Game Reviews

Diggin' Dogs

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| Diggin' Dogs
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Diggin' Dogs
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| Diggin' Dogs

I have the misfortune of owning a pooch, and can attest to the validity of Diggin' Dogs's title - those crazy canines sure do love to get their paws dirty. My incredibly stupid pet likes nothing more than to gouge massive holes in my garden - usually after very expensive flower beds have been freshly planted.

However, this review isn't about my love/hate relationship with 'man's best friend'. It's about Chillingo’s latest attempt to rob you of your sanity and time. Diggin' Dogs features a trio of pups who like nothing more than to burrow deep into the soil. Using your finger, you have to create a pathway for them down the screen until they reach the mystical golden boot, which marks the end of each level.

Along the way your doggies will collect coins, encounter enemies, and avoid deadly mushrooms and traps. Thankfully, they're not totally defenceless: you can use traps to slay hostile creatures, and by picking up high-tech helmets you can neutralise mushrooms, spray wasps with insecticide, and even pull coins towards your canine chums.

How much is that doggie in the window?

Only one of your pooches needs to reach the golden boot for the level to be finished, but you get more points for bringing the whole trio home. Doing so can be quite a challenge, as some levels force two of the dogs down separate danger-filled pathways, while giving the third dog a helmet which can aid the others. These stages call for deft digging and canny cooperation.

Thanks to the laws of gravity, your dogs will drop downwards whenever you dig away the soil from beneath them. However, in a neat touch, it's possible to tilt your phone sideways and guide them in slightly different directions. The catch is that all objects on the screen are impacted by this change, so you need to be wary of inadvertently sending a razor-sharp man-trap towards your furry friends.

You can also influence the movement of your dogs by swiping your finger on them. This will cause them to leap in the direction of the swipe, and comes in very handy when you're trying to reach treasure chests, helmets, and coins.

The one with the waggly tail...

Diggin' Dogs10.0pt;font-family:"> is divided into several worlds, each with its own theme. To unlock each world you need to have the required number of bones - simply finishing each level in the current world is not enough to unlock the next.

There are three bones to locate on each level, and revisiting conquered stages to track them all down becomes an obsessive but hugely rewarding experience. Equally appealing is Diggin' Dogs's degree of challenge, and the inventive nature of some of the later levels.

For example, on the ice world you have to smash deadly icicles by dropping rocks on them - a task that requires a lot of planning and careful management of your pups. One wrong move and you could potentially drop them onto the fatal blades of ice as well.

I do hope that dog is for sale

Despite the straightforward premise, there's a surprising amount of variety on offer here. In one level you'll be using a particular helmet to negotiate hazards, while in another you'll discover that you can mess with gravity by tapping magical skulls.

These brain-teasing challenges are mixed up with fast-paced levels - which call to mind Namco's excellent Mr. Driller - where ghostly apparitions chase your pups to the bottom of the stage.

Although many will draw obvious comparisons with Disney's popular Where's My Water?, Diggin' Dogs brings enough new content to the table to feel fresh and original. The challenge of perfecting your score on all the levels will keep you extremely busy, making this a bone you'll most definitely want to gnaw on for weeks to come.

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Diggin' Dogs

Diggin' Dogs manages to take a simple premise and embellish it with excellent presentation and a surprising level of depth. If you loved Where's My Water?, then you'll lap this up like a thirsty pup
Score
Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.