Just because the week is over doesn’t mean there aren’t great games to be discovered. If you are in a rush and only have a few moments to get some gaming in this weekend, you should try a game called Box Wars. RM Apps is a game studio based in Germany, created by Jorg Reuss and Alex Mircer. They have a couple of apps in the Play Store, such as Belly Bird 3D, Good Night Sheep and the recently released, Box Invaders. There isn’t too much information to be found out about the studio at this time. Even their website says coming soon. So what do we know? We know that Box Invaders is a pretty good game, if you want to challenge yourself. The controls are fluid and the graphics are impressive. Though the sound in the game is sparse, it somehow fits well within the scope of the game. Box Invaders is an endless (walker) runner with a twist.
With very little fanfare, Box Invaders landed in the Play Store about a week ago. The goal of the game, is to get your cigar-smoking, Super Mario looking character, as far as possible as he walks down a linear path. That sounds simple right? As your character is walking, he is collecting different types of crystals. They are sporadically placed throughout the path, but they are not necessarily in front of him. Some of them are below him, or on his right or left. How do you get them? With a nice flourish as a game play mechanic, you simply swipe the screen, to twist the path he is walking on. It is simple enough, but the path is fraught with obstacles, missiles, lasers, rolling balls and many other types of explosions. This is not an easy game, but one that does require skill and patience. Your unnamed character also has the ability to jump. Once you have collected enough crystals, you are able to purchase different suits that provide different power-ups that aid you in thwarting your enemies.
“Box Invaders is a brand new arcade experience on your mobile device! Truly nothing for rookies, each single footstep could be your last! Over 100 ways to dies! You will fight against crazy deathtraps in a dark and dangerous virtual environment. Box Invaders will push your reflexes to the natural boundaries! Stay alive as long as you can! Gather all crystals! Use your powerful and kicking gear to blast your enemies away.” – RM Apps
The game is all about lasting as long as you can on the path. The minute the floor opens beneath you, or a missile or laser comes right at you, it’s game over. The longer you last on the path, and the more crystals you gather, gives you a higher point score. The crystals vary in color. Yellow is the standard color crystal, but green, blue and red crystals give you more points. Those points go into a vault. You use points from the vault to purchase additional suits that have different power-ups for your character to use. The different types of suits available are: Air Suit, Fire Suit, Mesa Suit, Time Suit, Tank Suit and Rocket Suit. They range in cost from 350 crystals to 3000 crystals. These suits are pretty easily purchased as long as you continue to play the game. I have played the game quite a bit, and it didn’t feel like this was a pay-to-play structure within the game. Since the game is free to play, you do have the in-app purchase option of paying real money for crystals, if you want to get the additional suits without the challenge of playing the game repeatedly. The only downside to the suits, is that they are only available for the run that you purchase them in and a timer associated with how long the power-up is available in the suit. When your character dies, or the time runs out on the suit, he goes back to wearing the standard suit. When you start over, you can’t pick a different suit because you have bought it before. You have to buy them again when you want to use them.
If you have a few moments this weekend, between family, friends, watching whatever sport you like, or if you have a few moments on break from work, try Box Invaders. RM Apps has created a very straightforward game that is enjoyable and challenging. The game is integrated with Google Game Play Services with leaderboards only. It would be nice to have achievements to accent the challenging game play, but it in no way hampers the fun to be had with this game. There are ads within the game, but they only occur after your character dies, so, no constant banner during game play which is nice. Box Invaders is an endless runner (walker) that shouldn’t be missed. It is available to download for free in the Play Store.
