom is not a pure esports title, but esports is an important and well-loved part of the game. We’ll continue to develop the game to make sure we’re offering something great for both sides of our audience – those who crave esports competition, and those who just want to jump in and enjoy it casually. Guns of Boom has been created with the aim to become the best mobile FPS, and we like to think that’s a crown we’ve successfully claimed. Our second goal was to define mobile esports itself. It feels like we’re going in the right direction.
App: What are the league rules for Guns of Boom?
NS: There are three distinct tiers of competition in this season’s competitive play, and everyone is welcome to join in and try and win their way to a spot at the professional level.
The first level of competition is our Challenger Series, which provides a weekly series of online tournaments for participants to compete in. The highest ranking teams in our Challenger Series will qualify for a spot in our Pro Series. These are live events that take place all over the world, in venues ranging from broadcast studios to small arenas. Season Two’s first Pro Series event will be taking place at the Arlington Esports Arena in Texas on April 13th, and the second will be happening in Sao Paolo, Brazil later this season.
Pro Series winners are given the honor of participating in Gods of Boom, our highest-tier events taking place on the main stage of the world’s biggest esports events. The first of these took place during IEM Expo in Katowice earlier this month, and the next will be at ESL One in Cologne this summer.
App: How can interested players potentially participate in Guns of Boom competitions?
NS: Every player that has reached level 22 in Guns of Boom will unlock the ability to participate. Once they’ve done that, all they’ll need to do is sign-up at play.eslgaming.com/gunsofboom to get started with our weekly tournaments.
Appolicious: From humble beginnings to this next big step, what can we expect on the horizon for Guns of Boom?
NS: Guns of Boom is the market-leading first-person shooter on mobile, and we’re actively shaping what it means to compete in esports at the mobile level. To maintain this position, we need to continuously refine our product and approach to ensure we’re delivering the highest quality product for players. For the esports audience, that means providing them with the best broadcasters, producing marvelous live-shows, and defining the character of mobile esports competitors to ensure the best possible spectating experience for fans of the game.
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
Roterra’s the new big puzzler on the block. It’s got marvelous ambition and a great gameplay conceit, but does it threaten to fall flat in some areas?
Roterra is a charming game. It’s also a hard one to critique, because it’s more than the sum of its parts. The narrative, while present, is honestly pretty vaguely presented; you’ll only know the fantasy tale it’s based upon if you watched our interview with the project lead. It’s not that the story is hard to understand – it’s a very cute puppet show approach – but it doesn’t offer much context or as clear stakes as it could with just a dash of text or narration.
The puzzles are ingenious, but sometimes the controls just aren't quite where they need to be.
It’s got a beautiful papercraft aesthetic like out of child’s picture book. Everything looks so whimsical that you can’t help but be tickled by the animations on display; however, the lighting could be better, leading to some levels feeling a bit flat. The sound design also varies in quality, carrying a charming whimsy that sadly doesn’t really evolve that much, falling into repetition.
It's got a beautiful papercraft aesthetic like out of child's picture book.
The puzzles are ingenious, but sometimes the controls just aren’t quite where they need to be. Forced camera angles can make certain solutions harder to suss out, or leave vital blocks hard to reach. Nothing’s unbeatable, yet I can’t help but wonder if the game would benefit from some sort of camera or an AR mode where you might physically peer around the environment.
It's also a hard one to critique, because it's more than the sum of its parts.
Yet, I totally see why people fell head over heels for it. Roterra clicks when you least expect it, suddenly presenting some new elaborate scenario that demonstrates the depth of such simply mechanics. The ah-ha moments you experience are worth not spoiling, and Roterra‘s ever-sliding world is one I’d like to see explored again… just with a bit more polish next time.
Our Rating
Pros
Cons
A genuinely refreshing puzzler with some marvelous block-shifting brain-teasers.
Quality of life improvements could be made. Camera perspective can hinder some puzzles.
