We’re always looking for things to tickle our nostalgia bone. Some of us use pictures, some of us pull out our old PS2 or NES system, and still others want something new that will pluck that heart string for them. Instincts is a cross between an endless runner and everyone’s favorite early video game, Space Invaders, and though it might not keep you coming back for more and more, it’s definitely something you’ll want to check out.

Developer: Appsolute Games

Price: Free, with $1.99 in-app purchase to remove ads.

Highlights:

• Retro-inspired theme.
• Very simple but fun gameplay mechanic.
• Earn points to buy more ships.
• Dynamic elements and colorful environments.

Setup

As with most games these days, there’s no setup necessary. Launch the game, it will ask you for Google Play Games access, and you’re good to go. Sticking to its retro theme, the game features a big “Press Start” message on its home screen. The gameplay mechanics are so simple that the game provides almost no tutorial. “Touch & drag to move your ship” are the only instructions you will receive. Ever.

Features

The main objective of this game is to score as many points as you can while navigating your ship across several obstacles and walls. The method of scoring is rather peculiar because you have to smash barriers in order to increase it. These are clearly marked by a chequered flag pattern. The game will always make you choose between two (or more) paths: some will have obstacles and moving elements, and others will have the barriers previously mentioned. Also, barriers will appear in between these sections. It’s strange that the game never tells you how far have you travelled, but these barriers give the game another element of depth, instead of only depending on distance to measure score.

The negative aspect of this system is that you can have really good but short runs and bad runs in which you travel for a long distance. Since, before choosing the aisle, you can’t see anything of it, you are heavily reliant on luck in order to score. The game tries to mitigate this by interrupting the wall separating tracks with chequered barriers, so you can change between them while scoring points. Even with its flaws, it’s an interesting system that adds to the gameplay instead of hindering it.

Scenarios in Instincts feature clever layouts, with moving elements and colorful environments that change all the time. A big problem of these “endless” kind of games is the constant repetition of scenarios and puzzles. Instincts tries to keep these instances to a minimum, although I’ve been greeted sometimes with repeated puzzles in the same game. Nevertheless, the game makes up for it with its intricate and random gameplay.

Sometimes the walls start to compress around you, leaving your ship inside a very narrow tunnel which requires ultimate precision to navigate through; other times, the path ahead will directly close in front of you, leaving you no choice but to carefully change to another aisle. Sometimes elements will morph in some elaborate ways, forcing you to react quickly in order to avoid them. These components make the game harder without ever feeling cheap. Every time you crash your ship, you know it’s completely on you.

Do you remember how in old games, there was a section called “Unlockables,” which companies now greedily called DLC? When you crash your ship, Instincts will give you points according to the number of barriers you have smashed. These can be used to unlock new ships. From what I’ve seen, however, these ships do not affect the core gameplay; they are purely cosmetical. They all look cool, however, and they contribute to increasing the game’s replay value.

Graphics, as previously said, follow a retro look at all times. Sometimes, these games with retro-inspired graphics disrupt their own theme by showing some non-pixelated elements. However, all of the assets I’ve seen in Instincts feature pixelated borders, retro looks, and colorful backgrounds. Even the pause screen has legacy elements in mind, since it only shows a “Continue” button without other elements, just like games of yesteryear. Still, it’s impossible to turn a blind eye to that ad banner at the bottom of the screen. Also, after some games, Instincts will show you a full-screen ad. There’s a $1.99 in-app purchase to remove all ads if you wish.

The only option the game gives you is a toggle to turn the sound on or off. Background music in this game is a very relaxing tone that does not disturb gameplay. While sound effects are kept to a minimum, when they are actually used, they do a good job in adding to the experience. On a side note, even though there’s not much going on graphics or sound-wise, I’ve suffered from some slowdowns while playing the game. These happen rarely and go away after some seconds, but there are definitely some performance issues that need to be ironed out. 

Conclusion

Instincts offers a simple, no-nonsense gameplay mechanic and does a good job in teleporting you to those glorious days of pixelated graphics and 8-bit soundtrack. The weakest point in this game is undoubtedly the replay value, since, apart from buying new starships and leaderboards, there’s not much else to do. Also, ads can be a bit annoying but, with a $1.99 in-app purchase, you can enjoy an ad-free experience. Nonetheless, it’s a fun, solid game for those times where you need to burn some minutes, all while paying tribute to the golden era of gaming.

Download from the Play Store.

