Yes, a Weekly Game on a Tuesday. It’s a day we’ll never forget, and the game we’re covering is so good I couldn’t help but play 3 hours with it last night and wake up early this morning to hit the Publish button.
Astronut by the Iconfactory is a game I was looking forward to. Since I saw the first shots on Dribbble, the promo video and I heard from people who were testing it that it was really great, I started waiting for the app to show up in iTunes with much anticipation. The app became available last night, and it’s free in the App Store. A clever move, as if you want to purchase extra “sectors” (level packs, or “zones”) you’ll have to complete a $1.99 in-app purchase. Which is totally worth it.
Astronut looks great (especially on the Retina Display) and it’s addictive. You can think of it as a mix between Mario Galaxy, Doodle Jump and NinJump, but I don’t want you to think of it as some weird combination of elements. Astronut shines because it’s unique: it is a stunning implementation of action and strategy. So what is it about, exactly? In the game, you control this astronaut who has to jump between planets to reach the top of a level. Pretty simple, right? Not really: while jumping, you have to consider the gravity of each planet, the fact that you’re not just jumping but you’re using a jetpack, avoid enemies and know the specific nature of a planet.
For instance, some planets are like little volcanos – they’ll burn you (thus making you lose life points) if you stay too much on them; some are giant black holes that won’t let you jump anymore if you’re not quick. While Astronut may look simple on the surface (it’s just Doodle Jump in space! – I can hear the App Store reviewers already), physics make it stand out. The way your character jumps between planets reminds me of Mario’s movements in Galaxy, but the way you can make points by just floating in space avoiding enemies is clever, and unique. The truth is Astronut is unique in many ways.
Technically speaking, Astronut features great sounds and graphics. The cool thing is, sounds are functional to the game itself: some planets will warn you with “beeps” when it’s time to jump, or you can hear enemies approaching by the sound they make.
Overall, an article can’t really describe how much fun it is to play Astronut. But I can recommend it to you, so if there’s one game you’ll download this week make it this one. It’s free, the in-app purchase a no-brainer. What’s great about Astronut is that it combines a simple and addictive gameplay with a crazy attention to details you’ll have to face when trying to break your friends’ records.
Go download it.
