STUFF AWARDS 2019
MOBILE GAME
OF THE YEAR
APP
OF THE YEAR
JUMPGRID
PIXELMATOR
PHOTO
Some games take no prisoners. But you get
the feeling Jumpgrid would take them and eat
them, given half a chance. At its core there’s
a beating black heart of fury, fused to a
stripped-back neon nightmare that recalls
both Frogger and Pac-Man.
Your task is simple: jump from point to point on
a tiny grid, grabbing the spinning cubes at its
edges, and make for the exit. But countless
geometric shapes lurch and whirl, all too eager
to smash you to pieces. The game is staccato.
You’ll die – often. The ‘boss’ levels will reduce
you to tears. But also, you’ll fast recognise the
white-knuckle ride of Jumpgrid as mobile’s
greatest twitch arcade game.Modern digital darkrooms afford you plenty
of control, but frankly, who has the time? This
app has been trained on 20 million professional
photos so it can do the work for you, fixing
any snap with a tap.
You might wear a sceptical expression on
reading that. Fair enough – most automation
of this sort is garbage. But with the odd
exception, this app is astonishingly good at
tweaking colours and making your pics look
balanced and beautiful. And if you do prefer
to be in the driving seat, a host of sliders and
buttons will hurl you down an hours-deep
rabbit-hole of transforming even the most
basic image into a masterpiece.£2.89 / Android O £2.99 / iOS £4.99 / iPadNOMINEES
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