Best games this week: You Must Build A Boat and Hitman Sniper
Every week, our staff will handpick a game from the past two weeks that we believe is a must-have download for your iPhone or iPad. These games will always be from a wide variety of genres, but they are chosen because our own staff members love it and can’t put it down. So here are this week’s picks! Enjoy, and happy gaming!
You Must Build A Boat
Match and build your way to exploring the world in our Game of the Week.
Do you love match-three puzzle games and RPGs? Then you must check out our Game of the Week, You Must Build A Boat by EightyEight Games. This is the highly anticipated sequel to the original 10000000 title from a few years ago.
In YMBAB, players embark on a journey across the world, which means traveling through cool places like a Mage Tower all the way down to the bottom of Hell. The game features a pixelated, 16-bit look and feel, but is packed with fine details and smooth animations, as well as quirky characters of all kinds. There is also a chiptune soundtrack that is delightful to listen to, and the sound effects are a fun, finishing touch.
In order to travel the world, though, you need a boat, and a much bigger one at that. Players will set out across the different lands and collect new crew members and resources to expand the boat, while facing tougher foes and dangers ahead. The game itself is pretty much endless — you go as far as you can until defeat, and there’s no real “losing” in this game.
Before embarking on a run, though, you can choose to add “quests,” which are goals on the run that can up the difficulty but reward you with better quality items. Once a run begins, you see your character running along at the top of the screen, and the game grid below. You’ll run into various enemies, traps, and even treasure chests. Match the appropriate tiles to perform physical or magical attacks, boost your defenses, unlock treasure, and have enough resources (strength and intelligence) to bring captured monsters on your ship for various effects. The matches are made by sliding columns and rows — it’s impossible to just move one tile at a time. After you reach a certain point, you move on to the next segment of the run, which increases in difficulty.
While this game looks like a standard match-three on the surface, it requires a lot of planning and strategy. Matches should only be made when there is something else at the top of the screen, unless you’re collecting crates, strength, or intelligence tiles. You also don’t need to wait until a combo is done to make another match — just slide away and things will take care of themselves. It’s all about speed.
We’ve been getting a kick out of YMBAB, and it’s a must-have for the week, especially if you were a fan of the original 10000000 or just like match-three and RPG games. You can find You Must Build A Boat on the App Store as a universal download for $2.99.
For a closer look at You Must Build A Boat, make sure to check out my full review.
Honorable Mention
Hitman: Sniper
Get the definitive mobile experience of Hitman with our Honorable Mention this week.
Need more Hitman in your life? You should check out our Honorable Mention, Hitman: Sniper by Square Enix.
A while back, Square Enix released another mobile Hitman game in the form of Hitman GO, which was an interesting puzzle game that strays from the original Hitman formula. With Sniper, we go back to the shooter roots of Hitman, although it is now “on-rails” to better suit mobile touch screen devices. In Sniper, players will take on the role of Agent 47 and his famous sniper rifle. The goal in Hitman: Sniper is to go through each level and assassinating the intended target while avoiding detection.
The game features stunning and gorgeous graphics that resemble the original Hitman console games, and the soundtrack and sound effects are just as you’d expect from the series. There are over 150 missions to complete, and full Game Center integration for leaderboards. In addition to Agent 47’s signature rifle, there are 13 sniper rifles to unlock and assemble, so having the variety is nice.
We’ve been enjoying a mobile Hitman experience, and if you’re a fan of the Hitman series or just like shooters in general, this is worth checking out. You can find Hitman: Sniper on the App Store as a universal download for $4.99.
For more about Hitman: Sniper, don’t miss our original article.
