Game Reviews

oO

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It's difficult to pinpoint the exact game, or the exact moment that tricky twitch avoid 'em ups like Super Hexagon and Duet became their own genre on mobile.

oO is another entry in this increasingly crowded genre, but this time around the constant deaths lean a little too much on the side of frustration, rather than entertainment.

It's a game that will appeal to some hardcore masochists - especially with the endless mode - but to others like myself, there isn't enough incentive to keep putting yourself through the pain.

Spincycle

In the game, you guide a small ball around a series of circles. The ball spins on its own, but when you tap the touch-screen it will jump into or outside of the circle and continue its momentum.

The idea is that each circle has at least one other circle touching it, and if you tap just as the ball is touching a connection point, the ball will hop from one circle to the other.

It's a simple premise, but as you'd expect, there are plenty of obstacles ready to pop your abstract protagonist. These come in the form of spikes, and as you play through oO, you'll come across a wide variety of the buggers.

Most are static and require you hop in and out of the circle to dodge around them. But as you play on, spikes will poke in and out of the circle's circumference, or spin around their hosts, and just generally try to mess you up.

oO can't be accused of failing to explore the theme. Each level feels slightly different to the last thanks to different spike-based elements thrown at you, and it'll definitely test your ability to tap your smartphone screen repeatedly while keeping your swearing to a minimum.

o_O

But here's the issue with oO: The premise should be sound, but in execution it's really not that enjoyable an experience.

Games don't have to be "fun" per se, but oO's general design didn't give me that "one more go" feeling - rather, it gave me that "I can't be bothered with this" feeling.

In reality, it's quite a dull game. Visually it's pretty boring, and the soundtrack is immediately forgettable. Games like Super Hexagon proved that a great soundtrack can really relieve some stress in this genre, and oO doesn't utilize that fact.

The precision required to jump between circles is also quite the bother. It's a visual issue really - many times I made the jump between two circles, believing I was definitely in the right position, only to be immediately destroyed.

And overall, there's just very little incentive for me to keep going back. The endless mode is where most players will end up, but even there, being handed infinite random circles of doom isn't exactly my idea of a fun night in.

Some players will still get a kick out of oO, twisting their eyes into oblivion with but a simple white ball of hope. But this is far from the next big step for twitch-based trickery on mobile.

oO

While oO may have a certain something, it misses that 'one more go' feel that so many twitch-based games emanate, leaving frustration in its wake
Score
Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.