Nellie's Ark review - A Breakout for the mobile generation?

Nellie’s Ark is a tilty reimagining of Breakout with a few tricks up its sleeve. It’s not the most polished or the most poised game you’re likely to download this year though.

But it just about manages to strike a balance between challenge and fun. Although there are a few missteps along the way.

Still, if you’re looking for a slightly interesting twist on an arcade classic then there’s a lot here that you can sink your teeth into.

You play Nellie. She’s at the bottom of the screen and tilting your device moves her around. You need to bounce a ball off her emoji face in order to smash some blocks.

The deeper you get into the game the more twists it throws at you. None of these are explained though, so you’re left to work things out for yourself.

Sometimes that works, other times you’re left wondering just how you’re supposed to get past a particular level, which can get a little frustrating.

But there’s still a lot going on here, and enough that you’ll be able to bounce through most of the game without getting in too much trouble.

The game very much has a sense of its own identity, which is rare on the App Store nowadays. But that doesn’t quite make up for the slight lack of sparkle here.

It’s unlikely that you’re going to pick this one up without some prompting. So that’s sort of what I’m doing here. I am prompting you.

In the end this one’s worth picking up. It’s not as shiny as it should be, and some of its ideas don’t come to fruition like they should do.

But it is fun. And it is whimsical. And it will make you smile. And sometimes that’s all you really want from a game.