You'll probably be relieved that
5 Star Games doesn't have anything to do with the similarly-named 80s pop group. There's no dancing like Doris and Delroy, or singing as Stedman. If it did, I imagine it'd sell even fewer copies than that 5 Star's final departing single,
The Slightest Touch, which reached number 81 in the UK charts. (
Do you still have a copy Kath? - Ed.)
Instead the game is made up of five classic games: checkers, sudoku, solitaire, 5-in-a-row and slitherlink. As far as selections go, this covers some fine board games and puzzles and, even if it's not as vast a selection as you can get in other mobile games, the games evolve the longer you play while a nicely-arced difficulty curve takes you from simple puzzles to great big head-scratchers.
There are two ways to play the game - either in a Quest mode, or in Game Select mode (which lets you choose whichever game you'd like to play). The games that can be played in hotseat mode with two players - checkers and 5-in-a-row - both have that option too.
Quest mode adds a bit of a story path through the game however, giving you a world map and some interestingly dressed characters and inviting you to travel across the map by playing games. Each of the 15 points on the map represent an increased difficulty level, but you can choose which game you want to play at any point.
In addition, requirements are added to winning a game - so you might have to complete a sudoku puzzle in under 15 minutes, or win a game of 5-in-a-row in 16 turns or less. These additional objectives are what ensure
5 Star Games gets as much out of its five games as it can. Not only do the grids get bigger and the artificial intelligence opposition harder, but the conditions for winning get tougher too.
Onto how the games themselves play, and all are good examples of how to translate a board or puzzle game to mobile phone. Extra bonus points go to Spacehopper Studios for being able to save mid-way through any game.
The puzzles are clear to see, the opposition is good and the controls are easy to use. The only game that presents less of a challenge is checkers, and that's just because the game shows you which are the best pieces to move when it's your go. If it's possible to take one of the AI's pieces for instance, you're only allowed to move that piece. It takes some of the skill out of spotting the best moves for yourself.
The rest are flawlessly presented. The sudoku puzzles are good, and an annotation function (activated by pressing '#') lets you pencil in a number, while the eraser ('*') lets you delete a number you've entered. Enter an incorrect number and you're given a time penalty.
5-in-a-row and slitherlink are both completely addictive. The former is a sort of Connect 4 style game just played on a grid when you can slot a piece anywhere (and obviously requiring you line up 5 in a row, not 4). The latter is a clever grid-based puzzle game where you draw a line around the different squares ensuring you fill in the number of sides on each square specified inside it (so if it says 2, you can only fill 2 of the square's 4 sides).
Finally, solitaire is a perfectly well adapted version of the classic card game I always hated as a child. It starts relatively easily, then gradually the cards get more deviously placed to really test your skills.
Of course,
5 Star Games isn't a revolutionary game. It is, however, a well presented puzzle game (which, to fit with its world travelling theme, contains lots of tranquil pictures of desert islands) providing excellent playability thanks to its thoughtful difficulty curve and range of objectives.