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
It’s that time again – let’s ring in the new year with the best of 2018! These apps were handpicked by our staff as the best of the best; the pinnacle of their genre that stuck with us long after playing. Whether playing on Android or iOS, you need these installed on your phone and tablet. Without further adieu…
Pako 2
Pako 2 feels like what would happen if you took the very end of every mission of Grand Theft Auto
Pako 2 is the perfect sort of game for every fan of crazy 80’s car chases and chaotic physics games. A melding of everything great about hot pursuits with slick controls leads to what can only be described as truly wonderful madness. It’s got great retro visuals and loads of additional content to unlock, keeping your latest getaway as refreshingly unpredictable as your first. Pako 2‘s breakneck run absolutely worth your time. See our full review here.
Alphabear 2
Words are a powerful thing, especially when they assemble Voltron-like bears to save history. Confused? It’s okay, we all are, but that doesn’t stop Alphabear 2 from being one of the best puzzle games of this year. Going beyond the limits of Scrabble, Alphabear 2 offers wordplay combinations that reward the most astute and swift linguistic aficionados. Whether you want quirky humor or deep puzzles, Alphabear 2 has you covered. See our full review here.
Mouse Bot
MouseBot is one of those games that catches you unassumingly.
Few games were as unexpected as Vector Unit’s Mouse Bot. Who would expect the mobile racing masters would dive into the 3D platforming genre, let alone inject their racing sensibilities into such a quirky new IP. Where many mobile platforming games struggle, Mouse Bot flourishes thanks to a wealth of clever traps to evade, adorable story, and cute as a button graphics that keep you earning cheese for that sweet new robo-mouse skin. A delight for older fans of Crash Bandicoot and young gaming enthusiast alike! See our full review here.
Nishan Shaman
At its surface, Nishan Shaman is a simple musical rhythm game; drum along with the music based on the arrival of the monsters and sit back and relax.
Who expected the year’s best rhythm game to be based on an ancient Chinese myth? Either way you spin it, Nishan Shaman stunned us with its arresting style as we tapped along to the beat, cleansing the world of evil spirits. If your 2018 was a rough year, start off 2019 right to the beat of Nishan Shaman‘s drum. See our full review here.
Infinite West
Infinite West is the turn-based strategy must-have of 2018. Pitch-perfect design, fantastic balancing, a rogue-like structure, slick controls, and endless replayability allow you to live out your cowboy/girl dreams. It’s a simple game, with depth lurking under the surface to always leave you begging for one more run. See our full review here.
See / Saw
See / Saw is everything you could possibly want in a physics-based murder simulator.
Do you have an itch to see tiny geometric test subjects fling themselves through all manner of hilarious, physics based deathtraps? Well, first of all, you should probably join Sam’s Murderous Gamers Anonymous group, and secondly, download See / Saw this instant! While far less gory than the titular franchise referenced in its name, See / Saw is the perfect mix of Super Meat Boy and Portal you’ve been waiting for. With easy controls yet fiendish challenges awaiting, it’s time to tilt your perspective with See / Saw! See our full review here.
Donut County
Like a delicious donut, Donut County's gone so fast that you'll mourn its exit, only to start again.
Donut County is simultaneously one of the most engaging AND relaxing games of 2018. A nominee for the 2018 VGA’s, it stands tall as one of our favorite mobile games of the year thanks to its reverse-Katamari Damacy, town-swallowing shenanigans. Brimming with wondrous scenarios as goofy as they are brain-teasing, it’s hard to not dive back in and replay it as we write this list. It’s more fun than a barrel full of raccoons, and absolutely worth the asking price. See our full review here.
Pavilion
Pavilion is marvelous, and I’d be neglect in my review to delay even a moment to convey this to you.
Few games capture the mysterious beauty of Myst as spectacularly as Pavilion. Presenting players with a 4th-person perspective, nudging the protagonist along through a surrealist landscape, Pavilion is one of the most artistically stunning mobile games of this year. Fans of Monument Valley take note – you will fall in love with Pavilion. Perhaps the most acquired taste of our list this year, but still so enrapturing it’s impossible to pass it up. See our full review here.
Hero Hunters
If you had told me someone was going to create hybrid of Overwatch and Cover Fire, I would’ve called you mad.
For those interested in something less introspective, but just as excellently executed, you’d be hard pressed to find a better mobile shooter than Hero Hunters. Boasting not only slick cover-shooting, but a swath of unique heroes that serve you in both its extensive campaign mode and addictive online multiplayer, Hero Hunters is quite the package. While many a “hero shooter” game has fallen flat in the aim to mimic the subgenre’s best, Hero Hunters rises above to achieve true frenetic, action-packed glory you’ll want to have in your pocket. See our full review here.
