Developer: Digital Legends
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4 It must be a hard life for poor Sam. Somehow he is half Chameleon, half Blowfish and he’s also a tad obsessed about nuts. So begins an adventure all about collecting as many golden nuts as possible.
Nutty Sam is a concept that we’ve seen before: a physics based puzzle game but familarity doesn’t breed contempt here. The player must guide Sam around each level in orer to collect all the golden nuts. This is done by using Sam’s blowfish ability to inflate himself and propel upwards and around. Wind plays an important factor here, affecting Sam’s trajectory. There’s also the prospect of slingslots and even launch pads and switches that affect Sam’s progression.
In the free version, Nutty Sam supplies 20 levels to get to grips with. It’s an appropriate amount of time to appreciate what’s involved, although I did find it wasn’t until the last few levels that I was actually challenged by the game’s design.
Controls are simple to get to grips with. Holding a finger to the screen inflates Sam while releasing causes him to fall. A careful balance of the two while also using the wind to navigate makes Nutty Sam simple enough for all the family to play. It does require some careful finger taps to collect up all of the nuts but like many games of this genre, it’s not essential to collect all pieces in order to progress. Extending longevity in this way and encouraging players to go back to perfect a stage is further enhanced with the par moves gauge offering more points.
It won’t take long to complete the 20 levels available here but for a small fee of $0.99, another 40 levels can be unlocked. It’s a keen way of using freemium pricing, essentially offering up 20 levels as an extended demo and providing enough of a hook to pay out for the full package. For the physics puzzle fan, Nutty Sam is an ideal game to check out.