smacks a bit of
IAP-infused games,
but showcases how
such progression can
encourage regular
play in a manner
that’s player-friendly
rather than a cynical
cash-grab. The cherry
on top? Loading up
your own music. If
you ever wanted
to see city-wide
destruction by a
colossal cuddly rabbit
playing out to everything from Lady
Gaga to The Prodigy, this is your game.
- Jumpgrid
Price: £2.99
When you return to ancient games,
they often seem pedestrian. Jumpgrid
takes two such classics – Pac-Man
and Frogger – strips them right back,
adds a swig or two of rocket fuel, and
then flings them at your face with the
kind of menace that will leave you a
gibbering wreck. And it’s great.
The entire game plays out on a
three-by-three grid. Along the edges
are spinning cubes. Munch all the
cubes and a teleporter appears in
the centre, allowing you to escape
to the next level. But there are no
ghostly adversaries or trundling traffic
in Jumpgrid’s world – instead, your
foes are lurching, wheeling chunks of
geometric doom.
In being infused with the sadistic
edge of a Super Hexagon, Jumpgrid
immediately throws down the
gauntlet, and can feel overwhelming.
But stick with it, and you’ll start
to learn the patterns, giving you a
fighting chance of victory in speed
runs or the gaming perfection that is
its endless mode.
Getting there will require lots of
patience, quite a few deaths, and a
steely nerve; but this is one of those
titles that when mastered makes you
feel like a gaming god; it’s well worth
the effort.10.