Knife Trip

 

Knife Trip, Developed and published by Mad Point and released on June 29 2022 for Android, is an arcade style knife throwing game. The game gives off heavy boardwalk style arcade machine vibes similar to skee-ball or basketball shootout games you would find in an arcade situated near the beach. What really adds to this aesthetic is the character design of each boss. Bosses really give off a 1960's cartoon vibe, similar to Cuphead.

The object is to throw knives at the target boss ahead of you, sounds simple enough. Sadly, it's anything but, each boss has ten levels to them and each one throws a new gameplay element at you. The first level is simple, the circle of the boss rotates counter clockwise around the face, as long as you don't hit one of your knives when it rotates back around it's easy to beat. Quickly the game ramps up. The circle will rotate one way stop and come back the other way, if you're tapping too quickly you'll end up hitting one of your knives and it's game over. Spikes start to appear on the circle and if you hit any of them it's game over. Some bosses have items that you have to hit in a specific order to progress, all while avoiding hitting obstacles on the circle. Other bosses have barriers that will activate and deactivate and you can only throw your knives when the barrier is down.

There is no paywall on the game, it's 100% free. However, there are ads once you run out of continues. You're given the option to watch an ad to receive more continues to keep playing. Continuing has no consequence as you just start back at the level and boss you were previously playing. There is however no way to save in this game. If you decide to stop playing mid game you have to start all over when you boot the game back up. That is the biggest drawback of the game as it creates the issue where it isn't pick up and play quickly. There is no toilet time for this game as to get through the entire game would require a lot of hours, even if you were very good at it I would gather at least 45 minutes to get through all of the bosses.

There is an in game currency that is earned as you play. For every knife you stick you gain 2 coins, every star that you hit that orbits some boss levels you gain 20 coins, and if you happen to beat a boss (passing all 10 levels for one boss) you get 10% on top of what you've already accumulated during the run of that boss. The coins are used to buy new knives and with each knife you unlock the ability to start at one of the later bosses in a practice for the main game. There are 12 bosses with 10 levels each for a total of 120 levels.

Overall the game is quite fun, it could be better if there was a save feature. The fact that I can't put it down and come back where I left off is quite frustrating especially for a mobile game. There is no pay to win which is a huge plus and the ads aren't intrusive as you can avoid them all together if you're good enough. I give this game a 7 out of 10 purely because of the fact that the pick up and play and come back later doesn't exist and I would have to spend far too much time to beat the game in one sitting.

Apex Legends Mobile

 

Apex Legends Mobile released May 17, 2022, for iOS and Android is a first/third person shooter in the battle royal genre. Developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. The game follows the same format as its big budget counterpart that has been released on multiple consoles and PC.  The difference? It's on a touch screen.

Even though the game feels familiar, especially if you sync a controller up to your phone to make it easier to play. There are still some major flaws with this version. Apex Legends Mobile  isn't optimized very well, when you get into later matches (ones without or less bots) you can tell a noticeable difference in the performance and lag. The popups for each event, battle pass, or deals gets tiresome. On the plus side the main menu is less cluttered than other games in the same genre, sadly that probably won't last as the game is still a fresh release.

I feel as though Respawn is late to the party with this game. All of the other big name battle royals have mobile versions and most have been out way longer. PubG Mobile dropped in 2018, Call of Duty in 2019, and even though it was pulled from both Google play and iOS store's Fortnite also came to mobile before Apex.

At the time of writing there are 11 playable characters (Loba not pictured) with one exclusive to mobile, Fade. Nine of the characters at launch are obtainable by playing the game, Fade is obtainable by reaching level 28 of the season one battle pass. Otherwise, they can be purchased with the in-game currency. Most other transactions are cosmetic or upgrading the battle pass just like it's console/PC counterpart.

