Game Review: Fizzy Factory - IOS

Genre: Puzzle

Age Rating: 3+

Price: FREE ( In App Purchases Apply )

Platform IOS ( IPad & IPhone Running IOS 4 or Higher )

Design:

Made by upcoming HangZone Games this is a charming little app where you have to get the soda trail to the relevant colour bottles. Seems simple right? Even a monkey could do it? WRONG! As simple as this game sounds it is everything but simple, enjoyable? Yes. Puzzling? Yes. Simple? NO? Having said this if it was simple i would not enjoy this game so much, it's not a game I can sit there and play for hours but when i think that my brain needs a good test then Fizzy Factory is definitely where I would go especially when other brain teasing apps cost a bomb and this one is FREE. The game consists of many sections all of which have around 40- 50 levels in each, each one with a varying degrees of difficulty and conditions to be met before you complete the level.

Gameplay:

As I mentioned in the design section the concept of the game is that you are working in a soda factory and you have to match the relevant soda trails up to their bottles, however don't think that you will be able to just draw a straight line, there are colours to be mixed, split up and directed past other colours before you even think about getting to your bottle. The game see's a gentle progression of difficulty from the basic group of levels up to much more difficult ones later on however at times the game can feel rather impossible but I'll put this down to my pathetic puzzle brain. Overall gameplay is basic but at the same time satisfying for an upcoming app developer. The only improvement I could really point out for the gameplay aspect is to reset the amount of hints you get after starting a new section. For example you have just moved on to the 'Soda Suds' section but used all your hints up in the last section, a refresh of the hints would be nice for a new section otherwise you feel quite overwhelmed and potentially pressured into buying new hints.

Presentation:

HangZone games has gone for the simple approach with their first app and to be honest I don't blame them, I'd much rather them come at me with a basic graphic game that actually works and that I can play rather than being like EA with their Simpsons Tapped Out which didn't work for about a month after release so fair props to HangZone for that. Sounds such as soda fizzing when you complete a level are a nice touch but I play it with the sound down to aid my concentration but disregarding my personal playing preferences it is a nice touch to the overall presentation. There are adverts in Fizzy Factory which can at times become tiresome however I can understand why they are there and it doesn't really detract from the overall playing experience.

Summary:

So basically if you like soda, bottles, funky sounds, fizzy things, colourful water and pulling your hair out over a good old fashioned puzzle game then download Fizzy Factory for your IPhone or Ipad. For a first venture this is very promising and I am sure that as HangZone Games' technology grows we will see much better games and apps from them both in graphical and gameplay terms.

Ratings:

Design: 8.0

Presentation: 8.5

Gameplay: 8.9

Overall: 8.4