Game Reviews

Almightree

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iOS
| Almightree
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Almightree
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iOS
| Almightree

Almightree is a clever, good looking puzzle platformer that adds a sprinkle of panic to the block-moving template.

The world you're walking on is constantly falling to bits, so as well as working out what you have to do, you need to make sure you're not wasting any precious time.

There's an eco-friendly message, some pretty impressive graphics, and a nod to the likes of Zelda here and there as well.

But while the scope of the game is a little narrower than its influences might suggest, there's enough here that you'll find yourself enjoying the time you spend with Almightree.

Tree-mendous

The basic story of the game revolves around a wizard who discovers he can fix the world by doing some wibbly wobbly magic stuff on some trees. Unfortunately the world is collapsing at an alarming rate, so you need to leg it between the different trees pretty sharpish.

The world is broken up into cubes, and as well as being a tree-botherer, you can move these cubes around with a tap of a couple of buttons.

You need to shift blocks around in order to clear paths, create staircases, and open up paths to the tree you need to poke with your magic fingers.

The puzzles you're initially faced with are pretty simple. Move a block to make a step, or shift one out of the way to make a gap. But the farther you get, the tougher they become.

You'll come across pretty white flowers that cancel out your block-moving if you walk on them, and less pretty blue flowers that fire out angry bolds of electricity.

Branching out

Even without the new additions things aren't exactly simple. Sometimes you need to take a step back and think about what you're doing. Usually that's when the world collapses beneath your feet.

The constantly crumbling world adds an air of panic to pretty much everything you do. A map in the corner shows how close you are to the tree you need to reach, and how much of the level behind you has disappeared into the void.

You can rewind up to three moves backwards, but the world continues to fall apart while you do. Making a mistake, especially on the harder difficulty levels, can prove fatal.

And that can be a little frustrating, especially if you're near the end of the level and you get trapped on a particularly tough puzzle.

The levels are just a little on the large side for mobile play sessions, and while that won't matter if you're lounging on your couch, it can be annoying if you're sitting on the bus.

Tree-puns of mass destruction

Even so, there's a lot to like about Almightree. It offers up a sizeable challenge, it looks and sounds great, and it throws some fresh ideas into the 3D adventure pot.

The controls aren't perfect, and some of the early levels do feel a little samey, but it's worth sticking with it.

Almightree wouldn't feel out of place on Xbox Live or PSN, it's that polished a production. It's bright, it's bold when it needs to be, and it's entertaining enough that its foibles aren't the end of the world.

Almightree

A smart and engaging 3D puzzler that ups the ante with a good deal of panic, Almightree tree is a lot of fun
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.