10000000 Review

My name is Mick Happy and for the last few weeks I have had a problem. The problem is I spend most nights (right before bed) running down the battery on my iPod playing 10000000 by Eightyeight Games. It is easy to play and frustratingly difficult to win.

The game is about you being locked in a castle and trying to get out by running through a hallway filled with doors, chests and monsters. To get past the said obstacles, you try to match 3 or more items in a typical match 3 game played on the bottom part of the screen. You can match keys, wands, stone, wood, packs or swords. Match swords and wands to damage monsters, keys to open doors/chests, wood and stone for resources and packs for special items.

Sounds easy right. Sure it is. For every obstacle you overcome you get gold or score points. Get to 10000000 score and you get your freedom. As you match items in the matching game and beat monsters, you move a little farther to the right on the screen (safety) as you get hit by monsters or take too long to make a match, you move to the left (running out of time). When you go off the screen to the left your run ends. You can then either run again or go home. Once home, you can spend your gold, stone and wood to upgrade your castle and “level up” your skills (making your matches more effective.

Each run you have a few objectives you can try (get 800 wood, defeat X monsters, etc.), which if you achieve them you get a gold or experience bonus and achieve all of them on a level and you will level up your explorer status. (The higher explorer level the more score bonus you get). Whew…that’s a lot to remember, except you don’t have to remember it as all you have to do is start a run and then match tiles as quickly as you can by moving a column up or down or a row side to side. One unique feature of 10000000 is that the screen wraps so if you need something moved you move it as far as you need to up/down or side/side none of this just swap with the tile next to it stuff here.

As you maybe can tell, I like this game. At first it was a bit maddening and a little too frenetic for me, but once I got over trying to get 10000000 each run, it became fun trying to get the little goals each run or raising my score a bit more each time. Now I have nearly maxed out everything I can in my castle and I still only have a high score of 3800000…so much farther to go. But you can bet I will still be running to get there. 10000000 is a 4 Mick Happy game. I was able to pick it up on sale through iTunes for $0.99. It is currently listed at $1.99 and would have been worth it at that price. Here is a trailer from the developer to help you decide:

Death Rally Mobile Review

I had never heard of Death Rally for the iOS platform before Touch Arcade posted that it was going to be free for a limited time. Never one to pass up a free game if it looks even remotely interesting; I downloaded it for my iPod Touch (3^rd gen or newer only can play the game).

Death Rally is published by Remedy Entertainment and developed by Cornfox & Brothers and Mountain Sheep, Inc. The game is an action racer where you compete against 5 opponents in a race to the death. Your opponents can be computer run (single player career) or computer/humans in the multiplayer campaign. Depending on how you do in each race, you earn points that can be spent to upgrade your car, weapons or increase your overall fame.

The game starts with you driving a beetle-like little car with a gun attached. In each race, you compete to be first, to destroy your opponents or both. During the race, you can also shoot barrels that will explode or crates that will give you power-ups or cash (adds to your points at the end of the race) all the while watching your own health hoping you don’t get killed. There are a total of 8 cars and 6 main tracks to race along with multiple weapons to choose from. New cars and tracks are unlocked by picking up parts during races (not sure if the same mechanic is used in Multiplayer). This allows you to earn all of the cars and tracks in single player mode without having to make in app purchases (except the flamer weapon, which seems to be IAP only).

The controls for Death Rally consist of a virtual stick on the lower left part of the screen to control the car and a button on the lower right part of the screen to activate your weapon. I found that having no tactile feel of exactly where I was pushing the virtual stick to be a little difficult at times, but not overly so.

What I liked best about Death Rally is how accessible it is. Have 90 seconds to spare? That is more than enough time for a race. I also like that there are multiple ways to score points in each race – meaning that winning isn’t always necessary to make enough points to reach that next car/weapon upgrade (you score points for cash pickups, killing opponents, what place you come in and if you beat your lap or race time on the track). There are also multiple difficulties for each track and challenge races including a marathon race that will take 15 – 20 minutes or more to complete.

I highly recommend Death Rally even for the $0.99 it currently costs on iTunes. Unless you are impatient, you shouldn’t need to make any IAP in single player at all. You will also get a lot of replay value out of the various tracks and cars to choose from. Death Rally gets four and a half Mick Happies. Go get your rally on.

Off the Leash Review

If you were wondering why the reviews have slowed down, one reason might be Off the Leash, is the latest iOS game from Big Pixel Studios that was released on February 2, 2012. The game’s premise is that there is a new sheriff in town who has banned all dogs. Dogs are being rounded up and hauled off and you, as a dog, escape from your house and go on the lamb. Along the way, you try to free other dogs and lead your pack to safety.

Off the Leash is a top to bottom scroller with extremely simple controls. Tilt the iPod or iPad left to move left and right to move right. Touch the screen and your pouch will slow down and any dogs in your pack will line up behind you. Simple, right? If only it were so. Along the way you have to watch out for water hazards that slow you down. There are also barricades that you can knock down, but will seriously sap your speed and even if you miss it, any dogs in your pack that hit them will be knocked unconscious, causing you to leave them behind. Above all, though, you have to watch the clock that is constantly ticking down and if it runs out before you reach the next checkpoint, you will be caught.

Don’t worry; there are also power-ups to be had that will help you along the way. You can also level up if your little doggie happens to pick up enough food items on the run. There are also coins that you collect as you run that you can spend for customizing your dog’s outfit, unlocking additional dogs or other items. I have played 44 games of Off the Leash now, collecting 11,020 coins. Yes, the game keeps track of everything you have accomplished and has Game Center achievements too.

I really enjoy how quickly you can play a game – most will last 5 minutes or less.  There is definite replay value as the game provides you with missions to complete as you take your dog on the run. Complete the three missions and you get a reward such as helpful items or unlock a special level. My wife and daughter didn’t like seeing the doggies being caught or knocked senseless by the obstacles in their way – they are sensitive that way, so if that would bother you at least you are aware of it going in.  That’s okay, more Off the Leash for me. Off the Leash is a fun game that has the great price of Free. You can buy coins and other items as in app purchases, but if you are persistent you can get the same things just by playing the free game without buying anything. Really, there is no reason not to go and download Off the Leash right now. Off the Leash gets 4 Mick Happies. If you want to learn more, you can check out Touch Arcade’s review of the game here.

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