Beam Your Friends To Safety In Spacelings
Spacelings ($0.99) by HotGen Ltd. is a great new puzzle game which asks you to save as many spacelings as possible. There's just a time limit and you have to use nothing more than a tractor beam and a handful of deflectors to direct that beam where it needs to go.
Your blue tractor beam is projected by the mother ship and provides a constant force of attraction. Anything caught in the beam will be pulled back to the ship, but the spacelings are distributed around complex mechanical-looking structures.
To get the beam to where it needs to be, you will need to use your deflectors. There are almost no restrictions on where those deflectors can be except that they have to be within the beam and you only get four to start off with. Saving just one spaceling will unlock the next level.
Now, this might all sound very simple, but there are some extra elements to make things interesting.
Not only do you have to find the shortest route possible (to not run out of deflectors), but you also have to find the safest route possible. There are bombs flying around and lasers incessantly shooting.
Once the tractor beam has an object moving, that object will not stop until it hits something even if you redirect the beam someplace else. This is great for being able to slingshot bombs away from your spacelings. You can also use the reverse side of deflectors to bounce laser shots to either destroy the nasty obstacles or just clear a path.
On certain levels, there are pods you can collect (using your tractor beam, of course) which allow you extra deflectors for that level. To help beat the time or avoid anything dangerous, you are able to speed up objects moving through the beam or even slow them down.
All of that might sound somewhat obscure, but the game starts out with a ton of tutorial levels. Although this does give a somewhat slow start to getting to the “good stuff,” it does make sure you are left with no doubt as to what options are available to you.
Don’t think this will let you be lazy, though. Some levels require a bit of trial and error to find their solutions.
The game is well animated with crisp colorful graphics and cute little aliens. With over 100 levels to explore, the game is extremely replayable and well worth the small payment asked for.
