Gardeners take note - a slug's worst enemy is not salt, but other slugs that are same shape and colour. Tap them in sequence and all your lettuces will be saved.
It's a good job we don't look to video games for practical life tips.
Yes, Link the Slug has you tapping matching slugs in order to turn them into so much frothy goo. All in the name of chirpy puzzler action, of course.
Feeling sluggishThese multi-coloured gastropods have to be either in a direct line or at a right angle to one another other, with no other slugs or objects in the way, in order for a successful match to be made.
Tapping two slugs of a colour will create a brief but destructive lightning bolt between them, which can be utilised to collect the three golden stars that populate each level.
As is always the way with these cutesy casual-puzzlers, Link the Slug gradually introduces new obstructions and tools to this simple slug-tapping formula.
These involve bombs that can remove level furniture, bubbles that protect slugs from a single hit, and switch-pads that swap two slugs over.
Pouring the salt onLink the Slug is a very slick, playable casual-puzzler, but in case you hadn't noticed the App Store is kind of full of slick, playable casual-puzzlers.
What's needed is an irresistible hook and a deceptively nuanced core mechanic, and Bulkypix's latest simply doesn't have either. Playing it feels like going through the motions.
This lack of spark is especially apparent during the more difficult levels, which don't really get any more involved or ingenious. They just get... more. More slugs, more objects. It's as if the solution becomes temporarily obscured by sheer numbers, and only a hefty dose of trial-and-error (assisted by an unlimited back-up button) will see you through.
It's not helped by a ludicrous 'Hint' system that spells out every last move for a whole level for you, acting like a stupidly laborious smart-bomb rather than a subtle nudge in the right direction.
Link the Slug is a fat, juicy-looking slug of a casual-puzzler, but it lacks the brains and the backbone to survive for long in the App Store garden.