Giant Boulder of Death Review

When I first heard about Giant Boulder of Death, I could tell right away from the name that it must be a new effort from Adult Swim. Between titles like Robot Unicorn Attack and Super Monsters Ate My Condo, Adult Swim has such a recognizable and defined style, that the combination of the words "Giant," "Boulder," and "Death" could only point in one direction. Could a name generator for Adult Swim games be that far behind? Only time will tell. In the meantime, let's take a look at this new iOS game.

Even though this title fits right smack dab in the middle of the endless runner genre, I suppose you could call Giant Boulder of Death more of an endless roller. It does feature a giant boulder, after all. It also features plenty of fast-moving and heavy-rolling action where the goal is pretty simple -- bowl over as much as you possibly can, for as long as you can.

The thing about the massive hunk of granite in this game though, is it's out for revenge. And if there's one thing movies have taught me so far, it's that the last thing you want seeking revenge on you is a giant angry rock.

But really, the townspeople of this game only have themselves to blame. What else do you expect when you take a boulder's girlfriend and make a statue out of her? That's a good reason for any oversized pebble to get ticked off and kickstart his own campaign of rolling, smushing justice. But how do you play a game where the main character is a hard hunk of Earth?

Developer PikPok has created something super simple and easy to pick up and play. In order to control this out-of-control boulder, you must dust off your iOS device's accelerometer and put it to good use with the game's tilt controls. Using these, you can move the main cha-rock-ter from side to side as it gains momentum while rumblin' down the mountain (and through whatever gets in its way). Along the path, as you can imagine, there are tons of things to demolish.

The different objects are also worth varying amounts of points. As you smash through things, you want to score the highest amount possible, so it will pay to seek out the more valuable targets. But you can't roll over everything.

Eventually, the townspeople catch on to your game and erect defenses, such as mines and spiked walls. You will need to avoid these in order to keep your round going. In the same way that the titles of Adult Swim games are all related, there is a common thread of eccentricity that runs through many of the in-game jokes.

And each new object or obstacle you encounter is like a new joke that's added into the mix. After a few rounds, it becomes clear that it's this thread of humor that proves to be the most interesting thing about this title, not the gameplay itself.

In a way, that's starting to become Adult Swim's bag. The proposal here seems to have been to try and take the endless genre and find a way to make it fun again. I can say that this was the case with Giant Boulder of Death, however the fun did not have a long shelf life.

It lasted for a little bit, but as with a lot of free-to-play titles out there, staying power was not its strong suit. While there are certainly things to unlock and grind for, it doesn't feel like there will be any gameplay-related payoffs to work your way towards. But Giant Boulder of Death is certainly a good enough time to give it a look. Especially considering the price.

App Store Link: Giant Boulder of Death for iPhone & iPad | By [adult swim] | Price: Free | Version: 1.0 | 35 MB | Rating 9+