HOCUS Review: Mind Warping Puzzles!

Games, Mobile Games, Reviews
Copy of 178-01 Hocus
Hocus is an optical illusion platformer, you say?

Hocus is an extremely minimalistic game with no other features than 50 levels of mind warping puzzles to complete. It’s an optical illusion platformer where you play a small red cube running along the corners of a wide variety of impossible shapes. Your goal is to lead the cube into a tiny red hole buried at an angle in each of the puzzles. To solve it, you can either try to trace a path backwards from the end with your eyes or use trial and error to hopefully guide the cube home to its cavity.  Sounds simple, but things can get a tad tricky at higher levels. Thankfully there are no timers within the puzzle, giving you ample time to solve it.

Can you get the red dot home?

Can you get the red dot home?

Many tricks up its sleeves

The game definitely warps the mind of players, trapping them into thinking one face of the shape is pointing outward when in fact, as you travel further along, it is pointing inward. Players stuck on a level should refer to the black dot above the puzzle that indicates possible directions the red cube can take once it reaches a point.

It’s hard to describe the concept of the game in words so I’ve included a gif below. Once you witness it in action, it will make complete sense.

Copy of 178-03 Hocus

What could have been better?

One thing the game could improve on is the reliability of swipes, I wasn’t sure how big or small a swipe had to be and often had to try several times before the cube listened and travelled in the direction I wanted. Since the game plays on the dimensions of the shape, my cube was frequently hidden amongst the twist and turns of the puzzle, making it super frustrating figuring out where I was at, often muddling my memory about the path I intended to take it on.

Although there are no frills to the game like leaderboards and other modes, the game is still fun to play and has a brilliant concept.

Tips to get you started in Hocus
  • Try to trace a path back from the destination to plan your cube’s movement.
  • Always refer to the black circle at the top for available routes.
  • Don’t give up!
TL;DR
  • An optical illusion platformer with 50 levels to complete.
  • Players will constantly be tricked into thinking one side of the shape is facing outward and discover it actually faces inward once they travel on it.
  • Controlling the cube takes some getting used to

Hocus  is available on Google Play , The App Store and Steam

Source for Images : In-game screenshots, Hocus trailer

HUNGRY SHARK EVOLUTION Review: It’s A Shark’s Life!

Games, Mobile Games, Reviews

Copy of 174-01 Hungry Shark Evolution

“Yesss, eat all the humans!!” I shouted as I boosted my shark out of the water onto the shore to eat a pair of unsuspecting swimmers that had just emerged from the waters. This is the type of satisfaction you can expect to feel as you swim around hunting for a nice meal of humans that float above the waters. It’s wrong, sadistic and inhumane, but I can’t help looking forward to my next hunt in Hungry Shark Evolution.

Unlock stronger sharks!

Unlock stronger sharks!

The sharks need to feed!

Hungry Shark Evolution starts you off at the lowest rung of the ladder, a reef shark. You’ll need to constantly feed on whatever you find in the ocean to keep from starving. Most of the time you’ll come across smaller snacks like fish, turtles and birds to fill your belly. However, blood is your sport and all you hunger for is human flesh.Try skimming the surface for unsuspecting swimmers or “floaters” (people lounging on floats!) to chomp on. Be careful not to reveal yourself too early though, the humans are watchful and once you’re discovered, they will start swim like Michael Phelps. Fret not, there is a boost ability you can use to catch up to the target and chomp down the tasty treat.

Damage, speed and boost are all upgradeable

Damage, speed and boost are all upgradeable

My sharking skills suck, how do I become a better hunter?

You earn coins each time you consume something, the bigger the better the rewards (boosting for humans FTW!). Coins can be used to upgrade the bite power, swimming speed and boost speed of the shark, improving your ‘sharking’ game. The longer you survive and keep your belly full, the faster your shark grows, which eventually leads to you unlocking stronger sharks. Another way to earn coins is to collect seashells while hunting to unlock new mission like the ‘Pelician Pinch’ that earns you a set amount of coins when you eat three Pelicans.

Keep your hunger meter full or starve!

Keep your hunger meter full or starve!

The waters can also be a dangerous place

Everything is not all hunky-dory in the waters for sharks even though they’re at the top of the food chain. Smaller creatures with deadly toxins can attack your shark, making it sick and unable to continue its feeding spree. When roaming in deeper water, be extremely careful when chasing after your prey and avoid contact with poisonous fish. As just two examples, Puffer fish poison with their spikes and Stingrays sting when you collide with them. There are a host of other dangerous creatures that can cause you to die a silly death, so take extra precautions as you dive deeper.

