Hyper Maze Arcade
|
iOS
| Hyper Maze Arcade

Negotiating mazes is probably something you tend to associate with the Victorian gentry, ancient myths, or the puzzle books you used to get as a kid.

Hyper Maze Arcade, however, applies pounding techno music and a frenetic pace to this ancient form of puzzle solving.

Searching for something new

At heart, Hyper Maze Arcade is an endless runner. Yep, another one. But it doesn't play quite like any other.

As you guide your little dot up the screen, striving to keep out of reach of the laser barrier that relentlessly chases you down, you're doing more than simply tapping to react to incoming obstructions.

Rather, you're navigating a long, thin maze. There are normally only two possible paths to take at any juncture, but the fact that you're making these decisions under such intense time pressure gives the game an extra dimension.

Then there's the added complication of having to pick up green energy fragments, which serve to enable your power-ups.

You can destroy whole sections of maze, sketch out the optimal path, or initiate a brief spell of auto-pilot if you have enough energy.

A good find

The controls here feel a little odd, though. Rather than have you directly drag your dot through this unending maze, Hyper Maze Arcade has you swiping in one of four directions whenever you reach a junction.

This has the benefit of consistency and reliability, as well as giving the game a sense of stripped-back purity.

But it also serves as a layer of abstraction that separates you from that intense, instinctual, hands-on feel that the best endless runners have.

As a reaction-based endless runner, then, Hyper Maze Arcade is somewhat lacking.

However, when you learn to move your gaze forwards, planning your next two or three turns rather than simply reacting in the moment, it takes on a much more interesting and compelling form.

Hyper Maze Arcade

An intriguing spin on the endless runner with a thoughtful maze-running element
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.