Game Reviews

Pentumble

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iOS
| Pentumble
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Pentumble
|
iOS
| Pentumble

Pentumble works on a number of levels. There's a puzzling element to its tightly packed levels, but if you take your time and consider each move you'll only get a single star.

If you want to get all three you need to be bold and reckless, leaping before your brain has even had a chance to figure out the terrible danger you're in.

Both approaches work perfectly well, and the platforming on offer is smooth enough that you're going to enjoy your time with the neat looking game.

There are a few niggles here and there, and more than one expletive-inducing difficulty spike, but you'll still enjoy the time you spend in this amiable little game's company.

Roll and tumble

You control a multi-limbed robot ball thing that can stick to surfaces with the suckers at the end of its legs.

Push a button to roll left, push a button to roll right, and tap a button to jump. The first few levels are reasonably standard iOS platforming. Short, sharp, and to the point.

Things get interesting when the game drops in spinning saw blades, spiked surfaces, moving platforms, and keys that get rid of certain-coloured obstacles.

There are bubbles to cling to, gouts of fire to avoid, and cogs to spin around on. And it's all a lot of fun. Things might get harder, but that extra spice is what the slightly stale opening was begging for.

The controls are precise enough that there's rarely an issue, and the levels are short enough that even when you do tap something wrong there's only a few seconds worth of game to play back through.

Tough legs

Pentumble isn't perfect, but it manages to pace its dual platforming hearts pretty well. You'll never feel out of your depth, unless you decide you want to. And when you take that plunge the game opens up into a far more frantic, punishing experience.

The new ideas it drizzles on are sometimes a little thin, and there are some levels that could do with some tweaking, but this is a solid and engaging iOS puzzler that's got enough going for it to recommend.

Pentumble

A rewarding platformer that lets you fail at your own pace, Pentumble really crackles when you dive head first into its levels
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.