Humans are your favourite snack because they keep you fuller for longer, so attack as many of them as you can. This won’t go without notice and the beach patrol will send out skilled divers to hunt you down. As a reef shark, you won’t have the chomp power to fight or consume them so avoid them at all costs, until you upgrade to a bigger, more vicious shark. That’s when the tables are turned and these dangerous threats start looking a lot like convenient snacks to keep your belly full.

Use boost to reach targets!

Use boost to reach targets!

Yay or Nay?

As you will have noticed above, I personally enjoy the rush and satisfaction of hunting humans, skimming the shore lines every few minutes and positioning myself accordingly before I boost out for the kill. The game constantly tempts you to swim to deeper waters to possibly find hidden treasure or seashells, while spawning more threats and lesser snacks. On the one fin, you might make bank by finding tons of gold, on the other, you may die a slow painful death of starvation. It’s really up to you to balance the risk and rewards!

What I didn’t like are the constant pop ups to watch ads or play other games for more gold. That really took a toll on me after a while. The lack of a control interface on the screen may confuse players and take a while to get used to. An alternative that’s available is to change to tilt control, where the movements of your shark matches how you tilt your phone. I feel this is a more immersive way to play the game and really improves the control of the shark.

Tips to get you started in Hungry Shark Evolution:
  • Focus on your hunger meter and keep it full as much as you can.
  • Always check the surface for yummy humans and don’t be afraid to boost up on shores to catch humans entering or leaving the water.
  • When humans are scarce, explore the sea for other yummy snacks like fish, turtles, crabs and more! When you eat them, you’ll earn coins that contribute towards your next  upgrade
  • Change to tilt control in the options to get a more immersive experience.
TL;DR
  • You play a shark hunting the sea for yummy snacks to fill your hunger meter.
  • Keep watch for humans on the surface and consume them to keep you fuller for longer.
  • Use coins from your feeds to upgrade your shark’s abilities.
  • Avoid dangerous creatures at all cost as they can poison and kill you.
  • Always fill keep your hunger meter full so you don’t starve and die.

Hungry Shark Evolution  is available on Google Play and the App Store

Source for Images : Google Play

CUTE MUNCHIES Review: Don’t Get Carrot Away & Sabotage Yourself

Games, Mobile Games, Reviews

Copy of 173-01 Cute Munchies

In Cute Munchies you start off as a cute but hungry rabbit, munching its way through grass tiles as it closes in on its favourite snack : carrots! You can choose to swipe left/right/up/down and the cute little fella will hop and munch his way through till it meets a boulder or the edge of the puzzle, stopping its chomping spree. There will be many times where your over eager munching accidentally isolates you from the other carrots on the map. Fret not, restarting the puzzle comes at no cost and you can re-chomp your way across the puzzle.

Yummy carrots!

Yummy carrots!

Get all the carrots!

When you begin a puzzle, your rabbit spawns on a predetermined tile, with yummy carrots and tricky boulders haphazardly but strategically scattered. Your goal is to munch your path to all the carrots without getting trapped. At first glance, the cartoon-like graphics fool you into thinking you’ve got it all figured out. When boulders trap you or you’ve eaten away your only path to your next carrot, you start to realize there is more strategy involved than meets the eye. Glowering at the remaining carrots, you vow to consume them all in your next try.

So many puzzles to unlock!

So many puzzles to unlock!

New features when you unlock new chapters

The game currently has 16 chapters to unlock, each filled with approximately 10 – 12 levels. Each chapter unveils a unique feature to make puzzles even more challenging. For example, Chapter 2 introduces steel tiles that can’t be chomped through while Chapter 3 inserts burrows  that the rabbit can fall into, ending the round early. If you’re ever stuck on a particular puzzle, two free hints will be available to assist you in solving the puzzle, further satisfying the perfectionist in you. The other option is to backtrack your previous move but you’ll have to pay using in-game currency, gold, which is a bummer but not a deal-breaker.

Community created puzzles are really challenging!

Community created puzzles are really challenging!

Play other user-created puzzles or create your own!

If you’ve finish all official chapters and are looking for a challenge, head over to the online level feature that randomly picks from  community created puzzles for you to solve. Fair warning, those puzzles are not a walk in the park, the people behind them are hell bent on exercising your brain muscles. There’ll be all kinds of traps on the puzzle and you’ll leave with satisfaction solving it or crying from the sheer torture at being outsmarted by tiny little tiles. You can also try your hand at creating puzzles for others to solve in the build level feature found in the menu.