Bacon: The Game
Bacon: The Game is perhaps one of the strangest, most freakishly wonderful games to have ever existed.
Yes, a game about bacon released in 2018. Indeed, that game was stupefyingly better than it has any right to be. To describe it is like solving a riddle, as it contains hidden depths amid one of the simplest mechanics in games – the mere act of flipping a piece of bacon. It’s free, it’s amazing, you’ll put bacon on everything, and you’ll be laughing along with us soon enough. See our full review here.
Game of the Year: Card Thief
Card Thief is your new gaming addiction, melding deep stealth tactics with accessible card play.
To be the best mobile game of the year, an app must be accessible yet deep, vividly detailed and engrossing, content filled but not requiring more time than a three minute bus trip to get the full experience. Card Thief encapsulates all of these ideals, evoking the core tenets of Thief and its stealth contemporaries, all in the span of a deck of cards. Easily one of the most refined, replayable, and downright amazing games of this year on any platform, earning a 10 out of 10 from Elijah (a rarity, to be sure), we are proud to name Card Thief as our Game of the Year!See our full review here.
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
You’ve already heard our thoughts on Bacon, the latest hit game by Kamibox, but today we learn how the flipping great game was made! One-man game dev maestro Philipp Stollenmayer sat down with us to give us the juicy details behind his delicious comedy game.
Appolicious: What got you started as a mobile developer?
Phillipp Stollenmayer: I made my first game for the course “Interaction Design”; it was the third semester of my communication design studies. We were running out of programmers, so I decided to learn [coding] myself. It was a game about a frog, jumping with the impact when you hit beside your phone.
APP: Since then, you’ve got a wide array of mobile titles under your belt as a one-man team. What inspires your work?
PS: I can’t really say that anything inspires me the most, I’m just constantly thinking about what I could do next. So a microwave can be as inspiring as an artwork.
APP: What is it about physics puzzlers in particular that draws your interest?
PS: I think it’s that we already know something about how the world inside the game has to work, because we know physics from the real world. So the player is already one step ahead, compared to a game where you have to learn everything from scratch. Then I have enough freedom to push other things in focus – in many of my physics games, it’s the ridiculousness.
APP: Speaking of wonderful ridiculousness, how did Bacon come to be? Was it the same concept from start to finish?
PS: Bacon is the third part of the food series, the first two parts are already a few years old. I always wanted to make Bacon – The Game, but I didn’t have any idea for the gameplay. When it came to my mind randomly one night, I couldn’t sleep any more because I was so excited to get this started. And from then on, the concept didn’t change at all, which is unusual for my workflow.
APP: What’s your favorite level in Bacon?
PS: The level where you have to put bacon on the permission to use the camera prompt. It’s the point when Bacon breaks the fourth wall, and reveals that it is not just another high score chaser.
APP: What would you say, in your opinion, is the key to Bacon‘s success?
PS: I didn’t make any compromises, and had super much fun designing the levels. I think that the player feels that when they pay attention to the details. It’s not a game that takes itself especially serious, and that is refreshing in a domain of maximizing revenue.
APP: Finally, what advice do you have for other aspiring mobile developers?
PS: [Your] first games are almost never successful. Only a few are blessed with the gift of being able to create perfect games without any know how. Many devs put so much effort in a child that has already been born dead. You should have the confidence to move on to the next project, and learn from [past] mistakes.
For more on Bacon, be sure to check out our review!
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
Donut County is remarkable. Donut County arrested my attention so much that I accidentally burnt my dinner. Donut County is so good that I played it start to finish in one evening. Donut County is what mobile ports of PC games should aspire to be. I suppose you could say, I rather enjoyed Donut County. […]
Donut County is remarkable. Donut County arrested my attention so much that I accidentally burnt my dinner. Donut County is so good that I played it start to finish in one evening. Donut County is what mobile ports of PC games should aspire to be. I suppose you could say, I rather enjoyed Donut County.
Donut County is a treat.
