Arrow
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Release Date: June 25^th, 2015
Developers: [ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Publishers: Apple Inc.
Platforms: iOS
Genre: Arcade
Players: 1
Rating: 9/10

---

---

Synopsis

---

Move through the maze without hitting the walls. Collect points to grow your tail. Smash gems to unlock cool new arrow heads and backgrounds!

---

---

Gameplay

---

This game is a fun and different arcade game from the developers Ketchapp. In this game you control what you would imagine to be a spaceship (but is called an arrow), stopping it from colliding with the environment. There isn't much that you have to protect it from apart from the wall like edges that you progress past. The screen is continuously scrolling down and the arrow you control always stays on the same point on the Y-axis. Unlike other games, you don't control the arrow by moving it side to side, up and down, there is only one direction you can make the arrow go in. The arrow is by default going to the right, not stopping it will inevitably cause it to crash. To stop it crashing, you make it go left instead. This difference in controls make the game fun to play as it is not like anything I have ever seen before. There are 2 things that you can collect in the game, there are orange gems which will add 1 to your current score, and purple gems which will add to your total count. You can spend the gems in the shop to buy alternative skins for the arrow, and backgrounds of the game to change it up and keep it fresh. When you collect the orange gems in game, you will have another sprite added on behind your arrow, with a skin respective to the skin of the arrow you are using. On first glance, you would think that the trailing sprites would move around and hit the edges, causing you to lose, but this is not the case as they follow the exact path that the main arrow goes, no matter how long the chain of sprites is. Overall the gameplay of this game is different to any other game that I've seen, which is why I find it so enjoyable.

---

---

Graphics

---

The graphics in this game are consistent with every other game made by Ketchapp; 2D, colorful, simple and very attractive. There are several layers to this game (all of which mix together no matter which skins and background you have on), the arrow which can be changed with completely different colors and designs, the walls which different ones are buyable from the in-game shop that vary in color and patterns (usually an isometric 2D design), and the background which is similar to the current background but in most cases is a much lighter shade of the wall texture. It is just little things that make a game good, for instance, when you collect one of the purple gems, it seems to shatter and send out several shards of the crystal. There are many other small features that makes the game so attractive and good looking.

---

---

Audio

---

The audio is also another thing in the game that has so much detail put into it. The main thing with this is the different skins, all of the skins have different audio sound effects that go along with them, for example one of the skins is a snake, and when you pick up an orange gem a quiet hissing sound effect is played as that is a sound that everyone would match with a snake. The same goes with a duck skin, a quacking noise is played when an orange gem is picked up. There is also a nice background tune that plays when you are in game, and the second you crash (game over) that music cuts out. This is a really nice effect, some games would have it fade out or have another sound effect play over the top that signifies the end of the game, but simply cutting it off works really well.

---

---

Controls

---

The controls of this game are one of the things that makes it different to other games, to change the direction of the travel of the arrow, you tap and hold on the screen for the duration that you want it to move for. The controls in themselves are really simple, but it is how well and accurately you use them. Being able to control the timings is very difficult, even though the level is the same each time, it still takes a long time to get used to the flow. At the start of the game, the edges in the map are all parallel but as you go along the angles of these edges start to change and it takes the controlling of the arrow to a whole new level.

---

---

Rating

---

Gameplay - 9/10
Graphics - 9/10
Audio - 9/10
Controls - 9/10
Overall - 9/10