required for doing so.
Linn can frustrate, not
least when the slightly
twitchy controls fail
you. But restarts
are swift, and this is
a rewarding game
when you crack a
particularly bonkers
level, and then
spare yourself a few
seconds to breathe
in the lush audio and
minimal visuals before
tackling the next
challenge.
- Mushroom 11
Price: £4.99
Something terrible has happened
in the world of Mushroom 11. The
scarred landscape – peppered with
pools of toxic liquids – provides only
glimpses of what once was, in a few
twisted scraps of metal and damaged
structures. Life barely clings on –
although not necessarily in the forms
you’d expect.
One such survivor is a green blob,
which comes under your control. It
has a thirst to explore its ravaged
world, gobbling up bugs, flowers, and
surprisingly psychotic plants. And the
way in which it does so showcases the
wonderfully tactile, intuitive nature of
the best iOS games.
Although this is a platform/puzzler,
you at no point press left, right or
jump. Instead, you use a finger to
‘erase’ chunks of the blob, which
then grow back. Sometimes, you
blaze through tunnels, Sonic-style.
Elsewhere, you carefully mould your
creature into a pole to activate a set
of buttons, or split it in half, so one
part can trigger a switch while the
other sneaks through a door.
Whether you tackle the adventure
by slowly picking your way along
or treating it as a manic speed run,
Mushroom 11 is a unique, engaging
experience that only really makes
sense on the touchscreen.20.