Starring determined girl Mira and her meddlesome raccoon friend BK, Donut County is equal parts an absurdist comedy and a surprisingly involved mystery. There’s this blending of Twin Peaks meets Looney Tunes that works far better than it has any right to. Told mostly in flashbacks, you learn how the citizenry of the titular Donut County ended up beneath the earth, and the scheme against their peaceful habitation. I won’t spoil anything but boy do things escalate quickly.
Like a delicious donut, it's gone so fast that you'll mourn its exit, only to start again.
The wonderful gameplay chocolate to Donut County‘s peanut butter story is that for all the jokes and twists, the game itself is strangely soothing. It’s sort of like a reverse Katamari Damacy. With a simple tap and drag, you guide an ever-widening hole around a variety of levels, swallowing up items that help you solve puzzles and devour more and more. Brilliantly, you don’t actually have to keep your finger over the hole, but instead, can control it from wherever you tap on the screen.
Combine this with the methodical nature of about 90% of the puzzles where you’re just swallowing up the town and you get this zen-feeling like when you clean a room. It’s aesthetically pleasing, with smooth low-poly models and a storybook color palette bolstered by some hilarious animations and dynamic physics.
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Further selling this chill mood is the sound design. You’ve got some brilliant synth tunes that waft like a breeze, and jibberish lines of dialogue that make your ears tickle. It captures the game’s coastal town tone perfectly, and when moments of tension ratchet things up, the music follows along in lockstep.
Really, the only thing that might jar you is the decision to conclude the game with a very traditional videogame(TM) BOSS FIGHT that, while not bad, feels a tad bit rushed and out of place. It’s like going from 0 to 60 in a SNAP. Not badly executed, but I’m still not sure if this is the ending that –Donut County– needed. That said, the credit sequence was incredibly clever.
I could go on a baker’s dozen more times, but I think you get the picture. Donut County is a gourmet fast food. Like a delicious donut, it’s gone so fast that you’ll mourn its exit, only to start again. Absolutely worth the asking price.
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
Few mobile games have courted as much mirth and headache as Ben Esposito’s Donut County. We sat down with him about his raccoon-filled absurd puzzler, and the journey to its release.
Appolicious: Over the years, you’ve produced a number of surreal games, and Donut County is no different. Where do you find the inspiration and energy that drives your games?
Ben Esposito: Humor drives a lot of my decisions with regards to my games. If an idea makes me laugh, I know there’s something to it. Sometimes I laugh because it seems like a bad idea. Those “bad” ideas interest me the most because it usually means no one else is pursuing them, haha.
APP: For those unfamiliar, what’s the story of Donut County? Who are BK and Mira?
BE: Donut County is a city inspired by Los Angeles. Raccoons have moved into town, and they’re stealing people’s trash using remote controlled holes. You play as BK, an idiot raccoon who opens up holes to steal trash in exchange for prizes. Mira is BK’s friend who learns that BK is destroying their town. The story is really told backwards though, it begins with the entire town underground, and BK has to answer to Mira and the rest of the Donut County residents.
APP: Was mobile always in the cards for Donut County, or did the port come about later in development?
BE: I always thought Donut County would be fun to play on a touch screen, so I made a lot of design decisions that made the controls flexible enough to work on both a touch screen and a controller.
APP: What led you to go multiplatform?
BE:Donut County is meant to be really accessible for a broad range of people, kids to adults, gamers to non-gamers. The controls worked really nicely for everything– touch, mouse, and gamepad. I saw a great opportunity to reach a wide audience by launching on multiple platforms.
APP: What did it take to perfect controlling a bottomless hole in a 3D space?
BE: The trick is really that hole moves in 2D space, haha. One of the constraints I worked into the game is that every level takes place on a perfectly flat ground, at the same height in space every time. So all the elevation changes are just smoke and mirrors.
APP: How do you design levels for a gameplay element that can potentially completely break them?
BE: Designing levels for Donut County was challenging because there’s no way to fail them. If you get an important object stuck somewhere, I can’t just say you failed and restart the level. The solution was really just meticulously adding invisible safeguards that stop players from getting into unwinnable states. It doesn’t always work though, haha.
APP: Donut County has, unfortunately, dealt with the mobile market’s aptitude for copycats. Coming out the other side of that with your game’s release, do you have any final thoughts on that experience?
