Game Reviews

Bonecrusher - I've got a bone to pick

Star onStar onStar onStar halfStar off
|
iOS
| Bonecrusher
Get
Bonecrusher - I've got a bone to pick
|
iOS
| Bonecrusher

Bonecrusher is a game about collecting bones. It's also a game about getting crushed into bits by giant stomping spiky things.

I mean, that's not really the aim of the game, in fact it's the opposite of the aim of the game, but it's going to happen to you. And it's going to happen to you a lot.

But those deaths are just the right sort of frustrating. The sort of frustrating that pushes you to keep trying, to keep grabbing those bones, to keep chasing your high score.

Crushing blow

You play a skull. Your skeleton has been stolen, and you need to collect the bones. The game is split into little levels - grab enough bones to move on to the next one.

But when you die, you're sent back to the start of the game. There are no checkpoints, no save system. It's just you against the giant spikes that want to mash you into bone dust.

You only have two controls to avoid these crushing deaths - tap on the right of the screen to move right, tap on the left to move left.

The sequence of smashing changes as well, so you need to keep on your toes and pay attention to which blocks of the level are about to come crashing down.

There's no need to collect all of the bones that appear, and sometimes it's impossible. Instead once you've collected a set amount you move up to the next section.

You get coins as well, which you can spend on new skulls to play as, or on equipping boosts that give you a better chance to nab bones and get deeper into the game.

Dust in the wind

And the whole thing is a lot of fun. It's wonderfully sharp-edged, and manages to stay compulsive even when you're literally getting crushed at every turn.

You feel like you're constantly getting better too, getting higher up the tower you're climbing and beating your high score time after time.

Bonecrusher is a fine example of a simple arcade game done well. And if that sounds like your cup of tea you should grab it right now.

Bonecrusher - I've got a bone to pick

An engaging and compulsive stuff-dodger that'll keep you playing for a good long while
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.