As far as how I feel about the game, overall Apex Legends Mobile plays well, for the most part. It feels like Apex, but I felt like I had an advantage by using my controller. I ended up with a 17 KDA after playing for a solid two weeks. That is unheard of from me, ask anyone who has played a battle royale with me. The genre is played out and I think that the late release of this game may end up hurting it in the long run. I want to rate it low just because I'm sick of all the battle royals, but it's Apex. One of the best BR's that has been made. It's paved the way for mechanics in other BRs, even when some of them came before. So I'm going to give the game a 7. It's better than other BRs I've played and if they can get the lag optimization under control it'll be a solid game to play just like it's console counterpart.

Listen to our full episode on your favorite podcasting app or on our YouTube channel.

Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier

 

Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier developed by Square Enix and Ateam is a free to play battle royale set 30 years before the events of Final Fantasy VII. The game was released November 17, 2021 on Andriod and iOS. 

Since we've done the song and dance of battle royale countless times thus far I'll focuses on the differences. This game drops 75 people onto an ever-shrinking map, last person or team if you're playing that mode, left standing win. You can pick up weapons and ammunition along the way to help you take out the opposing "soldiers". What TFS offers different is the ability to pick up magic or spells. There are offensive and defensive spells available to pick up throughout the map and you're able to hold up to three of these spells. Picking up subsequent copies of the spells you already have equipped will level up the spells to up to level 3 and thus increasing its power. You can also earn from contracts and beating boss monsters Guardian Forces that will fight alongside you for a specified amount of time. 

The game play feels just like any other mobile battle royale with the exception of engagement of fights. I myself experienced lag spikes and frame skips at the start of most if not all battles as well as my cohosts. But it was obvious to me that my opponents were also experiencing this as they wouldn't always engage right away because of this. It almost felt as if you were battling against bots most of the time but after a few failed queues early on I can honestly say that I don't believe there are any computer-controlled players in the game.

The paywall in the game is all cosmetic based and similar style to Fortnite. Which is a big plus for us as they are the main game that does microtransactions well. But on top the battle passes and chests that can be unlocked via tickets that are earned through game play there's a leveling system for each class you can play as. As you level each class you unlock a lot of different cosmetics from the vehicles you can drive on the maps to the helicopter that you're dropped onto the map in. 

Overall, the game was fun to play I found myself going back to the game multiple times during our review period which isn't always the case. The highest I got in a solo game was third place and I won a game with a squad. The failed queues because not enough players were found, and the frame skips/ lag was a huge drawback to the game. There are more polished mobile battle royales out there and if the population of this game drops too much there won't be enough of a player base to play the game. Because of this I give the game a 4.5. 

You can listen to our full review and see if it got the Budget Arcade seal of approval on your favorite podcast app or listen on our YouTube channel 

Zind

 Zind Created by Atlas Software and released on  March 25 of 2020 is a classic action platformer rated E 10+ and available on mobile devices. It offers 72 different hand crafted adventure levels with varying degrees of difficulty. You play as "Angry man" Zind as you attempt to transverse each level.

The game play is reminiscent of  most platformers but with the lack of any enemies. instead the goal is to avoid obstacles such as spikes, bottomless pits and platforms that drop unexpectedly. the touch screen controls make the game play fairly difficult. I was only able to make it to level 12 to a point where there were three platforms of various heights once you step on each platform they rise into a set up spikes positioned on the roof. Because of the way the controls are I was unable to pass this area. The controls for movement were not close enough together to be able to quickly act to avoid being crushed into the spike covered roof. 

This is an entirely free game with no paywall. when it was first released however there were ads after every level and after each death. Those have been taken out of the game and I haven't encountered one in months.

Replaying this game can be high. especially if you're a completionist or a glutton for punishment. To be able to get through all 72 levels would require some dedication. I'm not sure if there is controller support but if there is it would make the game way more manageable to play.

Over all I'd give this game a 7 out of 10. Is it frustrating? Yes. Is it fun? also yes. Is it worth your time? since it's 100% free and is enjoyable it most definitely is. Zind gets my seal and should also get yours.

Written by- Scott Taft

Rude Racers

When I was asked to do a review for Rude Racers, I was curious.  I saw that it was based off of Road Rash, which was an amazing series on the Sega Genesis, so I went from curious to intrigued.  Then I played the game and the intrigue turned back into indifference. It was an emotional rollercoaster to be sure, but ultimately I’m glad I checked it out, even though I will most likely be putting it aside for better games in my backlog. 