There’s something addicting about number puzzle games. As always, the Google Play Store has an astounding amount of games under this category, but the most recognizable names in this genre are undoubtedly 2048 and Threes. Ignited by the success of these games, developer ChaosVision presents Zer0, which follows a similar approach gameplay-wise, but introduces some twists to differentiate itself from its competitors.

Developer: ChaosVision

Price: Free

Highlights:

• Mechanics that are very easy to understand
• Challenging gameplay
• Completely free with only an optional video ad to undo your last action
• Amazing graphics and subtle animations

Setup

When launching the app, Zer0 will show you a quick tutorial. Since the game’s mechanics are not complicated, the tutorial is only two screens long. After this, the game will show you the typical Google Play Games screen asking for permissions. Accept them and, in a peculiar choice by the developer, you’ll be shown the playing board directly. No main screen, no title screen, nothing. Just tap the board and the game will start immediately. Imagine launching Mario Kart and being taken directly to the course. It’s definitely not usual, but it works pretty well for this kind of game.

Features

The game is really simple to understand. You are shown a board with a lot of blocks with numbers on them. At the beginning, these will all be sevens, eights and nines. Quoting the tutorial, “when two tiles or more with the same number are adjacent, you can click on one of them and they will merge.” The resulting block will have its number reduced by one.

For example, let’s say you have three adjacent tiles with a number eight in them. Tap on any of the blocks, and they will be reduced to only one with a number seven on it. The objective is to combine blocks until you get one with a number zero. Believe, getting a zero is harder than it sounds.

However, this is not a bad thing at all. There’s something super addictive in combining all of these numbers until you get the number zero. Since the board is pretty big (7×7), there are multiple strategies you can use to achieve your goal. Another bonus: each time you combine tiles, new tiles fall from the top, making it impossible (or at least very difficult) to fail the game.

When you finally get to the number zero, the game gives you an option to continue playing normally or try a mode called Hardcore Mode. This mode asks you to combine two zeros, which will curiously from a 2048 block. It becomes trickier because blocks change color with every move you make. However, identical numbers will still display identical colors.

If you continue playing, you’ll get to Hell mode. In order to clear it, two 2048 blocks must be combined, forming a 42 (yeah, really peculiar). This mode is as difficult as it sounds, augmented by the fact that blocks with the same number no longer have identical colors. There’s even a special mode called God Mode, which you can access when clearing Hell mode, where you have to merge two 42 blocks, but every block in the board turns into a question mark. God Mode is so hard that only four people have passed it, according to the developer.

If you find yourself stuck because you have a block that you won’t be able to combine in the foreseeable future, the game gives you an element called the Joker Bomb. This item will destroy a single block on the board. It may not sound like much, but it can be extremely helpful when you are close to finishing the game, but aren’t able to combine two low-number blocks because you have a pesky high-number block between them.

Also, if you make a move and then regret the consequences of your actions, you can tap a button to undo your last move. This will show you a short video ad, and when it’s done, your last move will completely banish, letting you do things in a different way. I wish that was something you could do in real life.

The game also lets you compare your best times with people around the world, thanks to its tight Google Play Games integration. Since I’m pretty bad at this game, a trip to the leaderboards just left me depressed and questioning the decisions I’ve made in my life. I can’t understand how people got a number zero in two minutes.

Anyways, continuing with Google Play Games, there’s also 13 achievements you can get, which can get somewhat difficult. If you are an “I don’t care about leaderboards” kind of people, you can also share your progress locally by using the share button at the bottom. This will automatically make a screenshot of the app so you can share it wherever you like. Pretty cool.

Developers normally don’t focus on graphics for this kind of games but instead, opt to direct their attention to refining the core gameplay. However, ChaosVision has done an amazing job in creating beautiful graphics that don’t distract you from your main objective. Tiles have different colors depending on their number, and they have a cool shadow that extends from their digit. When combining blocks, the new ones fall in a very subtle manner, and animations for existing blocks falling into position are simple but fluid. Also, the animation when cancelling your last move is a joy to watch.

Conclusion

Zer0 manages to bring users deep, addictive gameplay with mechanics that you will be able to understand in five seconds. Combined with no in-app purchases, a completely optional video ad, and elegant graphics, it’s very easy to recommend this game, and it definitely should get more attention. If you love challenging, but fun puzzle games with a math aspect, download Zer0 right now. You won’t regret it at all.

Download from the Play Store.