One Tap Desert Hero

My time with One Tap Desert Hero has been something of a roller coaster ride.

It's got the simple pixel graphics going for it (the boss monsters look quite good, actually), and it's super-easy to play, but this inverse pachinko RPG gets repetitive really fast.

It's also broken. Like "you can't play anymore" levels of broken.

The entire premise of One Tap Desert Hero is to select a spot for your hero to embark from, then sit back and watch as they march forward and (hopefully) plow through masses of various enemies on their way to the top of the screen.

Assuming they survive the trip to the top, they then have to face-off against a boss monster. And assuming they defeat the boss, they get to see their high score and then try again - this time with a different giant monster thing at the end.

Gameplay wise, that's all there is to it. You can slide the hero to the left or right along the bottom of the screen, then you let go and watch him do his thing (i.e. usually fail horribly).

There is a little bit of strategy to it, however, because the random placement of enemies and power-ups will require you to find the optimal route as well as figure out the best time to start marching.

This can all get pretty tedious, however. The totally random placements will make certain layouts pretty much impossible, and more often than not you'll probably end up relying on luck to succeed.

There's no real satisfaction to be had because it never really feels like you earned your victory.

Then there's the constant crashing problem. One Tap Desert Hero crashes constantly, which in itself is really just a minor annoyance when each level is lost or won so quickly, but it's still an annoyance.

The fact that it's crashed on me and now refuses to open up again is a far bigger issue. Although I'm sure the crash bugs will eventually be patched out.

Even without the crashing issue, One Tap Desert Hero still isn't worth recommending. It goes beyond being too simple - it's also not particularly interesting or engaging. And if you want to do simple, you kind of need both those things.