Rude Racers is a casual 2D combat racing game developed and published by Famous Dogg Studios, and is available on iOS, Android and Steam.  I have an Android phone, and it is free to download on mobile devices, but on Steam it is currently $2. The reviews on Steam were very positive, but I started on mobile since its free.  Though most of my review will cover that version, I did eventually get to download the PC version.

The game consists of you riding an ATV in a race against others, and you race upwards on the racetrack avoiding obstacles and beating off the competition to stay ahead in the race.  In a lot of the reviews I’ve read, they mention the action being “fast and furious” in many of them, but I personally wouldn’t go that far when describing it. Your speed does not change in-race, and it definitely doesn’t feel frenetic most of the time, though you can buy vehicles that have better speed stats.  You gradually catch up with the other racers, and after passing them, they gradually catch up to you. The gameplay modes consist of Seasons, where you earn trophies and money for upgrades to your vehicle, person or weapon, and Quickplay matches where you can play a match for some quick in-game cash.  In the Seasons, there are multiple types of game modes, including races, deathmatches mode, and even a mode where you compete with the CPU characters to knock down the most pizza delivery vehicles, which establishes a bit of variety. Each season is a different setting, but each track still looks and feels the same.  If the game seems too easy at first play, you eventually can choose between easy, medium and hard modes for each mode, each subsequent mode earning more money than the previous one if you win. I was bored playing easy mode and quickly switched to hard mode, which was more my speed. (Pun intended) Each round of the mobile version that you play consumes 1 unit of fuel, and once all of it is gone you have to wait for it to replenish.  Video ads pop up periodically between matches, and you can watch ads to earn extra fuel.

The controls on mobile consist of horizontal movement and an attack button, which is nice and simple for a mobile game.  If you have a small enough phone to hold in one hand, I imagine this game is easy to play. I own a Note, and I don’t have Tony Robbins’ hands so I certainly couldn’t play one-handed.  Still, I like my mobile controls simple in a pick-up-and-play game, and the controls work well for what this game is. The PC version allows you to use the keyboard & mouse or a controller, and the controls remain the same.

Thankfully, there is no “paywall” on the free mobile version, and there isn’t any in-game currency to worry about.  There is a shop available to buy extra cash or fuel for $0.99 or $2 to get rid of ads (presumably only in the mobile version), which is the same price of the Steam version.  Well played, Famous Dogg. I didn’t play the game enough in one sitting for the ads to bother me too much. There isn’t much extra functionality to the PC version of the game that isn’t included in the mobile version, which makes the free version a good way to start, especially if you’re unsure if this game is for you.

When it comes to replayability, this game is more suited to being a casual mobile game than a simple Steam game.  It may even have benefitted as a free web-based online game, but I can understand why the Famous Dogg would want to make a bit of money off their efforts.  When I was a teacher, I certainly would have let my students play this after they finished their work, and I imagine kids would enjoy this much more than adults, though it has a certain appeal regardless. Even though the concept of racing and attacking the others is somewhat violent, I’d still let my 5-year-old play this game and he might enjoy it more than I did.

Final Thoughts:

I’m torn as to whether to recommend this game or not.  This game is a simple race and bash game with simpler graphics, and it gets the job done as a quick-fix game.  I never felt the need to play it for long stretches of time, and it’s not the first game on my phone that I run to when I need a gaming fix.  As a free casual mobile game, you could do worse...but you could find a better one too. Give it a shot, play through the first few rounds and get to the spot where you choose game modes and difficulties and you’ll start unlocking things.  If you’re not pulled in by then (and unfortunately I wasn’t), at least you didn’t shell out a whopping two dollars for the PC version. 

Steam version: 5 out of 10 - it’s fun in small bursts, and may appeal more to younger gamers. Would serve better as a free web-based game for kids, but as an adult I’ll turn my gaming efforts elsewhere.

