Dizzypad

Nimblebit have already released a number of well designed and polished casual games, most notably Scoops and Sky Burger.  A few days ago saw their latest release hit the AppStore, in their own words this game is Koi Pond meets Doodle Jump. I am talking, or course, about Dizzypad.

Dizzypad offers the most simplest of gameplay mechanics, one finger tap is all you need, but that’s not to say there isn’t skill involved in this title. With the premise of jumping a frog from lily pad to lily pad his game is all about timing as each lily pad is rotating. It’s those rotating lily pads that make this game so much fun to play, a little blue arrow indicates which direction your frog will jump and you need to tap the screen at just the right time in order to make it to the next lily pad and avoid ending up in the drink.

I imagine at this point, you may be wondering what else there is to this game, the answer is nothing. But lets not forget that some of the most popular casual games for iPhone involve the simplest of mechanics which require just enough skill to make you scream for one more go. This game does not disappoint on that score. Whilst there is a small amount of sympathy in relation to you aim, if you’re just off you can still land safely on the next pad, but this margin isn’t so wide as to make the game too easy. Far from it, as with any game of timing, I found that if I missed a jump once, I tended to miss it a few times as I struggled to regain my composure.

But don’t fret, this game isn’t timed and there isn’t a limit to the number of revolutions your allowed on any one lily pad before you’re forcibly ejected. In addition, if you can make a jump which skips a lily pad, you are rewarded with an extra life. These extra lives should be sought at every possible opportunity because, whilst at the start the lily pads seem plentiful, they quickly become further apart making your timing all that more important.

You may also be wondering what the point of aiming for the furthest distance is, other than your own personal glory? Well, Plus+ is the answer there. Yes, you can match your skills against the world (and your plus+ friends) to see who the best leaper is. With various awards to unlock within plus+ along with 15 skins for your frog there is plenty here to keep you occupied. Not that you really need all that, I wasn’t too sure when I first loaded this up, but after one game I was like “okay let’s see if I can get just a little further”.

This game really does have every aspect of its gameplay sewn up, I have no faults at all, the difficulty ramps up at just the right level and the game mechanics are fluid and feel perfect, I noticed no delay between my screen tap and the frog jumping.

Oh, I haven’t mentioned the graphics yet have I? Well, as you can hopefully see from the screenshots, this app looks great. The lily pads float on a Koi Pond and if you can resist the urge to jump, you can watch fish swimming beneath you. With dragonflies darting back and forth in attempt to put you off. With a soothing soundtrack to go along with this, this game really manages to tick all the boxes.

So whether you loved Koi Pond and Doodle Jump or not, this game will still grab you and keep you hooked. The perfect mix of simple yet addictive gameplay combined with clean yet stunning graphics. Don’t think, just jump… and buy this game.