Send Molecules Flying Through A Primordial Soup In 3volution
3volution ($1.99) by ZAKI is a physics-based projectile game where you’ll send molecules flying around the level to score points.
You start the game with three helpers: Nunstuck, Slotermeyer, and Git, who you command on the primordial battlefield.
To play, you will tap and hold on one of your helpers in order to make a goal line appear. between the other two helpers. You will aim the helper you’re tapping through the other two, and then release.
I’m not entirely sure what this is accomplishing in the primordial world, but that’s the game. Shooting one helper through the other two is your goal, which must be completed before the timer runs out. If you take too long, you will lose a life. You also lose a life for making an invalid move.
Your helpers are awfully bouncy, as are the walls, so there will be plenty of ricocheting and bouncing along while trying to reach the goal line. It’s almost like a game of pinball or pool.
The game is organized into quests to help you progress, such as making a single move or scoring a certain number of shots. There are different types of shots, such as the quick shot, which requires moves in rapid succession.
It can be tricky to pull off some of these shots, and I was frustrated with the pacing of the game. It’s a bit too hard too early on, which made me lose interest.
No matter how quickly I made successive shots, it was not triggering the quick shot goal until the game crashed and restarted. Later quick shots are irritating because you have such a limited number of lives and fast moves equates to an imminent game over.
The game has blockers, movers, and goons that hinder your ability to reach the goal line, so these will also need to be overcome.
There are items you can collect and store in your inventory in order to help you along, plus on screen goodies. A goody is a power up that helps you in some way, destroying blockers and goons or adding bonus lives.
The game kept teasing that I would get to the fun part after completing all of the challenges, but after playing for an hour and not reaching the “good” stuff, I gave up.
While I liked the theme and the idea behind this game, I was not a fan of the way the gameplay was implemented. I want to have fun when I play games, and I was severely limited with the small number of lives when I had very little control of the board layout. Some shots were entirely impossible to execute when the helpers were lined up wrong.
This is a decent physics-based game with a lot of potential, but I experienced entirely too many crashes and frustrations to recommend it. If you’re interested in this game, I’d put it on your list and watch for an update before purchasing it.
