Mobile game reviews

Cookies Must Die Free with IAP

Every time I feel like every single type of “mobile game” has been done, every twist on the touch screen interface has been achieved, a clever little action platformer comes along to throw me off. Cookies Must Die, apart from having one of the best names ever, is exactly the sort of experience that is both simple to learn, difficult to master, and impossible to put down.

Jack is a supersecret agent with the power to slow down time, which is perfect as his city has been invaded by sweet treats bent on destruction. You simply swipe to run and jump, which is handled perfectly - you know exactly where you are headed as well as where your enemies plan to shoot – in order to slide or jump in/onto them to take them out. The result is a frenetic mash of projectiles, exploded donuts and liquorice, actual cherry bombs and crumbs… everywhere… as you fling Jack all over the joint.

Unlike many other games that overcomplicate controls involving slow mo, the simple flick and drag nature of Cookies Must Die means that you can appreciate your well-earned combos without feeling like it was all a big accident. Each level is split into five parts including a boss, which is always cleverly designed based on the environmental tricks you unconsciously learned throughout the level. Ironically in almost 20 years this really feels the closest to “The Matrix” style play I’ve found where you can realistically slide through an entire level and not get hit once.

It’s a testament to the slick design and art that you really don’t want to stop playing, so “grinding” out currency really doesn’t feel like a chore at all.

Might & Magic: Chess Royale Free with IAP

For the uninitiated, auto chess is a form of strategic game that offshoots from the popular “MOBA”, where in players are provided with a small amount of resources to “purchase” units to fight on a virtual chess board. Each unit is placed on the board and automatically fights your opponent’s units based on their skills, speed and so forth.

It’s an incredibly addictive style of play, complicated by the luck of the draw mixed with the gamble of choosing new heroes, upgrading existing ones, or attempting to fill the board. Might &

Magic: Chess Royale takes this system and adds a bulk player spin to it – instead of playing against five to seven players, you take on 99 others. You can lose three matches before you are cut from the lot – the longer you survive, the better the rewards.

Unfortunately, things seem to be barebones right now – there are only a handful of units, plus there are no clans, tournaments or ladders. Progression seems wholly visual at this point, games don’t really matchmake outside of availability, at least from my experience.

The result is a frenetic mash of projectiles, exploded donuts and liquorice, actual cherry bombs and crumbs… everywhere.

Magic: Mana Strike Free with IAP

Magic: The Gathering invented the strategy card game decades ago but has found it difficult to keep up with slick competition like Blizzard’s Hearthstone, CD Project’s Gwent and Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls: Legends. So, when it was announced that Wizards of The Coast was teaming up with mobile stalwarts Netmarble to develop a card-based game, fans were hopeful and excited.

Mana Strike is a hybrid of traditional deck collecting and tower defence but is certainly not a tabletop card game. It plays very similarly to Clash Royale, except that there is a hero component – known as a Planeswalker – that gives each player extra abilities based on a mana colour. Like the card game, balancing each colour is the key to winning a match, however in Mana Strike it’s also about weighing up when to play your cards in real time.

I would arguably say that Mana Strike is one of the more polished versions of this style, which is why it deserves its score, but it’s disappointing that there still isn’t a true Magic experience available on mobile devices.

Tetris

Tetris is arguably the most well-known video game on the planet. Next to Mario Bros and Space Invaders, it is an iconic puzzler; some would say the perfect video game. Almost every single platform has spawned some variation on the title, along with countless clones and love letters to the simple slotting of square blocks into lines. The last mobile option, EA’s Tetris Blitz, was a fantastic competitive spin, albeit spoiled a little by powerups and boosters.

The latest rendition, simply named Tetris, is essentially the purest form of the game, taking a complete 180 from EA’s feature filled option. It features a single “endless” play mode, a single remixed track of classic Tetris themes, and a very basic score-based leader board. This is fine... for a while… but after tasting the challenges, multiplayer and custom modes of Blitz this feels like an enormous downgrade.

Westland Survival Free

Ever wanted to set up your own life in the wild west? Westland Survival combines the traditional survival and crafting sim with a cowboy flair. You start by fixing up an old ranch in the woods to get things started, crafting tools and equipment to cut down trees, break up rocks and farm wild animals.

It’s a fun theme and largely an entertaining jaunt, the controls are simple and responsive, and the exploration factor is clever. There are more detailed and strategic versions of this game, such as Durango: Wild Lands, a game I reviewed a few issues ago, but the simplicity of this title removes much of the learning curve that plagued Durango.

But the biggest problem with Westland Survival is the lack of interaction with other players. There are no clans, no group activities, cities or wider camps.

The developers have promised more features and multiplayer functionality over time, but as it stands the game is a fairly limited and dry experience which could be a lot more based on the subject matter.