Mobile Version: 6 out of 10 - It’s more accessible to a wider audience as a casual one-handed mobile game that’s easy to pick up and play.  Not the best game out there, but definitely scratches an itch if you need a distraction.

Written by Gamified Dad

Check out more of his work at https://gamifieddad.wixsite.com/mancave

Unbroken Soul

By Elliot

I have not played a lot of the modern day platformers. Celeste, Limbo, Shovel Knight, Cuphead. When I think of the current platformers those are some of the names that come to mind for me. I haven’t even played the newest Mario game for the Switch.

I have played a lot of the previous generations of platformers. Lot of Sonic (can’t wait for the movie!) Mario, Crash, Spyro, Jax and Dexter, Banjo, just to name some that I liked. So Unbroken Soul interested me when it became our game of the week. I was thinking a mix of old school pixel platform and maybe some Dark Souls learn the fight mechanics. And that is exactly what it feels like to me.

In Unbroken Soul you have nine worlds to travel through, each with four stages and a boss fight at the end of each world. Worlds are different and unique enough, as are the bosses that it does not feel like the same zone over and over. Levels are also not to slow, just about the perfect size for a phone game. Some levels require more skill to traverse, others none at all. I found certain worlds to be kinda awful, requiring pinpoint accuracy to make a jump, or grab a hook. Not every world here was created equally, and the difficulty doesn’t progress in a linear fashion. Some are just harder to get through than others. Same goes with boss fights. I found the second world boss to be hard when I originally got to him. But the last three regular bosses before the final boss I was able to one shot without any issue, go figure.

I found I had more problems with levels, not being accurate enough in my jumps than I did with boss fights. Patterns overall were not too hard to learn, and once you have mastered them replaying a level for extra gold was very easy and quick to do. I hate when you have to die to figure out the puzzle as well. That only happened a couple of times, but I feel like that is a cheap mechanic, basically forcing you to die in order to progress, there was no way of knowing what to do without realistically dying at least once.

I also struggle to play games with screen controls, luckily Unbroken Soul has an answer to that. The recent ios update allows you to use a PS4 controller if the game has built in controls. After beating the game I attempted to try out the touch controls and found it next to unplayable for me in some worlds. Could be that I’m an old man now and I need the tactile feel of a controller, could be the game is garbage without one. I also frequently felt like I was sliding on ice with my character, nothing to crazy, the controls are responsive, but you character moves just a little after you let up on the controls.

Story to this game is weak. Dialogue cutscenes at the start of a level, before a boss, and after you leave the zone. BUT. BUT. also in the middle of the damn boss fights, you’ll get a dialogue scene. And if you die and have to do the fight again, you get the same cutscenes. For a game with little to no story, I could have done without.

I find Unbroken Soul to be a well above average phone game, and an average game in general. While being very frustrating at times, I never really struggled to understand what I needed to do in order to get to the next area, I just didn’t have the pinpoint accuracy it required. I imagine if I was playing with the touch screen I would have given up at some point. Pretty good game for a phone, and at the price tag you get your money's worth. By far not the worst way to spend a few hours, but feels like a time waster than a full fledged game at times.

NBA now

NBA season is back and with it comes NBA Now a new free to play hoops game on your mobile phone.  What could go wrong?

The biggest NBA video game series, NBA 2k and its closest competitor in a distant second, NBA Live, both feature a My Team, and Ultimate Team mode respectively.  This mode is built around microtransactions. You use real money to buy packs of players to build a team around. To take online and play against other players and/or the AI.  While I don’t really have a problem with this mode, I always thought it just should have been a free to play game that anyone can download. Instead, you pay for the full priced game to play a mode that uses a free to play economy.  This to me is inexcusable. 

With that said, on your cell phone, you can now get NBA Now for free.  It released 10/22 the same day as the start of the 2019 NBA season. In NBA Now you pick your favorite team and you have access to their roster. This is very different than most NBA games F2P modes. Usually you get a couple packs of random players to fill out your team.  So if you wanted to play as Lebron, you would just have to get lucky or fork over some money. I picked the Bucks and was happy to see that All-Star player Giannis Antetokounmpo was available right away, granted these players are not as powerful as you would see in a standard NBA game mode. Therein lies the hook. To build your team up. Either through spending “dumbells” on training, or pulling better players from packs. You also get a free prospect pull every day.  A better star pull every 2 days, and another SUPERstar pull every 5 days. This is a good feature to keep you logging in to the game everyday hoping that your get a player you are ready to dump all your resources in to building. 

