Ever found yourself spending WAY too long fiddling with one of those water-toys where little drops of oil drip and roll from one side of the toy to the other?
Come on. Don’t lie now.
VernX belongs to that very small and oft-forgotten genre of games: zen-like video games. VernX is not trying to impress anyone with stunning graphic or immersive environment. Like others in the genre, VernX features utterly minimalist sounds and graphics. Flat blocks of bright color and the occasional chime are all this game will ever throw at you. And while that might sound a little underwhelming, it creates this soothing, trance-like quality to the game that you’ll be hard pressed to find elsewhere.
VernX probably fares better when you look at it as an extremely in-depth and complicated digital toy rather than a game. At it’s heart, it’s a labyrinth game. You have 50 tiny little balls you have to navigate to the end of the maze in order to complete each level. Different forces at on your cloud of balls to tug them this way or that, push them around, squash them, vaporize them, etc. But unlike some games in this vein, you’re going to be REALLY moving your iDevice around. Careful precision movement is not required in VernX. More frequently, I find myself rotating my iPhone 360 degrees several times each level. Also, VernX just doesn’t care about things like speed or hazards. You lost some balls in acid? That’s OK. They’ll just appear at the beginning. You worried about how long you’re taking? No biggie, take your time. You don’t feel like getting all the balls to the goal? Eh, as long as you get half. Suffice to say, it’s a pretty laid-back game.
Further adding to the toy-like quality, the levels are divided into two categories: ‘challenge,’ and ’sandbox.’ While the challenge levels are straight-forward labyrinth mazes, the sandbox levels use the same engine to make little scenes that have no real goal, but can be pretty mesmerizing to just roll the little balls around in. At their best, these levels are where VernX shines best. They can have that same engrossing quality that the browser-based ’sand game’ or a good lava lamp has. Sandbox levels are also what gives the game significant replay value, since they are unlocked by collecting special items while playing challenge levels. While simply beating a challenge level is relatively simple, collecting all the special orbs and ferrying them to the exit without them being destroyed can actually prove quite challenging. I found that just casually playing, I unlocked about 1 sandbox level for every 2 challenge levels I played, so unlocking them all would probably take at least little concerted effort.
As I mentioned previously, VernX doesn’t have a lot to discuss in the graphics and sound departments. It runs a very simple vector-engine that allowed to fling around a lot of little particles across the screen with no framerate problems, so while it may not set out to accomplish much there, it does it well. There are only a few sounds in the entire game, which also lends to that zen-like quality. That being said, VernX has no problems if you want to run your iPod program while playing it, so feel free to add what ever music you like.
VernX is designed to be played ‘at your own pace,’ which I think will unfortunately mean for some people it presents barely enough challenge to even qualify as a ‘game.’ But I don’t think VernX really cares about that, and neither should you. It’s definitely fun, just not frenetic, arcade-action fun. There’s already 30 of each type of level to unlock and enjoy, and the developer has implied that it would not be a hassle to add more levels in the future, so you can expect to get a few good hours of hypnotic orb-pushing from VernX.
iTunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vernx/id337460430?mt=8
Conclusion
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Mesmerizing, great sandbox levels | Not enough challenge |
| Verdict | Fun, not quite exciting |
| Rating |
Just purchased. Thanks for the review. I have been wanting something for my kids to play with that requires more mind and less frenzied tap.
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