Pictorial
I’m not entirely sure that Pictorial isn’t more a relaxation tool than a game. Either way, it certainly tames the savage beast and soothes the fevered brow. I first played it after a truly shit day at the office and within 10 minutes I could feel the stress and aggravation sliding away. For want of a better description, it's a spatial recognition puzzle, with each level presenting you with a seemingly random star map.
As you rotate the map in 3D, connecting lines appear between the stars. The bolder these lines become, the nearer you are to recognising the pattern they form when rotated to perfection. Once the pattern is aligned true, you have ‘won’ and move on the to next. Initial levels are free but to unlock more and remove the ads, you need to cough up 69p, which is certainly a darn sight cheaper than a heart-attack or therapy.
Reg Rating 80%
Radiant Defence
No round-up would be complete without at least one representative from the world of tower defence gaming. Yet Radiant Defence, with its cool and slightly retro glow-in-the-dark visuals, needs no excuses to be included here. What sets Radiant Defence apart from the herd is its tongue in cheek humour and a cracking choice of weapons. Each weapon has a particular strength or weakness when used against a certain type of interdimensional nasty, consisting of an impressively original array.
Featuring superb stylized graphics and sound effects, its arcade style 2D layout never gives the impression that you are not seeing the wood for the trees, as you find with some tower defence games. This neon-lit ballet of ion canon destruction is a feast for the senses and pushes the genre beyond its usual and limited artistic boundaries.
Reg Rating 85%
Next page: Strikefleet Omega
COMMENTS
Better than all the aforementioned games:
ScummVM and a bunch of old point and clicks. I really don't know why developers aren't making native adventure games for Android already, the ergonomics are ideal for it.
Machinarium
> but I found this puzzler extraordinarily difficult and was constantly rummaging about on the web for walkthroughs
Use the little book icon on the menu. You play a little maze game with the key in order to unlock the book which then gives you useful hints.
Don't be put off by the the fact that the game can be challenging; the music, the art work and the way the story is told is absolutley superb.
Missing a few points.
Some goodies on the list but your review missed massive factors.
Strike fleet omega is a freemium game, impossible to progress after a while because upgrades cost. You have to unlock mega credits (cube like things) and you get maybe 2 or 3 in later levels, if you are quick and good. However you need 40 or so to buy chepaest upgrades (try an artillery ship to level 3, or buy the advanced fighter carriers)
It is only thanks to peer pressure that replaying early levels unlocks 'material' allowing a replay value, otherwise you wouldn't be able to progress or upgrade either. And replaying early leavels actually require you to spend mega credits on the doomsday weapo as a demonstration on how to use it. Seriously bad game if you don't want to spend real money on a suppodesly free game.
Now I support free games, but I worked it out that it would be over 20 quid if you want to be able to upgrade and but enough to get the all the ships.
Radiant HD as well is a must purchase or you will struggle, half those turrets you show in your screen shot are a purchase only affair with unlock packs. Only a quid each or so, but there are 5 or 6 of them.
I thnk the main thing is...
I think the main thing for tablet/phone gaming is that it's something to fill dead time - "I have 40 minutes until my flight boards, what shall I do with this time?"
To that end, IMHO games need to be:
1) quick. I should be able to complete a game or two during that time
2) resumable - when they say "group 4 may now board" I need to be able to shut the game down without losing a great deal of work.
3) absorbing, but not too absorbing: it should entertain me but not keep me from hearing the previously mentioned boarding announcement.
It seems that many of the games in this article meet those requirements, which is good.
And another..
Don't forget 'Great Little War Game' and its follow-ups.
My girlfriend is always complaining that I spend more time playing this than talking to her. But then, pretty much anything is better than talking about fluffy kittens / pretty dresses / celebrities, or whatever the hell else it is that women talk about.
