Elves Inc is a fun, frantic timekiller in-between opening presents this Christmas
This time of year, holiday-themed games and apps flood the iTunes store. This year is no different, and is especially more plentiful with offerings for the iPad. Just like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, Elves Inc HD: Christmas Mission is capitalizing on the trend to deliver a game that combines some of the du jour iPad gaming with the season.
Vitals
Platform: iOS
Developer/Publisher: G5 Entertainment
Availability: Now (via iTunes) $1.99
First and foremost, Elves Inc: Christmas Mission HD is traffic control game. For anyone familiar with the genre, it involves management of characters on-screen to fulfill certain tasks without crashing into each other. The genre is especially popular on the iPad, where the large screen allows for precise touch controls and a considerable viewing area.
Elves Inc‘s spin involves guiding elves to deliver gifts to various Santa sleighs on the board. It’d be nothing more than a themed version of what we already know if it wasn’t for the availability of several powerups that allow the player to have some relief (or pain) while guiding the little red and green gentleman.
Like all traffic-control games, this one starts out simple enough, but the more elves that join the screen in later levels the more excruciatingly frantic and challenging that it becomes. It’s the kind of experience that had me extremely frustrated when elves would collide towards the end of a board, but also extremely satisfying when I managed to finally resolve it. At times I even caught myself giving a silent fist-pump when I survived.
The joy of games like this comes when a second (or third) person join in. My wife watched over my shoulder as I both failed and completed levels. Upon failure, I handed off the iPad to her to try her hand and the cycle repeated… (until we were both frustrated enough to heave the iPad across the room, that is.)
It’s not an entirely new experience, but it satiates the desire to do something “Christmas-y” with my iPad with a fairly good amount of challenge. As a holiday time-killer, the game does it’s job very well. For $1.99 it’ll go great at your family’s present-opening party.
Served best with a warm glass of EggNog.
This review was based on a copy of the game provided by the publisher.
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