Unlockables like new characters are available and have really cute names like Popo, Nala and Ricco! Although the logo of the game reveals certain characters, you’ll be tempted to shell out some gold to see the character designs behind the names.

Overall, Cute Munchies is an addictive but deceitfully strategic game that beginners with no experience can pick up easily.

Tips to get you started in Cute Munchies :
  • Log in each day to claim your daily gold!
  • Make use of hints when you’re stuck on a level.
  • Try to ‘path’ your route to carrots before moving your character.
  • Make full use of boulders and lack of tiles to change direction.
TL;DR
  • Swipe left/right/up/down and your character will eat the path they travel on. Be cautious, it’s easy to cut off a path you intended to travel on.
  • Plan your paths to carrots before moving your character.
  • The undo move costs gold, restarting the stage could be a better option.
  • If you get tired of adventure mode, try the online level feature and solve other community contributed puzzles.

Cute Munchies is available on Google Play and the App Store

Source for Images:  In-game screenshots

SHADOW FIGHT 2 Review : Punch Demons Back Into Darkness!

Games, Mobile Games, Reviews

Copy of 150-01 Shadow Fight 2

Just like Adam and Eve, even the most benevolent of people can succumb to evil. This clearly happens in Shadow Fight 2 when the nameless protagonist disobeys his elders, opening the Gate of Shadows. Countless of demons rush forth, tearing at his flesh and stealing his soul in the process. What remains is a mere shadow of his former self. Now, he’ll have to hunt down and fight these demons for his soul.

Close quarter combat with the Okinawan Sai.

Close quarter combat with the Okinawan Sai.

Shadow Fight 2 is a free to play game similar to classic fighting games such as Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter but with toned down intensity and speed of combat. This is a good thing as it  makes picking up the game slightly easier for newbies to the genre. As you beat up demons, you’ll earn money or gems that can be spent on purchasing new equipment and learning magic spells at the store.

An extensive selection of melee and ranged weapons for you to choose from.

An extensive selection of melee and ranged weapons for you to choose from.

The game also boasts hundreds of weapon types, each with its own unique fighting style. For example, if you’re wearing brass knuckles, your attack speed is faster at melee range versus wielding a sword which slashes at a slower pace with further attack reach. Once you own a weapon, you can use gold to upgrade it to deal more damage, the same can be done to armor and helmets to give them better defensive stats.

With every victorious fight, your character levels up, unlocking active and passive perks to enhance your fight style, building the ultimate demon hunting warrior.

Explore three exciting modes to make your character even stronger!

Explore three exciting modes to make your character even stronger!

In order to progress to the next chapter, players must beat five bosses of incremental difficulty. It is really tough to get through each boss without the right gear and experience; this is where the three other modes will come into play and help you gain experience. The first mode you’re introduced to is tournament mode where your skills are put to the test in a one-to-one match against 24 unforgiving demons, each with its own weapon specialties. Survival mode is subsequently unlocked to determine how many demons you are able to defeat in a single lifetime, the more you beat down the better the rewards. The last mode, Duel, matches you to a random demon challengeable once every four hours, weapons will be assigned by the system even if you do not own them. The gold and experience earned from these modes will prepare your character to eventually beat the final boss.

Simply breathtaking backdrops to enhance your shadow’s form.

Simply breathtaking backdrops to enhance your shadow’s form.

What I enjoyed about the game is how these silhouette styled characters contrasted beautifully with the vibrant backdrop during battle. It helped to highlight how detailed and fluid the fight animations are, making every fight seem real. Fights are made more dramatic when it slows down for a few seconds as you connect a critical hit or a finishing blow, making every encounter satisfying.

However, what I was not a fan of are the positional controls – mainly the directional stick on the left and the tiny punch and kick buttons on the right. The controls are also not as responsive as I’d like, which resulted in delayed kicks and punches that led to bad positioning when countering enemy moves. Since close-quarter combat is fast paced and intense, you’ll need to focus keenly. Your hand-eye co-ordination could tire after a short spell, making this game best played in spaced out intervals.

While Shadow Fight 2 is a challenging game…
  • The user interface is friendly with really simple controls
  • The game is beautiful and animations are incredibly detailed
  • Defeating demons becomes a very satisfying experience
  • There are many chapters packed with content to keep you entertained

Difficulty: Challenging

Shadow Fight 2 is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Source for Images: In game screenshots

MEKORAMA Review: Will You Help Lead a Tiny Robot Home?

