#5 - Trace

Game: Trace

Price: £Free / $Free | App Store |
Genre: Action, Puzzle
Developer: Kevin Calderone
Rating: 4+

Design: 6/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

Draw On Your Problem Solving Skills!
Take on various elements of the world and save your stick man from instant peril as you draw yourself a route through a vast series of challenging levels. This game will test your problem solving skills, but in a relaxing and enjoyable way. It's an odd experience really, so arm your drawing finger and take a closer look.

Design
It's probably one of the simplest designs of any game on the entire App Store, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. The game has deliberately used the most basic of graphics to give it a quirky look and feel that will have you focusing more on the gameplay. There are a number of moments where you'll have to take a good few looks in order to figure out what the developer has attempted to draw, badly, but somehow that actually adds to the fun. The developer is in no way pretending to be an artist, but has comfortably proven that you don't necessarily need to be one in order to achieve a great game. It feels like you're playing something that has been knocked up really quickly, but thanks to the addictive, intuituve nature of the game, it's thoroughly enjoyable and feels very personal. There are a huge number of levels, all placed into fun themes that will keep you busy for weeks.

Sound
The soundtrack is thoroughly enjoyable throughout with a new tune for each of the 6 themed categories plus the homescreen song. The music is incredibly soothing and adds to the experience very well. There are only a couple of SFX, but that is all that was needed really and it is by no means a bad thing. The music adds to the games relaxed design and gameplay that will leave you feeling very content as opposed to frustrated.

Gameplay
The main part of the game is to draw the platforms that your stick man can travel across in order to reach the shining golden sun (the goal), tweaking routes with your eraser as you go. However, you also have the additional controls in the form of left and right and jump, meaning that you have complete control at all times. You will fail if your man falls off the screen or is hit by an obstacle, but everytime this happens you simply go straight back to the beginning of the level and can start again instantly. It's quick and painless and makes for a very pleasant gaming experience with no loading time between attempts. All levels have a completion time that you can try and beat (offering repeat gaming) and there is an overall completion percentage challenging you to beat every single one of the 120 levels. Needless to say, the game offers incredible value for money!

Conclusion
This is a very unique gaming experience that, despite it's simple design and gameplay, is actually incredibly good fun to play and can be very challenging. The fact that you can attempt to complete each level in any number of ways makes it a very liberating experience and gives a puzzle feel to the game as you try to figure out the best route. It's not going to win any awards for its design, but if you can see past that and accept it as fun and quirky, then you will discover an awesome game that cost you nothing at all and will entertain you for hours and hours. Give it a go, it's free!

#1 - Monster Dash

Game: Monster Dash

Price: £0.59 / $0.99 | App Store |
Genre: Action, Scroller
Developer: Halfbrick
Rating: 9+

Design: 7/10
Sound: 6/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Do The Monster Dash!
A fast paced action scroller from the makers of Fruit Ninja and Age of Zombies promises to pack a punch. Armed and dangerous, you jump and shoot your way through the automatically scrolling levels in your bid to survive the longest possible distance. As you progress, the background themes change, new weapons become available and different monsters meet their match. Here's a quick review. Must dash...

Design
A colourful array of backgrounds, monster styles and themes keep a reasonable amount of interest and the random manner that levels and monsters appear promises a different game everytime. Levels include Transylvania, Great Wall of China and Tokyo Rooftops with monsters such as Vampires, Yetis and Zombies. Your arsenal of weapons start with the unlimited default shotgun which is then trumped by limited allocations of weapons you pick up on the go such as The Pacifier Magnum, Rocket Launcher and some creative inclusions like the Machine Gun Jet Pack.

Sound
The music is suitably catchy and each themed level triggers a remix of the ongoing song. There is certainly room for more variety, but the subtle changes are enough to stop you getting annoyed. The SFX are few and far between, but that's the nature of the game - you spend all your time jumping and shooting! Even if there were more monster and background sounds, I'm not sure you'd be able to appreciate them with the constant shooting and the soundtrack.

Gameplay
The aim of the game is to secure the highest possible score both locally amongst friends and through the use of Open Feint online scoring. There are no challenges or tasks to give an idea of progress, but this is mildly dealt with by the unlockable Achievements and playing Statistics. The controls are simple enough, with left taps jumping and right taps firing but you will find that it gets difficult very quickly with the pace of your running increasing all the time. Death is met by losing all your hearts through monster contact and obstacles or, most commonly, losing all your hearts in one go by failing to make a jump.

Conclusion
Overall this is a very addictive and catchy game, but only to a point. It's likely you'll play it endlessly for the first week and then it'll drop off your radar a little as the next distraction gets released. If the developers can add a new level, monster and weapon every so often, it'll spark a little more interest. However, some new playing styles are badly needed to keep this interesting such as challenges and tasks or just some form of completion other than endlessly chasing the highscore! At £0.59, it delivers some entertainment and it's well worth a look.