BE: It’s hard to say how the clones of Donut County affected the game. It’s possible that many people who liked the clones would never have paid for Donut County, so that’s fine. The worst part was the blow to my motivation. It was really difficult to see someone take such a unique idea, squeeze it into a mold, and hand it out for free so that people can watch terrible ads.
APP: Why raccoons?
BE: I had a personal experience with raccoons in one of my apartments in Los Angeles– they would steal all our stuff and sleep in the laundry machines. They can adapt so well to life among humans that they eat our trash. They’re bad, but they’re not really evil. Also they’re cute.
APP: Your art style of choice is taking off now in the indie scene with other projects like Untitled Swan Game. Why do you feel indie developers are drawn to such a whimsical aesthetic?
BE: There is so much to explore aesthetically in video games beyond realism. Videogames in general are very abstract in terms of what you actually do, so it’s really fun to play with visual abstractions as well. When a cartoon character falls in a hole, it’s cute and funny. When a realistic human falls into a hole, it’s messed up, haha.
APP: What is the world beneath the hole?
BE: The world underground in Donut County is a space where things go to be forgotten. You can see in the background there are some objects that have fallen in, presumably long ago, which aren’t seen in the rest of the game.
APP: Donut County is your highest profile project yet, after being project lead for Tattletail. With cutesy puzzlers and demonic toys under your belt, what should fans expect of you in the future?
BE: I’m not sure what my next project will be, but you can bet it will be a little funny and very weird!
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
Can Bendy outrun sluggish controls to deliver a great infinite runner?
Bendy & The Ink Machine is an odd choice for a mobile game spin-off. The original was an episodic horror game that’s basically ‘What if you combined Mickey Mouse with Five Nights at Freddy’s” and this… really isn’t. This is actually so much closer to Super Mario that one can’t help but shake the feeling the reason we’re seeing Bendy on the cover is thanks to the franchise’s charmingly retro art style in the vein of classic cartoons and Cuphead. Fortunately, that’s totally worth it because my gosh this game looks good and has way more depth than it deserves for being such an out of left-field tie-in.
All together, Bendy Run makes for a surprisingly deep and challenging experience
In essence, Bendy Run is what happens when Infinity Blade‘s boss design has a baby with Temple Run‘s infinite race to the finish line. Then you lather some Super Mario-esque jumping along with a variety of enemies and multiple ‘films’ to unlock and play through. All together, Bendy Run makes for a surprisingly deep and challenging experience. So much so, you’ll find yourself wishing for some proper controls. My touchscreen sometimes struggled to keep up with the fine-tuned responses some sections needed.
If you can dig this challenge, Bendy Run has plenty of content to offer
This isn’t to say Bendy Run is unplayable, but instead, intense. It’s a well crafted experience but the sheer speed of everything proved a bit much at times. You can ground stomp on enemies, leap and move between three rows, and toss weapons, and that’s just your abilities. Hazards on the road, flying enemies that require jumping and tossing a weapon at the same time, and more can all push your fingers to the limit.
If you can dig this challenge, Bendy Run has plenty of content to offer. There’s cans of meat to collect that unlock additional powers and new films to test yourself against, on top of multiple challenges to complete per-stage. If you do want a slight edge, the game gives you bonus health for watching ads before starting a level, which in a rare case, I have to recommend you do when starting out.
In essence, Bendy Run is what happens when Infinity Blade's boss design has a baby with Temple Run's infinite race to the finish line
That’s the hard part with Bendy Run – I’m not sure whether to give it a low score due to how demanding it is, or praise it for offering such a deep experience in a genre packed with emptier titles. The fact it’s free also makes the steep start a little more reasonable. I do think it could refined a bit more though, but given it’s still receiving support, maybe that’s on the horizon?
Our Rating
Pros
Cons
An infinite runner/platformer with a bit more to offer but a tense learning curve.
Not for those easily flustered with touch-screen controls.
Elijah is a man who can't stop talking about games, geeky things, and to the chagrin of his colleagues, horrible puns. He's been working as a game journalist for several years now, and in addition to Appolicious, His other work can be found at GameCritics.com, I Need Diverse Games, and The Unabridged Gamer on YouTube. When not reviewing games, you'll probably find him ranting on Twitter, writing, or replaying Dead Space 2 for the zillionth time.