Games, Mobile Games, Reviews

 

Copy of 149-01 Mekorama

A tiny robot travelling through space suddenly crash lands onto a strange plot of land. It recovers from its dazed state only to be surrounded by strange structures and moveable brick bridges. Seeking a way out, it explores the terrain and realizes it’s stuck in a bunch of puzzles! A red dot hidden amongst the structures is the robot’s only way of escape. Will you help lead a tiny robot home?

Mekorama has more than 127 diorama puzzles that unlock in the form of level cards. Each time you solve a puzzle, two more will unlock. I assume the developers did this in case you were stuck on a specific puzzle, giving you a chance to progress further if you solve the other puzzle unlocked. This feature is extremely helpful if you want to continue riding the free to play wave. However, if you’re a perfectionist and require closure by completing every single puzzle, you can donate as much as a dollar in order to take a peek at the hints.

The in-game tutorial teaches you everything you need to know.

The in-game tutorial teaches you everything you need to know.

The first puzzle you discover is the in-game tutorial, teaching you how to move your robot. The next lesson covers how to rotate the three-dimensional puzzle and move around blocks to access unreachable areas. Exploring each side of the puzzle is essential in reaching the deceitfully trivial but almighty red button that grants you access to the next level. The next few puzzles follow the same concept and you’ll need to play around with the skills you learnt in the tutorial in order to solve them.

Jump robot, jump! Why don’t you have a jump?!

Jump robot, jump! Why don’t you have a jump?!

I have to admit that I didn’t expect much when opening the game but these puzzles are designed very intelligently and can get extremely challenging to solve. Some puzzles like the one featured above, fool you into thinking you’re in for a simple ‘tap, move and win’, but actually require quite a few minutes of thought, trial and error before you solve it.

Please don’t get electrocuted!

Please don’t get electrocuted!

Later stages will require you to time your movements properly with the introduction of roaming electrocuting battery-looking robots. Upon contact, your poor little robot will be electrocuted as you watch it fall off the puzzle onto its face, or drown in sad misery if the puzzle involves a body of water. The game doesn’t automatically restart the level so you can take all the time you need grieving for the loss of your tiny robot before manually restarting via the menu. Quite a sadistic move from the developers I might say.

Mekorama’s charming user interface.

Mekorama’s charming user interface.

Mekorama’s user interface is presented like a digital book, swiping left or right flips to other features in the game. You can make your own masochistic levels and share them with your friends and other players, or you can find tons of other levels to solve on the official Facebook and Twitter page for Mekorama. Simply scan the QR code in-game on the images and the game will pull them right into your library.

Mekorama is best for people with some gaming experience
  • You play a charming robot, what’s not to love?
  • Features over 127 adorable diorama puzzles to keep you entertained.
  • Complex puzzles can be quite challenging especially for beginners
  • Low cost of entry when you need a hint to complete the puzzle.

Difficulty: Moderate

Mekorama is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Source for Images: In-game screenshots

Werewolf Tycoon – Play a werewolf in search of his next stealthy human snack!

Games, Mobile Games, Reviews

Werewolf Tycoon is a free stealth simulation game where you play a hungry werewolf preying on unsuspecting humans strolling in a park. With the bush and flickering lamp as your cover, you wait for the right time where all the yummy humans are right in front of you before you pounce and eat them. Eating business men carrying briefcases will earn you better rewards so be sure to prioritize your humans!

Werewolf Tycoon - Eating park goers!

Werewolf Tycoon – Eating park goers!

Sounds deceptively simple right? Problems arise when the werewolf is seen and fails to eat witnesses who escape. This combined with many missing people reports starts to generate interest in the media, bringing flocks of photographers to the park to prove the werewolf’s existence.

Werewolf Tycoon - Don't let the media get away!

Werewolf Tycoon – Don’t let the media get away!

Once the media arrives, it gets harder for the werewolf to casually eat humans in the dark as photographers will take pictures once it is spotted. If the media should escape with a photo of the werewolf, the army will be called upon to investigate and that’s when the werewolf either starves away in the bushes or gets shot by the army and the game ends.

Werewolf Tycoon - Open briefcases for special rewards!

Werewolf Tycoon – Open briefcases for special rewards!

At the end of each werewolf cycle, players will unlock special briefcases dropped in-game by business men when consumed, inside you will find strategic items that help make the next cycle a more bountiful feast, be sure to use them wisely.

The game is rather short with limited content but plays great as a stress reliever or time killer between commutes. Although the concept is bloodthirsty, the graphics is appealing and non-violent, making it suitable for all ages.

To get your claws on this game, download it today at Google Play and iTunes Store.