Skillfully Ride The Waves For As Long As You Can In High Tide
High Tide ($0.99) by AppInTheBox is a game that is similar to that of Tiny Wings, but requires more strategy and skill.
If you’re not familiar with Tiny Wings, then here’s the basic premise of High Tide: your ship is low on fuel, but you have to get home safely before the incoming storm! So what do you do? Ride the waves skillfully, of course!
The controls in High Tide are a bit more complex compared to a game like Tiny Wings. You tap on the screen, but there are two sides that will have your ship do different things. Tapping on the left will power-up your ship, but this requires fuel (you can collect fuel in the waves every now and then). Tapping the right side of the screen will make your ship dive.
So the controls are pretty simple (just not as simple as Tiny Wings), but to be good in the game, you will have to know when and where to tap on either side of the screen. Using the power-up will also burn through your fuel, so make sure to use it efficiently. Diving on upward slopes will slow you down, but diving on downward slopes will greatly increase your speed and allow you to jump high in the sky.
As you go through the days (each level is a day), you will see fuel and coins to pick up. The fuel is always good to have, so try and collect them when you can, since using your ship’s ability will burn through it quickly. The coins can be collected and used to purchase three additional vehicles in the game (you can also buy coins as in-app purchases). Beware of those seagulls though! If you bump into them, they can slow you down significantly, so avoid them if you can.
Your goal in each level is to land safely at the end before the storm gets you. High Tide provides dynamic backgrounds that will be different each time you play, but it always gets darker when the storm is approaching. Each world will also have varying weather conditions that may make it easier or harder for you to make your way through.
If you need a visual of how close or far the storm is from your ship, check the progress bar at the bottom – make sure that cloud and lightning bolt are as far away as possible. If you’re moving extremely slow, the storm will catch up to you quickly; if you move fast, the storm will have a hard time getting you. It’s game over if you can’t escape the storm though, but in the meantime, get the highest score you can.
I mentioned vehicles earlier; you start out with the sea plane, but there are three more vehicles that you can buy with the coins you collect. The Jet Boat has rocket engines, the Hovercraft, well, hovers, and the Yacht can catch the wind to soar.
If you do well enough on a level, you may be rewarded with a bonus level. The bonus level is like the ordinary levels, except there are a lot more coins to collect (and your fuel replenishes automatically after a few seconds), so take advantage of it!
High Tide also features Game Center integration for leaderboards and achievements.
I found High Tide to be extremely fun to play, with the gorgeous graphics and fun music. However, if you are the type to want to listen to your own music while playing games, High Tide doesn’t stop you, which is great.
Perhaps a future update can bring even more vehicles and backgrounds.
Regardless, High Tide is a great little pick-up-and-play game that will have you going “just one more try!” for a while. Fans of games like Tiny Wings will definitely appreciate this one.
