A few years ago, a group of French students created an enthralling game with a novel concept for their first year project. Today, this game of theirs – called Puddle – has evolved from a mere prototype to a full-fledged game running on mobile, console and PC. How does the mobile version of the game perform? Read on to find out.
Name: Puddle THD | Developer: Neko Entertainment | Category: Brain & Puzzle | Players: 1 | Version: 1.02 | Size: 154 MB | Price: $4.99 (Full) | Free (Lite) |
Puddle THD is a physics-based Tegra 3-optimized puzzle game, where your goal is to guide a puddle of liquid to the end point by tilting the environment. You will need your wits to help you overcome the obstacles and solve the puzzles along the path.
Gameplay
The game incorporates elements of Physics and Chemistry. Physics concepts such as momentum, gravity and friction are prevalent. For example, there are times you have to activate a switch high up a circular bowl, and you have to go back-and-forth to build enough momentum to escape gravity and successfully activate the switch.
The Chemistry aspect of the game revolves around the chemical properties of the liquid itself. For instance, petroleum is flammable, nitro-glycerine is susceptible to explosions, and weedkiller dissolves on contact with sundews. The liquids have different viscosity too, which means some move quickly and others slowly.
Heck, even the achievement medals are named Au, Ag and Cu. These are the chemical symbols of gold, silver and copper (bronze) respectively. The achievement medals can be unlocked via a combination of speed and efficiency, where you finish each level in the shortest time possible with as much liquid you can save.
Cheekily perhaps, sensing that some levels might just be impossible to progress through for some people, the developers have included a limited number of ‘Whines’, which basically allow you to skip a certain level and move on to the next one. Additionally, for those who fancy competition, there’s Open Feint integration to keep track of your achievements against the rest of the world.
Graphics & Sounds
Puddle THD has appealing visuals. It is simple, but beautiful. Each one of the nine environments is distinctly rendered and detailed. The environments range from the lab to the garden and the human body. The different types of liquids are realistically modeled as well. They move about as you’d expect them to in real life.
I was looking at the gameplay footage of the game on an Xbox 360, and while the gameplay itself and level design is mostly similar, the Xbox version ran much smoother at a higher frame rate and had sharper graphics. I personally find both the frame rate and sharpness of the graphics can be improved on, what with it being a Tegra 3 title, but it’s very much playable even as it is.
Graphics aside, the game has got great sounds and background music. As the fluid touches different obstacles such as fire, an appropriate sound accompanies it. But what really sets me in the mood to play the game is its background music, which I find to soothing and calm, giving a very laid-back and tranquil ambiance. In that respect, it reminds me of Osmos.
Controls
By default, the game utilizes your device’s accelerometer. Tilt your device left and right to replicate the same effect in the game. However, I find that accelerometer is not properly optimized in the game. Tilting isn’t very responsive, and this is bad because the game requires constant change in direction. Also, some with a 10-inch tablet might find it tiresome tilting their whole device.
Thankfully, there are two other control options. The on-screen controls work much better and are smoother. Tap on the left and right to tilt in the respective direction. They have controller support too, but why anyone would want to play a game with such a simple scheme on a controller is beyond me.
Conclusion
Puddle THD is a game quite like no other out there. It has an original gameplay which gets progressively harder and requires more thinking, background music that allows you to relax while playing it and lots of content that is going to be continuously updated by the developers on a weekly basis.
There are some minor hiccups as highlighted above in the review, and hopefully they will get fixed soon. If you have a Tegra 3 device and are willing to part with $4.99, then I reckon you should get this game. If you’re on the fence, they have a lite version for you to try out. Even if you feel it’s a little on the pricey side of things, keep the game on your radar and get it once its price drops or it goes on sale.
Overall rating: 4/5
