Faif Review

Faif by Beavl Games is a gambling inspired puzzle RPG. Each turn you choose 5 consecutive tiles, but you only get 1 of them. This gives you a 1 in 5 chance of getting the outcome you desire. Now, you might be thinking that winning is just luck. This, however, is not necessarily the case. Sure you can have some unlucky moments, but the real strategy in Faif comes from deciding which tiles to choose and allowing for the potential of not getting want all the time. 

A quick run down of what each tile does:
Skull: -1 health
Heart: +1 health
Sword: +1 damage for each skull in the selection
Gem: +1 gem for each gem in selection

By using a combination of each of these tiles you must over come various enemies and bosses. It is important to know when to try and go for more damage or when to go for health. It is a difficult choice, especially because you are no guaranteed to get the tile you want.

Oh my goodness, Faif can be really annoying though. Sometimes, I can do really well get a good streak and reach the second boss. Then again, other times I get stuck on my first opponent. Relentlessly hitting myself while they just pile on hearts. I suppose this what you can expect from a gambling based game. The meta game does help with this frustration, slightly. Every 100 Silicon's you collect you gain 1 additional gem to start the game with. This makes getting further a bit easier, but not guaranteed, so the game stays balanced.

You increase your Silicon's in 2 ways, beating enemies or challenges. The challenges go from easy to stupid. Making a 2 skull match is alright, fairly easy and quite sensible, but a 5 skull match is just suicide. Sometimes, however, it can be worth it for the substantial increase in Silicon's since more gems, means more shop purchases. This makes the beginning of the game easier and helps you to get farther, too.

I like the music in Faif. It kind of gives an unusual western feel. Perhaps that ties in to the hidden story in the game. I have not managed to uncover it, but I am intrigued by what it could be.

Faif is a cute, addictive and frustrating game. I was initially sceptical about the gambling element, but it actually adds a depth of strategy that applies to real life. Making contingent choices so you can achieve a secondary outcome. The game really makes you think and plan each turn. This, however, will not stop you from getting skulls 5 times in a row and killing yoirself on occasion. Then again, the risk element does make it extremely satisfying and addictive. 

4/5

Overall, a great phone game for short burst of play with good progression; just expect to lose a lot.

General Information

Game Name - Faif - Android

Developer - Beavl

Genre - RPG, Puzzle, Gambling

Ikoid Bundle #7 "Android Legends" Review

Recently I discovered Ikoid and goodness is it a relief to have found it. I was looking for more Android Bundles and this one has great variety.

Detective Grimoire

Detective Grimoire by SFB Games is a detective point and click adventure game and probably the best game in the bundle. Although fairly short and lacking in many challenging puzzles, it has great voice acting and is a great mystery game. Set in a swap Detective Grimoire (our hero), must solve a case involving monsters, movie directors and tree houses.

While it is a fairly standard detective romp, it is a well polished and thoroughly enjoyable one. A nice game device being that sometimes Grimoire has 'floating ideas' and you need to put the ones that make sense together. A very enjoyable game and I hope that Detective Grimoire has many more cases in the future. 

4/5

Quite easy and fairly standard, but extremely fun detective mystery with great art, voice acting and music.

Devil's Attorney

Devil's Attorney by 1337 Game Design is an odd one. It is a turn based strategy game that take place in the court room. It's a bit strange, but in a good way. You have to reduce your opponents 'credibility' to zero and make them leave the court room. To do this, you use different abilities. Each affects different types of 'enemy' for example interrogation damages people and analysis evidence. Each turn you have a certain number of action people to perform these abilities and try to beat your opponent. At the end of each turn your enemies will damage you for whatever their attack is, lose enough life and you will lose the case. All in all the combat focuses down a turn bases RPG feel to a courtroom. Throw in an apartment where buying furniture and decorations gives you buffs to unlock more abilities and it creates quite an unorthodox, but intriguing game.

4/5

I would recommend that you try Devil's Attorney because it has some great aspects to it, even if it does have some cheesey writing.

Sentinel 3: Homeworld

Sentinel 3: Homeworld by Origin 8 is a tower defence game. A genre that has been done many times before, but one that Sentinel 3 does extremely well. Loads of different defences, from ground to air. Special abilities, such as homing missiles. Getting an interest bonus depending on how much money you have left at the end of a wave is clever idea, it makes you weigh up the need to upgrade against getting more money for further upgrades. An upgradeable mech unit that you can bounce around the map. Lots to play with in 2 campaigns, endless mode and classic mode. Sentinel 3 really does have loads to offer. 

4/5 

A stand-out Tower Defence game with loads game modes, an upgradeable hero unit and lots of varied defences. However, at the end of the day it is just another tower defence game.

Sleepwalkers Journey

Sleepwalkers Journey by 11 Bit Games is a puzzle platformer with a twist. You don't actually control the main character. Instead, our sleepwalking friend Moonboy needs you to move obstacles, lift platforms and move bridges so he does plummet to his doom. With two different collectables for each level, stars and moons, and a race against the clock needing quick decisions, Sleepwalkers Journey is an interesting take on the classic puzzle platformer genre.

