Quirky App Of The Day: Crouching Panda Hidden Swine
by Kathryn Zane
July 3, 2011
I'm on a bit of a panda kick I suppose. This time, instead of a slingshot of death and fire, these pandas are against other animals in the traditional martial arts of kung fu. At least, that's what I believe it is. I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that there's gold, battles and exaggerated skills.
Crouching Panda Hidden Swine is a fun app for animal martial arts moves. There's the ability to upgrade skills, buy weapons and armor, and get potions and scrolls. The main draw back is that you are only allowed five battles per round. After that, there's a cool-off time before you can fight the next five battles. I'm one of those people that when I play my game, I want to be the one who determines how long I can play. That's a personality quirk on mine, so I can't hold it against the devs. There are some people who actually like having a game that has time contraints.
Besides my little hang up about the battle limit, there are some great things to say about the game. First off, not only is there a daily bonus, but there's a gift wheel that gives out gold every few hours. I've played my fair share of energy required games. I am mostly referring to my embarrassing expertise in Facebook games. Having a game that gives you a daily bonus is a common thing. However, the extra padded gift wheel is thoughtful. Like a gift basket on your birthday sort of thoughtful.
You begin the game with choosing an animal. There are fifteen of them, so there's plenty to pick from. Next,
choose the emphasis you want your animal to have. There's endurance, strength and agility. After that, the rest is up to you. Once you level up, you have the option to purchase more skill points with the gold that you've earned. You can do that, or you can invest that gold in armor and weapons. This is one of the few simple games where there's actually the chance for some strategy in how you want to set up your character.
Another great feature is that you're playing against other players in Game Center. There's even a code tied to you personally. So, if your friends want to fight you, all they have to do is type in the code. However, the mobility of the app starts to slow after that. The fights are automated, so you have no control over the fight. Boo! In a swift act of redemption, the app follows up with a brutal uppercut of special abilities. Basically, it does in fact have special abilities that kick in randomly during the fight. It all balances out in the end. You know, all that ying-yang jazz.
Crouching Panda Hidden Swine is available at iTunes for the awesome price of FREE!
