FluOrama Review

By , on January 11, 2011


FluOrama
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Easy to pick up gameplay.
  • Simple timing-based puzzle gameplay.
  • Smooth difficulty curve.

CONS

  • Repetitive puzzles; little complexity to overcome.
  • Power-ups rarely genuinely required.

VERDICT

FluOrama starts out as an interesting puzzler with room to grow, but once you realize there's no penalties to taking your time the challenge is almost entirely lost.


  • Full Review
  • App Store Info

Wrangling germs may not sound like a particularly interesting or exciting job, but in FluOrama by Pixel Ammo you'll have to do just that as you seek to correct the mistake of a clumsy scientist who dropped a dangerous concoction of bacteria.

On each stage you'll be timed and scored according to how efficiently you can manage to collect all the bacteria currently bouncing around the level and enclosing them in the goal that's provided. To do this you can tap the screen, creating or destroying glass bricks that act as barriers for the germs to ricochet off, hopefully guiding them in to the area you need them. Finishing a level quickly and with the minimum amount of taps will increase the reward your given (which can subsequently be spent on upgrades), however there's never really any incentive to use to power-ups provided.

This is, unfortunately, thanks to there being no real penalty to taking too long with a level; two germs in particular (the splitter and crusher) can complicate things the longer they're left alive, but merely trapping the splitter and replacing blocks around the crusher gives you more than enough time to individually and carefully trap the remaining bacteria on the level. Later levels can benefit from utilizing the time-slowing ability and mines to clear out particularly obnoxious bacteria, but this only serves to simplify what was already a relatively basic chore.

And the emphasis should be on 'chore' as the bacteria can often have a mind of its own with regards to physics; opting to bounce back and forth along a corridor without actually hitting any walls in the process. While this is easy enough to overcome, it eliminates any sense of thoughtful skill in creating pathways to carefully corral the bacteria.

FluOrama is an interesting puzzle concept, but severely lacking in cohesive ideas that serve to emphasize the gameplay. An interesting diversion for fans of unique puzzle titles, but by no means an easy game to recommend.

Screenshots

Screenshot 1 of 5 Screenshot 2 of 5 Screenshot 3 of 5 Screenshot 4 of 5 Screenshot 5 of 5