Sleepwalkers is a cute game with nice short and sweet levels can leave you puzzling, how do I get all the collectables on this level? It could do with a little more depth, but different elements get added the more levels you unlock. With tonnes of levels and loads of areas to play in, Sleepwalkers Journey is definitely going to let you scratch that puzzle itch for a long time.

3/5

Great fun and can be nicely challenging, however could do with more depth.

Geometry Dash

The mystery game has been revealed to be, Geometry Dash by Rob Top Games. Geometry Dash should come with a warning, "highly addictive and extremely frustrating". In this game, you take control of a little square and click your phone screen to make it jump gaps, avoid spikes, oh and when it jumps on a rocket move it up and down. One slip, a single mistake, a finger left on the screen too long and our lottle square is dead. The game is all about timing and remembering when to jump and when not to. A simple mistake at 98% of your way through a level means being sent back to the beginning. Now, it might sound like I'm being quite down on Geometry Dash,  but the truth is I love it. Loads of levels, a great soundtrack and different characters make for a great game you can play for a minute or an hour.

5/5 

It has evereverything you want from a phone game, play as little or as much as you want. Hearing the soundtracks through to the end is a reward in itself.

Ikoid Bundle #7 'Android Legends' - Click here to go there.

Ikoid are a new comers to the bundle game, but they come with something different. Android games. For $3.99 (£2.47) you get 4 enjoyable and varied games, plus a mystery game. With a range of payment methods including the ease of paypal, an app to easily download your purchases and an easily manoeuvrable website. Ikoid are a welcomed addition to the bundle world and have some great games on offer.

Overall bundle score - 4/5

The Infinite Black

What can I say about The Infinite Black by Whalesong Games? That it is hands down the best MMO on the phone market, that's what.

Now,  you may think I am exaggerating,  but I'm not. It has essential everything you would want from an MMORPG. Level progression, equipment progression,  clans (corporations), PVP, a low data usage and tonnes more. Still a none believer?  What if I told you that it is free AND in-app purchases don't make the game super broken.  Plus, it is really very fun.

No more of this waiting for your 'energy'  to recover. Seriously, what video games hero should really need to do that? The only real waiting you will do is for warp jumps and gun reloads. Well, that and the grind can seem a bit drawn out, especially at the beginning.

The game really opens up at level 15. You are now competent enough to move out of gray space (the newbie zone) and explore black space. You may, if you are foolish enough, wander into black sectors while under level 15, but you will almost certainly die. This is because there are big nastey aliens out there and even bigger nastier players as well. That right folks, out there in that big black is Player Vs Player space. My poxy level 7 Frigate stood no chance against a level 150 Destroyer. So lesson learnt,  stay in the safe zone until you can at least run away moderately well.

The Infinite Black get slightly let down by it's user interface. Not only can it be a bit clunky, it's confusing nature means new player can be put off. Fortunately, there is a question mark tab at the side so you can access the wiki in an easy overlay. However, it can still be overwhelming due to a large number of features being compressed into a small space. The wiki does have a tutorial that introduces how to play the game, but a formal tutorial would benefit new players.

The combat is fairly straightforward, but enjoyable and suprisingly deep. Each weapon type has it's own damage, cool down and additional stats. So choosing the best weapon for you is important. Do you want to build a heavy goliath, that needs 20 seconds to get off a massive hit? Or something that hits for less but really quickly? Another thing to remember is, equip points. These regulate how powerful your equipment can be. Meaning,  you cannot get enormous guns on your shuttle, but you can on larger vessels. Makes sense really.

There are 7 equipment slots, each one serving a different purpose. Guns for killing, armour for living and storage for collecting your enemies remains. Each equipment type has levels and further subtypes. Meaning different types of armour for different types of ship build. To add even more depth there are 7 rarities as well. This equates to a lot of options for you. Plenty to be playing with as you decide what sort of ship you want to use.

Now we know how equipment works, back to the combat. Once your chosen tool of space domination has reloaded you can choose a target. Your attack can now either hit, miss or crit. The liklihood of each is destermined by both your stats and your opponents. Throw in grappling, (for towing or being towed), the unknown factors about your enemy and splash damage and you have a really deep and strategic system that requires thought and planning. Deciding when to run and when to stand your ground. Which ships to chase and which to let escape. Honestly, I feel like a proper ship Captain taking on the Universe, making snap judgements that could mean life or death.

Overall I give The Infinite Black -

4/5

Let down only by being unfriendly to newcomers and hard to get into with a wobbly UI, I still heartily recommend The Infinite Black.

General Information

Game Name - The Infinite Black - Android, iOS

Developer - Whalesong Games

Genre - Action, Adventure, RPG, MMO, Strategy, Exploration