Developer: Hogrocket
Price: $3.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4
Tiny Invaders is a little bit special – at least during the first playthrough. It’s a keenly balanced, for the most part, title born out of the closure of console developer Bizarre Creations, famous for titles such as Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars. Production values are clear here with a lot of thought put into the game. With only one real slip up, Tiny Invaders is a quality title through and through.
Tapping into the typical feel of single screen puzzle games, Tiny Invaders is all about saving the world. Players must direct germs around human veins in order to collect up glowing orbs in order to progress to the next level. It sounds simple and it is at first. Indeed, Tiny Invaders offers few restrictions. There’s no time limit and no risk of the Game Over screen. The challenge lies in simply gaining the maximum amount of stars (3) in each level.
Each stage is pretty varied from the others. While the core concept is the same – collecting all the orbs – getting there is different. Some levels are more puzzle-like in nature with the need to determine the best route, thanks to the ability to change the path of the germs. Others are more speed intensive with enemies getting in the way and needing to be dodged quickly. A tap of the germs speeds things up so timing is everything in such stages. It can be like controlling a train but the germ lineup means that the storyline of Tiny Invaders is more entertaining.
The only problem lies in the challenge that Tiny Invaders offers. Players could just take forever to complete each level and still work their way through the 60 levels. The only reason to complete stages faster is the allure of stars but increasingly the only way to do this is to be extremely accurate during each level. Every speed burst has to be incredibly well timed, sometimes to a frustrating amount. It’s not always fun to tap regularly while trying to keep track of different routes and the trajectory of the enemies. In which case, Tiny Invaders feels more like a game to enjoy once then regularly return to in order to perform better.
It’s a solid effort for Hogrocket, however. It just needs a challenge level re-adjustment to make it truly as great as I suspect it could be. I had a heck of a lot of fun with it; I just didn’t feel a great urge to improve upon my scores for anything other than the sake of my pride. Priced at $0.99 or $1.99, this is fine – priced at $3.99 however and it’s not so simple. There’s still that emotive part of me that recommends it, but I’ll feel more comfortable in doing so at a lower price point.