Walkthroughs

Smile Inc. tips - How to survive your first day at work

The daily grind

Smile Inc. tips - How to survive your first day at work
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| Smile Inc.

Smile Inc. is currently performing rather well in the free iOS game charts, pushing Plants vs. Zombies: Heroes down to the number two spot (in the US at least).

It's easy to see why, with its snappy graphics, simple autorunner gameplay and satirical story of an intern literally running the gauntlet through a death-dealing office environment.

But it's extremely unforgiving and surprisingly tricky to get a handle on at first. The developer doesn't give you much instruction, so there's a good deal of trial and error as your work your way through the game's busy environments.

In the absence of more clear direction, allow us to fill you in.

The basics

As I've already mentioned, Smile Inc. doesn't exactly spoon feed you with directions. It might be worth going over a few basics.

You move your character left and right by tilting your iOS device accordingly. Tapping the screen will execute a forward roll (or a jump, or some other character-specific move).

Dodge pointy stuff, spiky stuff, sharky stuff - anything that looks dangerous, basically - and collect coins and gems. That's it.

Threat identification

That latter point is really where the crux of Smile Inc's challenge lies. The game's biggest trick (deliberate or otherwise) is to confuse you with clutter. There's an awful lot going on around you, to the point where it can be tough to identify threats.

In the early stages, the best rule to follow is: 'if in doubt, dodge it'. This is especially so as the game loves leading you into a trap. It'll place gold coins right near the mouth of mincing machines and a bunch of gems over a spiked pit.

Put simply - don't be blinded by shiny things, and look out for your hide above all else. If it's a piece of office furniture or a person, though, by all means plough on through.

Try the joystick

By default Smile Inc. gives you tilty controls. These can land you in a lot of hot water, particularly when the obstructions come along close together.

There is an alternative available in the options menu, allowing you to bring up a virtual joystick. However, this still has a pretty steep learning curve thanks to the heavy inertia on our protagonist.

If you really want to master the game, though, I would suggest switching to this physical option.

Caffeine hits

Coffee makes you speed up - it doesn't make you invulnerable. Which is good advice for life, as well as Smile Inc.

Which might make you wonder why coffee is useful in Smile Inc. It's not so much that coffee makes you quicker, but that it makes your character more responsive and able to move out of the way of danger.

As such, you shouldn't go out of your way to grab those steaming mugs - but you should be collecting them whenever possible.

What's with all the gems?

Why collect all those gems? They're mainly there to help you acquire new mystery boxes, which typically contain new hats to wear.

These hats make your character look a little different, but they don't improve your abilities at all. The real differences in terms of abilities come in the shape of characters, most of which you need to buy - but some of which you can earn through completing missions.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.