You are going to have to rely heavily on boosting stats, because you will not be able to make up for a weak team by just being good at the game.  I know most mobile games have to simplified controls to fit on a touch screen, but NBA Now took control largely out of your hands. 

First thing you do is pay season tickets to get in to the game.  These refresh fast enough, and I only expect the most avid players to run out before having to pay. When the game starts, it immediately simulates the first 3 quarters of the game, then you get to play the fourth quarter. So far I haven’t had it give me an unwinnable situation after the simulation. You can play against the computer or in PVP and I can’t prove this, but I suspect this ‘PVP’ pits you against other players teams, but they aren’t actually playing you.  My only real evidence is that you pick from a list of waiting players and the game just starts. There is no waiting for matchmaking. Again, this is just speculation but try it yourself and see.

I mentioned before the game takes control out of your hands, and I mean it. When the game starts there is no tip-off, again the first 3 quarters are simulated, and there is no tip off to start the 4th quarter.  You do not control the movement of your player, they move on their own. On offence there are three buttons on the screen. Shoot, Pass, and drive to the hoop. That’s it. No digital joypad to move your player around.  On defense it is even more sparse. With just a defend button, and a more aggressive defender button. You can’t control when to attempt a steal or a block. This game made me feel more like a coach yelling at my players hoping they would listen.  When you do shoot the ball, there is a meter that comes up that allows you to improve the chances of your shot being successful. That is the closest to a game this gets. I think if you come into this game as a management sim with light controls you might be happy, but largely I was expecting a better experience.  On a good note, the sound of the crowd is nice and loud and adds to the atmosphere. The graphics, while not great get the job done, but I found the framerate a little lacking on my Google Pixel 3a. Overall, I can’t recommend this. There are some nice ideas, and being able to have my starting team be the full starting 5 from the squad of my choice is real nice compared to other games. The gameplay is just non existent.  What a disappointment. 

Since being on Budget Arcade, I have had to play a lot of mobile games with Scott and Elliot.  I am by far the biggest skeptic of the three of us when it comes to gaming on the phone. I just don't like the lack of tactile controls.  That being said I have played some pretty good games that are able to deliver a good experience with the limited options of the touch screen interface. PubG, Call of Duty Mobile, and Mario Kart Tour to name a few.  I knew there had to be a better basketball experience on mobile than this. 

I downloaded NBA Live Mobile by EA Sports.  Now I know, EA doesn't have the best reputation.  But when I go into something like this, knowing that it is going to be heavy with microtransactions, and coming off of NBA Now, I am very open minded that good times could be had. 

First things first.  This is a video game.  You control your players.  You get to shoot the ball, pass, block, steal.  NBA Live Mobile, at its core, is a basketball video game.  So it’s already better than NBA Now. 

This is EA's ultimate team without having to buy a full priced game to play it. When you start the game you pick a team, but really you're just picking the jerseys your squad will be wearing. You'll open packs of cards to build your roster.

Once you have your team you can play with them in a season, or Showdown mode. Showdown is kind of a multiplayer mode.  You and your opponent play against AI controlled versions of each others teams. Then the total score from each game determines the winner.  It’s fine, but I would have prefered testing my skills against another player.

Season is where I spent most of my time. You play 14 games, then if you win 7 of those you move to the playoffs where you would play 4 single game rounds to win the championship.  The brevity of this season length is welcome. As you play games you win packs and gold to help improve your team. You also gain shards to unlock specific players. Even without spending money you are constantly getting new players and currency to use to build your team. Along with this, you also get free packs daily and weekly you get premier packs to get even better players.  You can also spend gold to get packs. I should also mention you slowly gain the premium currency for free while playing, something a lot of other free to play games do not allow.

