Ketchapp Summer Sports is the perfect between-events snack for the Olympic Games Rio 2016

By , on August 15, 2016
Last modified 8 years, 1 month ago

There's still plenty of exciting action left in the Rio 2016 Olympics, and we reckon we've found the perfect game to fill the gaps in between events: Ketchapp Summer Sports.

We're ten days into the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and we've already seen some stunning performances in the pool, on the tennis court, and for the first time in more than a century, on the golf course.

Of course, it's the track and field events that are perhaps the most iconic of the lot. We've already witnessed Usain Bolt making history with his fourth consecutive 100m gold, and watched in exhausted awe as Jessica Ennis-Hill and Nafissatou Thiam battled for gold in the heptathlon.

Fortunately there's plenty left to go, though perhaps not quite enough to sate your track and field hunger. If you've developed a bit of an Olympic urge over the past week, you should check out Ketchapp Summer Sports. It's a bright, intuitive take on track and field, but it takes a refreshingly direct approach.

All tapped out

Whereas many such games require you to mash the screen (or a button) furiously in order to build up speed across various distinct events, Ketchapp's approach is a lot more fluid.

You tap the screen only when your auto-running athlete passes each coloured marker. Nail the right point, and they will pick up speed. It almost feels like a rhythm action game at times.

For the next event, you're not shunted to a title screen. Rather, your little runner simply keeps on running, right into the hurdle event. Now you must also tap the screen to jump at the appropriate point.

Ketchup

Running rhythm

The events keep flowing, through javelin and long jump (tap, hold and release to throw or jump), on a perpetual cycle of high-score attempts and world record challenges. At any point you can just jump straight back in and pick up the tappy action any time you have a spare minute or two.

Breaking it all up are the Gold Rush rounds that let you hoover up the game's currency in order to buy new gear for your athlete.

Ketchapp Summer Sports isn't the most sophisticated or nuanced game of the week, and it's certainly not the best. But if you've caught Olympic fever like we have, and are itching for some instant track and field gratification, it's a game that manages to scratch that Rio 2016 itch like almost no other game on the App Store.

You can download Ketchapp Summer Sports for free on iPhone or iPad right now.