This has been an excellent week for iOS gaming.
On the same day they released the fantastic Coco Loco, the mobile gaming juggernaut Chillingo
unleashed a second new puzzler onto the App Store, and somehow...this one is even more
ingenious.
Prepare to think for two.
It’s TwinGo!
for the iPhone.
And holy crap, this game is **** brilliant.
What I adore about TwinGo! is that it takes this really simple premise and makes a game
out of it that manages to be remarkably complex.
There’s no need for a million button combinations or convoluted control schemes.
TwinGo! is a smart and intricate game...that you play by simply swiping your finger.
You have these two...things.
It’s your job to get them to those destination...things.
Moving them, again, is done simply by swiping.
Swipe right to roll right, down to go down, you get the idea.
But the catch—and what makes TwinGo!
such a fantastic puzzler—is that moving is simultaneous.
What one does, so does the other.
So again, you really have to think for two before making any moves.
One goal might be a roll to the left away, but doing so might cause the other ball to
fall off the ledge.
So it’s all about positioning and getting them in the proper formation.
You can effectively move one at a time by blocking the other’s path, but you might
have to assemble the blockade yourself...and with the other ball.
This is ridiculous.
And what’s so impressive about TwinGo! is that that premise is enough to carry the game.
The levels are small, you only have a few things to collect in each one...there really
isn’t much to do.
But its core mechanic is so clever and addictive, you’re never looking for anything else.
TwinGo!
doesn’t need a ton of inane features because the game itself is so damn good.
TwinGo!
doesn’t have the scope or flair of a Coco Loco, but I think that’s part of the game’s
charm.
It has this cute and colorful exterior with a really simple aesthetic, but once you’ve
been eased into the concept, the game punches you in the face with an extremely challenging
series of puzzles...that just don’t look like they should be as challenging as they
are.
Hence the maddening charm of TwinGo!.
iOS fuels what Apple is calling post-PC devices.
And while video games still have a foot planted firmly in what they’d consider
the past, it’s hard to argue with their vision when you play a game like this.
It’s all touch, it has no buttons and it costs about as much as a cheap cheeseburger...yet
TwinGo! is an exceptional video game.
And frankly, it’s because of those things.
Not in spite of them.