Way to Go Review

Clever puzzle games are always a welcome sight on my roster of games to review. They’re a welcome respite from shooters and big 50 hour open world games. They’re proof that a good idea can go a long way. Just look at what pissed off birds did for an entire company. Way To Go is an interstellar puzzler that may be the soothing salve for my mind that has been addled by digital gunfire and dragon shouts.

Way To Go is one of those games that sounds wonderful in theory. Each level is an assortment of spaces in which you use a limited number of instruction tiles to navigate a little creature from one side of the level to the other. Sounds like a lot of fun that invites an assortment of gameplay possibilities. The result is somewhat more disappointing.

There is a story that serves as a set up to the little creatures and where they need to go. But, it is more complicated and dull than it ever needed to be. I just finished playing the game and I barely remember what it was. What was the story of Angry Birds? Pigs steal eggs, birds get mad, birds destroy pigs. Plants Vs. Zombies doesn’t even need an explanation, its right there in the title. Way To Go would have done much better to keep the story to a minimum. Maybe something like “This animal is hungry, help it find its food bowl.” As it stands, the story only gets in the way.

The aesthetic looks good and the cartoony style of the title fits very well. It is colorful, playful, and easy on the eyes. The levels look like they were ripped straight from a children’s coloring book and it conveys an adorable whimsy. They’re simple, and sometimes simple is nice.

But, there is a problem with the levels. It is a glaring problem in game of this genre. They’re simply not that hard. I remember playing through 15 of the levels and wondering to myself if I was still in the tutorial mode. An occasional level will provide a challenged, but they’re so abruptly placed that it was like biting into a soggy ice cream sandwich and onto a chunk of gravel. A title like this should have a gradual increase in difficulty. Not so shallow that there are 10 levels with the same solution, but not so steep that the second world is nigh impossible.

I think a way for the game to up the difficulty level would be if it embraced the third dimension. As it is, each level is effectively a 2D game board tarted up with 3D graphics. Making your little characters able to walk up and down walls and around each block would offer an array of gameplay possibilities to help provide some variety and challenge.

Overall, Way To Go is puzzler that is cute, but ultimately two dimensional. It offers a few minutes of fun, but I have to recommend you steer your finger clear of the little tile icon in the App Store. There are so many better destinations for your puzzle loving brain.

Store Way to Go! for iPhone & iPad | By Headup Games GmbH & Co KG | Price: $0.99 | Version: 1.0 | 112 MB | Rating 4+