The iPhone has collected a slew of great puzzle games so far, and you can now add another to the list. Alien Blobs is a clever little action-puzzler that offers not only an addicting core concept, but enough variation between stages to stay fresh. Despite some flaws, the game proves itself to be a great distraction, whether you’re sneaking in a couple rounds or playing a marathon session.
The story in Alien Blobs revolves around a portal that scientists have opened to another dimension filled with, you guessed it, Alien Blobs. When your father goes missing inside the portal, you volunteer to beat back the alien invaders and save him. The only two things you really need to know about the story is 1. Its completely forgettable and 2. The translation is awful. Now that that’s out of the way, we’ll move on to the important stuff…the Gameplay.
Gameplay in Alien Blobs revolves around your character orbiting the diameter of a circle, with the title baddies spawning from the center. You’ll spin around the circle, shooting colored balls into the enemies. The goal is to match three of the same color (either two enemies and one shot, or two shots and one enemy) to eliminate that group. You’ll know what color you’re about to shoot next, as well as the next two colors on deck at all times, and you’ll be able to switch between those three at any time.
Your character is controlled either by touching the iPhone screen in the general area you want to start moving toward, or by tilting the phone itself. Of the two, I found the touch option to be the more accurate and fluid of the two, although it could be improved slightly. Even at its base, the game is a lot of fun, but it’s the addition of special game modes that takes the gameplay up a notch.
You’ll have several different types of stages to play through in Alien Blobs. There’s the standard mode where you try and clear a specific number of baddies. Time Attack mode involves clearing a certain amount of blobs before time expires. Sniper Mode requires you to clear out enemies around explosives before they detonate.Mine tasks you with killing blobs while avoiding one or two giant mines that either circle, or jump along the same path as your heroine.
In Exile mode you’ll have to clear out baddies before they escape to the center, as well as avoid new blobs jumping in from outside the circle. Lastly, in Protector mode you’ll have to guide your shielded heroine around the outer circle, blocking targets that are being fired on by a cannon in the center. The game also features cleverly designed boss battles that require a different method for each boss.
Playing through the story will require you to battle through several different worlds, each with a mixture of the above game types. The game also features an arcade mode which allows you to play your favorite gametype on a stage of your choice. Rounding out the impressive list of features is an achievement system, which is much appreciated and a great addition to the game.
Alien Blobs is available on the App Store for $3.99, with a free trial version also available. The game is well worth trying out, and the price tag is justified for the amount of content contained in the game. I definitely recommend Alien Blobs as a great diversion when you need to sneak in your gaming fix on the go.