When it’s time you play you spend 50 stamina per quarter of play (200 for a full game).  You accrue stamina over time, to bank up to 330, currently I have 655/330. I found this to generally be enough unless I played shorter skills modes or went on a long play session.  You can also get more than the 330 limit by leveling and accomplishing goals while playing. You can of course buy stamina recharges with real money, but I never felt like I needed to do that.  Should you run out of stamina mid game you can save, and complete the game later. This makes NBA Live Mobile perfectly suited for short play sessions as each quarter is just 2 and a half minutes. 

These are a lot other modes I haven’t been able to try, like joining leagues.  

When it comes to having a free NBA game on your phone NBA Live Mobile is miles better than NBA Now.  Live is my go to game on my phone for waiting rooms and toilet time. If your a basketball fan, I heartily recommend it. 

-Jeff (JQueasy)

Asphault 9 (Mobile)

-Overview

Asphalt 9: Legends is a racing video game developed by Gameloft Barcelona and published by Gameloft. Released on July 25, 2018, it is the ninth main installment in the Asphalt series. In comparison to previous entries, there are several new and improved features, such as a prestigious car lineup, new control schemes, including the autopilot mode called Touch Drive, and race modes, and the reimplemented "shockwave nitro" from Asphalt 6: Adrenaline. The graphics are also considered significantly improved compared to its 2013 predecessor, Asphalt 8: Airborne.

Unlike the switch version there is only four different play modes Special Events, Daily Events, Multi-player and Career. Also all modes require an internet connection unlike the two switch modes that did not. The main difference is also the controls. Touchdrive is the default on mobile, and to be honest is quite easy compared to using the switch controller. Your driving decisions are limited to do I swipe to the left to pick up this bottle of nitro or do I swipe right to hit this ramp? You can also activate your nito boost or hit the "drift button" during turns. With this simplistic approach you don't have to be good at driving games to come out on top of the race. Just have your car upgraded and get enough boosts and you win every time. I cleared parts of the career so much faster than on console. There is a way to turn off the Touchdrive and then you control the car via turning your phone like you would a steering wheel (I did not try that). After playing on mobile with the touchdrive I decided to go back to the switch and try it out. It's exactly the same and allowed me to pass levels that I was having trouble with. Unfortunately that wasn't covered in our episode.

-Paywall

The mobile version has the exact same paywall as the switch but with one minor change. There's the ability to watch ads to get "packs" as well. up to 3 per 24 hours. This makes leveling your cars even faster than the switch.

There isn't too much difference between the two versions and has about the same replayablity value. It is to be noted that the mobile version is about 8 months ahead of the switch version with updates. So items that are available on mobile are not yet on the switch.

-Scott

Theme Solitaire

Theme Solitaire is a game in which players can play cards to easily collect resources in order to build their own themed tower, using fairy tale characters. Theme Solitaire is free to download on Google Play and the App Store. The following review is by Tessa.

I played Theme Solitaire for a few days and this was my experience.

First off, it wasn’t exactly solitaire, you get a stack of cards and then several cards on the board that are either facing up or turned over. You have to get the cards off the board by flipping up cards either one higher or one lower. Later on down the line they add in ice which freezes until you match, only then can the card be matched again and taken off the board. The next thing they add is a bomb, you have to match it in three turns or it explodes. You have a set number of cards to go through and once you get done you can pay 2500 coins to get five more; I’ve never done that option as it doesn’t seem worth it. If you flip a card without meaning to you can pay to flip it back I have done this a couple of times as it’s not too expensive.

The object of the game is to earn gems to build different fairy-tale rooms in a tower. I have finished Alice and wonderland and Snow White. I’m now working on Rapunzel. You have a choice when you build a new floor. I’ve only built three floors so I’m not sure how many they have to choose from or if the choices come back around if you don’t pick them.

This game is right up my ally as fairy tales are my favorite thing, however the game play is not great. It’d be better if it was actually solitaire but it’s just matching cards. The ice just gets annoying and the bomb isn’t nerve racking at all.

