Help Inco And His Sunny Friend Helios Re-Light The Galaxy
Incoboto ($2.99) by Fluttermind is an iPad-only game that’s hard to describe, because it’s not quite like anything else in the App Store. It’s part platformer, part puzzle game, and it slightly resembles other games like Super Mario Galaxy and Soosiz (iOS), because it features a round, constantly turning world. It’s surreal, whimsical landscape and fantastical puzzles are all its own.
It is a rare occurrence when an iOS game has a deep enough story to immediately draw me in, but Incoboto’s story of Inco, the last surviving human in a dead universe is one such story. It’s well thought out, engaging, and leaves me wanting more.
Lonely Inco finds a single remaining sentient being - an obviously mad sun named Helios, who speaks with an endearing babyish voice and brings a spark of life to an otherwise empty world with his enthusiastic persona.
Helios, with Inco’s help, is able to restore power and light to some of the machines and gates in the world, and so the goal of the game is to find the bits of stars that satiate Helios’ appetite for energy.
To find stars, you will need to help Inco solve a series of puzzles, which get increasingly harder as the game progresses. These are often physics-based puzzles, with pulleys, levers, and buttons to activate, plus pillars and rocks to jump on and climb.
The world consists of a series of planets, that are interconnected by star gates. Helios is able to activate these when he’s consumed enough stars, and that is how Inco travels. You will often backtrack to new areas in places you’ve been before, and it’s easy to get lost, especially if you take a break and come back to the game later.
As Inco walks along each planet, the camera spins the world around to follow him, meaning levels are often short (but involved). Movement is done with simple touch controls, which were clearly carefully designed to give a particular experience in the game. Walking forward is done with a single finger on the screen, and jumping is done by swiping the same finger upwards.
These controls are not quite ideal, and jumping can be a frustrating prospect at times, especially when Inco needs to make a longer leap. You can switch to a d-pad, but even in this mode, it’s essentially the same since jumping is still done with a swipe (the developer wants you to play this game one-handed). There’s also a two-finger gesture that identifies objects and searches for hidden game elements.
As you play, you will come across the bones of the deceased, which often have game hints to help you figure out puzzles. You’ll also see signs from The Corporation, the mega-company that created the bizarre contraptions around the world. These signs are just one of the great game elements, and each one features a silly tagline that you can Tweet from within the app.
As with most indie puzzlers, Incoboto has some puzzles that are really challenging. You’ll complete tasks like lining up electrical rods, throwing rocks to hit switches, and rotating maze boxes to move on. You will inevitably get stuck, and you’re sure to get frustrated, but the experience, overall, is rewarding.
Though I had trouble solving puzzles (I’m stuck on one right now as I’m writing this), Incoboto is a game that I didn’t want to give up on. The story, the art, and the puzzles are all entirely engrossing, and the world is just plain gorgeous. Incoboto is a must buy, and it’s a great deal right now at $2.99.
