Despite being considered a platform with “hardly any apps”, Windows Phone has a remarkable amount of good games available. Among these is Doodle God, a quirky little title that originally found life on the iPhone in June 2010 before quickly spreading to Windows Phone in November of that year. (Doodle God is also available on Android and Samsung BADA, as well as being available to play in your browser via the homepage).
Of course, if you’re playing on Android, iPhone or even (however unlikely it might seem) on a Samsung BADA device, you won’t have the ability to unlock achievements and improve your Xbox Live Gamerscore. This element of the game is limited to Windows Phone.
Sticking the word “god” into the title of a game adds a certain element of power, quality and all-round awesomeness, things that aren’t always well-deserved. So is Doodle God deserving of its nomenclature? Or should it really be called Doodle Down-and-out?
But What IS a Doodle God?
Doodle God is a sort of puzzle game, where the pieces remain hidden until you create them. While certainly an unusual title, there is certainly a lot to talk about, not least the playability, the sound and the Xbox Live achievements. In addition, mini games and quests are included to offer a different dimension.
Control of Doodle God is via fingers/thumbs. There are no guns, no weapons to arm and no radars. Everything about the game is intuitive, from gameplay to how you approach the task of creating new elements from the original four (earth, water, fire and air) and reaching the end.
With a potential 135 elements across 15 total groups, there is a lot to discover in Doodle God.
Yes, You Can Play God
While the aim of the game may seem lofty, the gameplay itself is so simple that you can pull out your phone and run off a few elements as you wait for a bus or kill time as you wait for your favourite TV show to start.
Creating new elements is easy – if you can find ones that don’t already exist! Just tap the element group to open the list, then open a second group and tap pairs of tiles, one from each side, to create something new. There is logic in this – for instance, fire+tree=coal. It really is that simple, although completing Doodle God can take a while. Fortunately there are plenty of amusing quotes to help pass the time as elements are created (or recreated, if you’re forgetful).
There 18 achievements to be unlocked in Doodle God, offering 5 to 40 points for your Xbox Live Gamerscore.
As mentioned above, complementing the main game, are two mini games included with Doodle God. The first, MatchTrix, is a Tetris-esque game (and there are many of those around) using Doodle God squares. Meanwhile, Bejoined is the second mini game, and challenges you to more challenges, this time with a Bejeweled-style approach. Meanwhile the Doodle God quests challenge you to kill a dragon, help Santa find gifts and find virtues to outnumber the corresponding sins. A fourth quest is exclusive to Windows Phone, in which you must attempt to reinvent various “wonderful things” from the 20th century.
Of course, as this is Doodle God, you don’t just get to play these two games. You have to create the Games element first…
He Saw (& Heard) that It Was Good
Doodle God’s gameplay is enhanced not by amazing graphics but by evocative music. After all, this is a tile-based game, essentially a game of “Snap!” where the paired cards result in something new.
As such, the graphics are attractive, cartoony/doodle-y but essentially nothing more than functional. Meanwhile the game’s soundtrack can be described as “biblical”, sounding not unlike the sort of music you might hear while watching Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments.
If you’re stuck, meanwhile (something that can happen quite often, especially around the time you learn how to create dragons) the game usefully offers words of verbal encouragement such as “come on, use your imagination” and “use your noodle”.
The Judgement
One of the great benefits of mobile gaming has been the pushing of gaming boundaries. Can you imagine playing a game as comparatively basic yet fascinatingly addictive as Doodle God on a PC 15 years ago?
Gaming has changed in the intervening years thanks largely to mobile gaming and titles such as this are perfect for handheld devices. Doodle God’s strength is in its ingenuity and sense of humour, not to mention the gameplay.
Doodle God can be found in our Best of Windows Phone Apps list, and rightly so. It is available from the Windows Phone Store for $2.99 (£2.29) and if you own a Windows Phone and like gaming, it is an excellent choice.
Certainly not a down-and-out, Doodle God is towering in its mobile gaming divinity! Do you agree? Give it a tryout and let us know in the comments below.
0 comments:
Post a Comment