Guggle Review

By , on September 15, 2010


Guggle
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Unique 360 rotating controls.
  • Beautiful level artwork.
  • Custom level editor.

CONS

  • Erratic difficulty curve.
  • Gimmicky tricks to add challenge artificially (ie. hiding coins).

VERDICT

While it never really feels comfortable to sling your iPhone around like a Wii controller to move Guggle around, it's still a neat idea that sometimes gets the balance of challenge just right.


  • Full Review
  • App Store Info

Guggle is a bubble and you need to help him collect magical orbs in order to save the kingdom from doom. This puzzle maze title from Faraway Frontiers may not feature a compelling story, but it pulls no punches what-so-ever when it comes to the gameplay.

This isn't a game for the feint of heart as you'll need to flip and turn your iDevice a full 360 degrees to move Guggle around the screen. Guggle will constantly move up (or down depending on your settings) and rotating changes this direction, giving you basic navigation for your environments. You have a limited time to finish levels, but collecting coins will extend the available time and other power-ups can provide temporary boosts including the ability to fight back against certain objects. Unfortunately just about everything is out to pop Guggle and keeping him alive is nothing short of a miracle on some levels and managing to make it to checkpoints (should a level even have them) can be a serious trial of patience.

There's a lot of detail in the visuals and the game looks fantastic on the Retina display as the colors really pop out, but Guggle's odd shape can lead to some confusion when trying to narrowly avoid hitting spikes or other obstacles. Add in the constant movement and everything becomes a matter of precise timing on top of solving other puzzles including multiple warps or maze-like environments.

Guggle has a lot of potential and when things go right it's an entertaining game to play, but it's hard not to get frustrated and that kills the magic faster than a Guggle hitting a spike.

Screenshots

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