Aporkalypse

Generally speaking if a game has a really stupid name like Aporkalypse then I tend to shy away from it. However, HandyGames has generated enough quality titles to warrant an exception to that rule. This does highlight just how important naming your new game is, though, for those that are indie developers. Seriously... when you see a game named Aporkalpypse doesn't it make you cringe a little at would could possibly be behind that loading screen?

In this case, it's one of those puzzles games where you're pushing crates around and clicking on the switches in the right order. Naturally you are a pig and you move around the levels with the usual left/right/up/down controls and you've got to make it to the end square. There's also a heaven and hell theme at work as each level starts with both the angel pig and devil pig giving you advice. For example, the devil pig will encourage greed in that you'll be able to pick up coins along the way and while that's not mandatory to complete a level it is useful. The game features 30 levels of increasing difficulty and I do give the game credit for inspiring me to play on. There are four different pigs to control and later in the game you'll be using multiple pigs to complete a level. Each pig also has a unique ability. The first pig, for instance, can gobble up a cube of straw and regurgitate it elsewhere (so instead of pushing a crate around you now eat it and spew it).

The game's controls are touch screen based, but you do have the option of using a keyboard (and the game is Xperia Play optimized) to control it. I found that the touch screen controls worked just fine and that using my DPad didn't really add anything in this case. There are also times when I found the controls to respond sluggishly and I'd actually see my pig start to move in a direction and then pop back to its starting square. Such events never caused me any problem in the game and were more of a nuisance than anything.

Graphically the game is nice and colorful with cartoony graphics. The audio fits in well with the game. Sometimes the 3D perspective made it a little visually unclear as to where some of the object were. For example, on one level I wasn't sure whether a block was occupying the space next to some steps that I needed access to or not until I walked over and put it to the test.

The game from my past that this really reminds me of is a game called Chip's Challenge that was first released for the Atari Lynx. I loved Chip's Challenge and I really like Aporkalypse. The puzzles are enough to keep me going and aren't too easy or too hard. Each new level seems to add something new and is interesting enough to encourage me to play on. I don't want to provide any spoilers, though, as you'll have far more fun playing through it yourself.

Aporkalypse is available as both free, ad supported software or for about $1.50. Try the freebie and then buy the pay version if you like it. And please do buy the pay version if you find yourself playing this (as we need to vote for the good games with our wallets). 4.5/stars for a fun and stimulating puzzler.