Incoboto review (iPad)

♫ “There’s always the sun
Always, always, always the sun”

10 word description: Galaxy exploration with puzzles, jetpacks, teleports, gravity beams, Game Center.

Your only friend is the sun, and he's a bit strange

10 word review: A beautiful, melancholy, cynically humorous, challenging and utterly enjoyable journey.

The skeletons can be examined to find fragmented memories; occasionally helpful, often sad

You will like this if you enjoy: Unique and moving gaming experiences on your iPad. Or, if I was trying to be less of a pretentious tosser, excellent platform puzzle games that aren’t really platform puzzle games, but that’s the easiest point of reference for me to use.

The good news: A very successful attempt at creating something a little bit different. Fabulous graphics and effects. Appropriate and entertaining sounds and music. Clever combinations of puzzle elements and exploration. Single finger control method that works well the majority of the time. Strange, enchanting story. Very amusing corporate messages in lieu of helpful hints.

The bad news: Sometimes, not very often, I thought the controls could have been slightly better when trying to complete a puzzle that involved moving quickly and pressing buttons. However, that’s more likely a generic shortcoming of any kind of control system on a touch screen, rather than a specific issue with this game’s controls.

Arcadelife verdict: I was encouraged to get hold of this game for a review by a friend who has now completed it and reckons it’s a potential game of the year for him. I’m glad I took his advice, because it’s an excellent game, testing your logic and dexterity at the same time as amusing you with darkly satirical corporate messages that I’m sure Joseph Heller would have appreciated. Incoboto is one of those games that sticks in your mind after every session, probably long after you complete it too.

It’s hard to think of games that can be directly compared with Incoboto The rotating planets are vaguely reminiscent of Soosiz with a hint of Super Mario Galaxy, but Incoboto is about heroically lonely puzzle solving rather than dodging cartoon enemies or repeatedly falling off into space. The button pushing, teleporting and gravity hopping are familiar puzzle elements packaged together in a new and fascinating manner. I’ll say this: if you have an iPad and you’re the slightest bit interested in playing games on it, you should either already have this one or be putting it at the top of your ‘to get’ list.

Arcadelife rating

Visuals – 10/10
Audio – 9.5/10
Controls – 8.5/10
Content – 9/10
Fun – 9/10
Final rating – 92/100

Rating categories explained here.

Version reviewed by Arcadelife is 0000.01.65

Fluttermind website link

Arcadelife played and reviewed this game on:
iPad (OS 5.0.1)