Puzzler apps are a favorite of mine. The quick playing genre with a short learning curve is particularly attractive as a pick up and play option. Personally, I am not one to spend countless hours pecking away at my iOS device screen, trying to envelope myself in a deep plot twisting thriller action app. Consequently, that leaves me traipsing through the app store poking around for quick fixes.
Overview
One of the many puzzlers amongst a large crowd, Sir Octopus dropped earlier this month. The object of the game is to help Sir Octopus round up his lost kindergarten children through the watery deep. The board is laid out as a grid, providing only the four cardinal directions for movability. Getting through the ocean floor is further omplicated by assorted obstacles, mainly seaweed, and the troubling problem that once the rug rats are stuck to dear old dad, they will not move.
I try not to compare apps to one another and give each game a chance to shine by its lonesome. However, I cannot prevent from calling attention to the similarities between Sir Octopus and Pudding Monsters by ZeptoLab. Sir Octopus borrows the following items from Pudding Monsters, which released late last year: the grid system; the gathered items stick together; and the user must maneuver around various obstacles. The entirety of the game is essentially borrowed straight from Pudding Monsters
Now, that isn’t to say that just because one game uses the same platform it is not creative. There are 10s, if not 100s, of endless runners and side scrollers in the app store. But Sir Octopus does not really take the gridded puzzler genre and make its own mark.
The levels offer a bit of creativity and the controls are easy to figure out but it just does not stand out. But, here I am complaining about a free app. The game is ad supported but it is not laden with annoying pop ups. After every 3 or 4 levels and ad is presented between level changes, which is nicer than being pounded at every turn.
Conclusion [rating: 3/5]
At the full price of free, again, I would argue it is worth a download and 5 minutes of your time, just to see if you like it. There are 3 level packs included with 21 individual challenges within each. Completing the level in a certain amount of time awards you a starfish. Other than that, it is devoid of personality.
Borrowing a platform is not the worse option in the world. In fact side scrollers and first person shooters have been popular since the ’80’s but all good games leave their own mark. Oh, did I mention the pause screen will crash the app if you try to restart the level? Just the icing on a plain vanilla cake.
Pros:
- Free
- Fun for puzzle lovers
- The hint feature helps complete levels
- A redo button
Cons:
- The hint feature just tells you how to beat the whole level
- No sound effects
- Borrowed genre with limited creativity
- Some bugs
