ImpactBlue Studios is based in Sydney, New South Wales. They have created a curious and intriguing world in their game Sky Hop Saga. It is an intense and fun little puzzle game, that you will find yourself playing again and again, just to get a higher score. The game was recently released for Android/iOS.
ImpactBlue Studios calls this game an endless arcade hopper. It is set up that way in that your main character hops around a set of tiles that are floating in the sky. The goal in the game is to continue grabbing the Sky Hop Artifacts that are placed in different areas on the tiles. You must collect three artifacts to unlock the next set of artifacts. They appear as soon as you have collected the third artifact. While all of this seems pretty straightforward, there are many obstacles that will keep you from successfully obtaining your goals. You have to think and swipe quickly, to be successful.
You start off with a character that is draped in a cloak. He/she seems to be a wizard or mage. The character moves quite quickly. You simply swipe in the direction you want your character to move. A few times I was swiping so fast, that I swiped my character right off of a tile into open space, where I plummeted to my doom. The lesson learned here is that you have to move quickly, but not too quickly. The tiles are rapidly disappearing, so you can’t just sit there and plan your next move. Once you cross over a tile, you can expect it to start crumbling. You have to scout out where those artifacts are and try to get to them in the fewest steps possible. By the way, you also have to look out for fire-breathing dragons, stone golems, and snakes that pop out of their hiding places intermittently. There are a whole lot of other things you want to avoid too, but those are a few of the dangers you will encounter in this beautifully rendered little game.
I was impressed with the images of the game when I first came across it. The gameplay measured up to the images. Sky Hop Saga is a fun game to play. As you are collecting artifacts, you will come across bags of coins, and power-ups that indeed prove to be quite helpful. One power-up gives you a set of angelic wings, which allows you to float over any open tile. If you are lucky, you will come across a shield power-up, which is great to have, knowing that there are dragons breathing balls of flame in your direction. Between the enemies, crumbling tiles and obstacles like trees, the board can get crowded pretty quickly. You have to take in the whole board at once, start getting to those artifacts, and wait just a moment before the next tiles began to unfold in front of you.
Sky Hop Saga is a free-to-play game. The in-game store allows you to purchase different characters. Each character will cost you $.99 Or, you can use 100 coins to unlock a different character. This is a spin-the-wheel kind of part in the game, or more accurately, pull the lever to see what prize comes out. There are also other options for gaining coins. You can watch an ad which will net you fifty coins or so, and then there is a chest that resets itself every thirty minutes or so. Once the chest is unlocked you gain coins that way too. In no way does it feel like this is a pay-to-play scheme. While there are large number of different characters available, you can totally enjoy playing this game without spending a dime to do so.
Sky Hop Sage can be challenging, but that does not take away from the fun. ImpactBlue Studios has created a game that will keep you chasing for the high-score, while attempting to avoid monsters and the crumbling earth beneath your feet. The game is integrated with Google Game Play Services with 6 achievements to unlock and leaderboards. If you get really good and you want to show off your skills, the game is also integrated with Everyplay too. You can record your game play and share it with your friends.
Sky Hop Saga is a game that shouldn’t be missed. If you enjoy puzzle-type arcade games, then this one is for you. It also has one of the most absolutely catching and engaging theme songs. I will be curious to see what ImpactBlue Studios produces next. After having played Sky Hop Saga, I decided to download their other game in the Play Store, Oggy’s World, to check it out too. It looks just as interesting. If you download Sky Hop Saga, let us know what you think of it in the comments. It may be reminiscent of other games that have been released, but it has a shine and polish all its own.
