Gadget Reviews, Product News, Electronic Gadgets

Being the week of Halloween, there’s obviously a bunch of suitably spooky apps and games appearing on the App Store. Skeleton Jump is one of them, offering real simple gameplay alongside a more cute than scary little skeleton named SkeleTim.
Just as any skeleton would at this time of the year, SkeleTim wants to go door-to-door, collecting candy from his neighbours – and being a skeleton, he doesn’t even need a costume – but it seems that in his town there’s far more to worry about than the grumpy guy down the street or the odd yapping terrier on a front lawn. Bats, pumpkins and even UFOs are among the objects that’ll need to be navigated.
The simple way to circumvent these things is, as the title may suggest, by jumping. The simple gameplay I’ve already mentioned sees the bony figure automatically running from the left to the right side of the screen. Players must time his jumps correctly, leaping over obstacles on the ground while being sure to not bump into those overhead. This is done my one simple input, a quick tap on the screen at the right moment. Get SkeleTim to the end of a level and he’ll be rewarded with the confectionery he was in search of.
It’s fun, addictive and gets a little tricky after the first few levels, the hand-drawn, collage style of the graphics is also rather nice and adds to the the cuteness factor. Although there are a couple of things hindering Skeleton Jump. The first is that the single tap to jump input can seem a little unresponsive at times, particularly when making several bounds in quick succession. The other is that there’s only 15 levels to play through, and although the developer has promised there’s more on the way, it feels a little lacking in that department as it stands.
That said, the levels that are included do offer up enough of a challenge to provide a good chunk of gameplay – it’s certainly not the case that they’ll be blitzed through in one sitting. Which leaves us with a title that, while not perfect, is certainly worth a little look. Let’s just hope the new levels aren’t too far away from appearing.