A Long Way Home

Mobile has brought about a renaissance of ambitious, interesting art games like Kometen.

A Long Way Home falls somewhere between an arcade game and an abstract adventure. The results aren’t necessarily exciting, but it's interesting for a while.

You play an astronaut separated from his ship and many light years away from his home. Your only companion is the in-suit computer, a HAL-style guide that gives you the lay of the current level.

You have to collect pieces of fuel that help you to leap from galaxy to galaxy and, ideally, closer to home. Standing on spinning planets, you get around by jumping between each one.

The timing is crucial, as a misplaced jump will send you past the next planet and into the nothingness of space. You have to pause, bend your knees, and initiate a leap before you jump, so a successful jump requires anticipation.

A Long Way Home is a routine jumping game, but the atmosphere is where it excels. The visuals are polished and retro, as is the ambient, well-executed soundtrack.

With the groovy environment and methodical patience required, A Long Way Home has an almost zen-like pacing. You can virtually picture Dark Side of the Moon playing in the background.

The problem is, once the sheen wears off there isn’t much substance beneath it. Later in the game A Long Way Home throws in few obstacles, like suit-shearing asteroids, but the game doesn’t go much beyond what it offers in the very first level. A dozen levels in, most gamers will begin to find the experience repetitive, if not boring.

A Long Way Home does succeed at being an original gaming experience, if only for a few rounds. It falls somewhere between relaxing and repetitive, which may be some gamers' cup of tea, but it'll leave others frustrated.