Flip Zoo

It was never really confirmed whether or not Apple owning the patents to multi-touch touchscreens would cause any issues for other platforms, but there’s a very noticeable trend on the Android for one finger controlled games.

Perhaps this has something to do with the multi-touch patent, and perhaps not, but it does remind us - rather fondly - of a similar stage in the mobile platform’s life. As gaming became more prevalent, developers sought ways to make them as accessible as possible, and that’s exactly what Distinctive Developments (among other Android game creators) have done with Flip Zoo.

The game is roughly bent around a rather convoluted plot about an intergalactic zoo being hijacked by a travelling space circus, or something, then falling through a black hole and stranding the animals in deep space. At least, I think that’s what it was getting at.

Fortunately, it’s not remotely important, other than lending the developers a bit of tangential inspiration for a few of the backdrops and artwork.

Your mission is to rescue these errant animals, shepherding them towards the exit. As such, Flip Zoo is inevitably going to be compared to Lemmings, though the similarities - once you get into the game - begin to thin out.

The animals are fewer in number, to begin with, though they do exhibit the same suicidal tendencies. The screen is built from a simple maze of platforms, with an exit point at the bottom and various obstacles and dangers littered about them.

The animals keep running in the same direction until they either fall off the edge, hit an obstacle and turn around, or are killed. You can switch a selection of the platforms, obstacles and dangers on and off by tapping the screen, and rotating when they’re active or inactive is how you coax the animals safely to the exit.

Tapping the screen switches the state of all changeable features, however, so you’re not working them individually. This is the crux of Flip Zoo’s puzzles, as you’ve to fathom exactly when to change the screen’s state so the unstoppable animals don’t fall to their deaths or drop onto the next platform and run straight into a bear trap.

This often requires split second tapping, which is rather in contrast to the otherwise leisurely pace of gameplay. The puzzles are undeniably addictive, though a bit more action would be welcome at times.

Too many levels have that irksome ‘sticking point’ that takes too long to return to with each retry, but it’s to Flip Zoo’s credit that you will keep trying over and over again.

The return to one thumb gameplay is also another agreeable feature of Flip Zoo, and opens up the Android to out-and-about gaming that too many high end platforms are veering away from due to complicated controls.