You earn gems and coins with each game you play, you use the coins to enter the game and the rubies to build with. There are also rings you can earn but I’m honestly not sure how you earn those. There is a timer on each game and if you finish the game within that set amount of time you get a coin bonus at the end. The entry fee goes up every level but you get the coins back at the end plus bonuses for time and for doing multiple plays on the same card. I think it’s kind of silly because you pay so much to play but then immediately get it back at the end. It cost 20,000 coins to build a new floor. I’ve only built three so I’m unsure if that price goes up at the end or not.

You also uncover artifacts as you play you use these to craft different items. I’m not sure what exactly these items are used for maybe I’ll learn if I play more.

Overall the game is just ok, it is a bit addictive as I love to build stuff and I love fairy-tales but those aspects don’t make up for the boring game play. It is a good way to spend five minutes and it doesn’t have a set amount of lives so you can play as much as you want. I am undecided if I’ll keep it on my phone or not as I like building the tower but it’s still kind of boring so we’ll see.

I give it a 4/10

Tessa is from the podcast Tessa and Elliot Argue, you can find it on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow her on Twitter at tessie_paints.

Pixel Path

-Overview
Released on October 17, 2019 Pixel Path was developed by Supersonic Software and published by AppyNation. Pixel Path is a free to play game available on iOS, Android, and Amazon appstore. Pixel path is a puzzle game with the goal being unlocking pixel art.

-Gameplay
The board for Pixel Path looks similar to a completely solved stage of Mine sweeper with open areas and blocks with numbers scattered around. Each number has the same number to match it to. Starting on one of the numbers you have to drag your finger along a path that uses the same number of boxes that the original number has on it to the corresponding number. The original and last box both count as one number each.So for example if you start on a two you'll drag to a two directly next to the first because the first number counts as one box and the second number counts as another box. A three would require the first three a blank box and the last three and so on and so forth. Each of these numbers is also color coded to create a sort of "paint by numbers" that ends in a pixel art image as the goal.

-Paywall
The game requires you to have "keys" to unlock levels and as you progress you don't earn very many. there are however points when you do earn the "keys" you have the option of taking the amount of free keys or watch a sponsored video to gain more of the "keys". I imagine the farther you get though the more likely that you'd need to purchase more keys so I'm going to rate this as a pay to progress. There is also a "gold" currency within the game and so far it's only been used to erase moves that you've messed up on. I image you can also purchase that if you run out as well but at the time of writing I hadn't reached that point.

-Judgment
The music was relaxing for the first 15 to 20 minutes of game play but then got repetitive. There was only the one song as well and was a trance/space music esc song. Game play was simple to learn and didn't pose too much challenge at the level I was playing at. The pixel art is great on the main pages but the art that you "create" is a bit lacking and most times you can't tell what the image is unless you look up above the image where it says what it is and you get that "aha" moment. I don't foresee it getting much harder either. Over all it was an enjoyable experience but I don't see a whole lot of play coming from this game. I recommend trying it out but I don't think the re-playability is there even with over 300 puzzles and more to come.


Below is the description from the site of the producer of the game

Paint the paths to reveal the picture! A beautiful pixel puzzle that anyone can play.

An all-new challenge from the creators of PICTURE CROSS and PUZZLE PAGE.

Pixel Path takes moments to learn – simply touch and drag to link together each pair of squares with the same number and colour. As you solve each puzzle you’ll build a mosaic picture, and reveal part of a larger animated scene.

Pixel Path‘s puzzles are grouped together in Puzzle Books, each themed after a popular tourist destination (along with some more fantastical settings) all illustrated with beautiful original pixel art.

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Starting in Paris, France, your path will lead to lost jungle temples, the bustling streets of New York, the Great Wall of China and even the depths of the ocean! Where will the adventure lead next?

■ Over 300 puzzles with many more to come
■ Unlock puzzle books themed around exotic locations and adventures
■ Reveal beautiful animated scenes
■ Use hints to easily find and correct mistakes
■ Stunning pixel art brings the world of Pixel Path to life!

Pixel Path is free to play, but contains optional paid items to unlock content more quickly.

-Review by Scott