A logic and action-based puzzler, iPolygon, has recently been released as a universal app on the App Store.
The game has been designed to be played in the portrait orientation mode with the player either relying on swipes or gyroscope controls. Gameplay revolves around a ricochet mechanic.
The aim of each level is to keep a moving ball inside a structure full of colorful walls while breaking all the walls in each level. This means that players want to hit the walls and break them, but keep the ball constantly moving; and not fall off the edge of the structures' walls into space. There are also two smaller power-up orbs available that stay stationary.
One of these power-ups is red and has an "e" symbol. Hitting it, t will make the ball have spikes on its outer edges and turn red. The other power-up represents a money symbol and is orange. It will give players points in the game, but the ball won't alter its shape.
The walls will only crumble when the ball hits the red power-up and becomes spiked. when the ball is spiked by the red power-ups, it can break walls and players can advance. If a ball hits without being spiked, the walls will not collapse.
Players must keep the ball from escaping. The walls crumble after getting hit, so players must rotate the ones still standing and make the orb bounce back.
The game offers various levels to play through that automatically switch after all the structural walls get broken besides one. This means that each side besides one gets hit with the spiked ball.
At first, this was a confusing concept to grasp because the game isn't totally self-explanatory. A couple times I thought the ball was about to fall between the walls' cracks, but to my surprise the level switched. This saved me from losing a life and the game only offers three per play through.
There are no continues or saves so players will have to start at level 1 every time they re-enter into the game or lose all lives. This was one shortcoming that I thought needs to be addressed in future revisions -- if iPolygon gets updated.
Other shortcomings with this game relate to audio. Although there are various sound effects present when the moving ball hits power-ups and walls, there isn't any background music present in the game. I wished that som sort of a background tune was available present in other puzzle games on the App Store.
There are also two main modes of play that include an arcade mode, and a marathon mode. I am not actually sure what the differences are between them since they offer such similar gameplay. They are both based on getting as far as possible in the game without losing all three lives.
Overall, this game needs a lot of work, but if you enjoy ricochet and are looking for a fun little time waster, check it out. The game is very colorful and is one of a handful of titles designed for the portrait orientation.
