Sprinkle

You'd think when coming up with a name for a game company one could do better than 'Mediocre'. In fact, after purchasing the game Sprinkle for my Tegra based tablet I saw that it was just mediocre and wondered what I had just committed to, but alas it was just the company's name. I can just imagine some guy calling and saying "Hi, this is Bob from mediocre software...". Fortunately the game is far from mediocre.

Sprinkle is a simple concept for a puzzle game. Put out all of the fires. You've got a little contraption that you can raise or lower and tilt at any angle and a pump button for spraying water. The starter levels are very easy... aim, fire, done. The game does get progressively more difficult at a rapid pace, though. For example, around level 8 there's a block that you have to drag into position to properly channel the water so you'll ultimately be controlling more than just a water cannon.

The controls are simple. Drag up and done to raise/lower your water cannon. Drag your finger next to it to tilt/aim it. And there's a big, red touch screen button to press that is out of the way of any of the action. I did occasionally sputter on raising/lowering the cannon, but, while time is important so as to inhibit the spread of fire it wasn't disasterous. It should be said that you also have a finite supply of water to add to the challenge.

The graphical detail and audio are also well done. Extras like the little alien residents and their houses are drawn well and the physics of not just the water, but environmental objects such as rocks are done equally well. But, the real pretty thing about the game is how beautiful it is to watch the water slosh about on the screen. Once again, this game is only for Tegra based devices so don't think you're going to be playing it on older devices, but if you have a Tegra chipset then this game is one that shows it off nicely. There's also something innately satisfying about shooting water instead of bullets. Perhaps it brings us back to our youth when spraying a water hose on a hot day?

Sprinkle is a nice game and costs under $2 ($1.47 is what I'm seeing right now) and has been a nice addition to my tablet game library. It's a shame fragmentation means this is limited to a small portion of Android owners (but it's encouraging to see they've sold over 10,000 copies of the game), but if you're in that group then grab it. 4.5/5 stars.