Review: Ankagua

cjvitek

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Jul 5, 2008
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Ankagua, by StormBasic Games
$1.99, Three stars

Pros:
  • Requires real planning ahead and strategy


Cons
  • Can get repetetive quickly, and thus gets a little boring

Ankagua works on the premise that you are some sort of guy who is trapped in a pyramid. In order to escape, you need to push blocks into various positions, at which point an exit door appears in your room....only to bring you to the next level, another room where you need to push blocks around.

The game design is very straight forward. You need to plan ahead how you are going to push the blocks - because you can only push - no pulling. If you push a block up against a wall, there is no way to pull it from the wall. This requires some advance planning of how you are going to move the blocks - especially at the higher levels when you need to move certain blocks first, then later go back to them to move them into the correct location.

The controls are very easy - there is a direction pad in the lower left corner, simply hit the arrow of the direction you want to go. If you are walking and bump into a block, you start pushing it.

There are many levels to progress through, but I felt the game getting a little repetitive after a while. It is fun to plan a strategy, but it just seemed like each level was a variant on the previous levels - no new twists or turns are thrown in to make it more difficult. It does get more difficult when more blocks are added, or there are impediments to your pushing the blocks around, but it always just felt like more of the same.

And ultimately, that is my biggest concern with this game. After about 5 or 6 levels, I got tired of doing the same thing over and over, just pushing blocks around. There need to be some various twists and turns thrown into the game design in order to keep my interest, and this game didn't have it.

All in all, this is a decent strategy game that requires planning and foresight rather than just plowing ahead with no strategy. However, because of the repetitive nature of the levels, it got a little boring after a while. That graphics and controls are pretty good, but nothing out of this world. At $1.99, it's not too high a price, but I would really only recommend it for people who like strategy games and don't mind a game which repeats itself. Three out of four stars.

Rating scale:

* = No redeeming qualities or features, probably not worth it even if it is free
** = Few redeeming qualities, or is simply isn't worth the price
*** = Some good features but also some clear flaws.
**** = A solid app, worth the money if interested, a few flaws or problems or slightly overpriced
***** = Top of the line app, no problems or drawbacks.

Price is factored into the ratings. Ratings are lowered if I feel the price of the app outweighs the benefits/enjoyment/features it provides. Likewise, an app that is a good value for the money will have a higher rating.
 

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