There’s innovation, travel, and a generous dollop of Spielberg homage in this week’s round-up.
Sixit is a fascinating little metroidvania puzzler powered by a killer concept, Santorini is a slick and relaxing resort management sim, and Dinosaur Park – Primeval Zoo would be called “Jurassic Park the Game” if there were no such thing as intellectual property laws.
It hasn’t been a vintage week, but all of these games – including Merge Villa and Summoners War: Lost Centuria – are charming in their own way. And they’re all free.
Sixit
Everything about Sixit is distinctive other than its main character, which is a nondescript generic “mammal” called Pep. After arriving in a new village, Pep is immediately thrown into a battle with a sentient storm, and he only gets six moves per attempt. Pep banks his items and puzzle solutions, though, making Sixit a kind of puzzley metroidvania.
Dinosaur Park – Primeval Zoo
Paleontology and park management have been curious bedfellows ever since Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg conspired to bring Jurassic Park to the world’s attention, and Dinosaur Park – Primeval Zoo is the latest example of the genre. It sees you running a dinosaur zoo and safari park, ably assisted by a crude knock-off of Richard Attenborough.
Summoners War: Lost Centuria
If you’re a fan of Summoners War: Sky Arena then boy has Com2uS got a treat for you. Summoners War: Lost Centuria is another serving of high-end, impeccably polished strategy-RPG goodness. It sees you collecting and upgrading various monsters from the Summoners War franchise and equipping them with a variety of runes and Skill Stones. Then you fight.
Merge Villa
You know the drill: drag things together to merge them into better things, over and over again, until your screen is jam-packed with the absolute best things. In the case of Merge Villa, you’re doing this in order to restore your grandparents’ villa to its former glory following a tsunami. Don’t expect miracles, but Merge Villa is a pleasant enough time-killer.
Santorini: Pocket Game
Chances are, you’ll struggle to get to the sun-drenched island destination of Santorini for a holiday this year, but you can go there virtually thanks to Santorini, a new resort management simulation game from Nanoo Company. This free-to-play idle game has an aesthetically pleasing pastel-hued palette and gently engrossing gameplay.
