Bubble Wars – totally Addictive bubble shooter with a few unique twists
by Toni McQuilken
Mar 6, 2012 12:27 PM –
Install
Bubble Wars is a unique color matching game with two modes of play. In the Attack mode, shoot colored bubbles at the bubble spinner circle and try to shrink it. If you get 3 or more colors in a row the bubbles are destroyed. Otherwise the circle can grow. Once it is large enough to hit you the game ends. In the Defend mode, shoot colored bubbles at a bubble spinner ring of bubbles that surrounds you. If you get 3 or more colors in a row the bubbles are destroyed. Otherwise the ring can start shrinking around you. Once it reaches you the game ends.
Price: Free
Tested on: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Game play is easy to pick up, especially if you’ve played “bubble shooter” style games before.
- Despite being easy to pick up, it is challenging enough to keep you coming back.
- There are two modes of play, each giving a unique play experience.
Cons
- You’ll loose a lot of time playing this.
Features:
It’s very rare that I come across a game that completely manages to suck me in. Even rare when I realize I’ve played through it a few times already, and forgot to take a single screenshot. So that will hopefully give you some idea of how addictive this game is!
It’s a very simple concept, one that’s been played out before – you shoot colored bubbles into other bubbles of the same color to make sets of three or more disappear. However, there are a few twists here. First, instead of a rectangular setup, both modes are hexagons. This adds a surprisingly interesting element, as it completely changes the way you use angles. Second, the whole game board rotates based on where you shoot your bubbles. So if you shoot a bubble on the right side of the hexagon, the whole thing will rotate right, and vice-versa. And shooting bubbles closer to you will get a smaller amount of rotation than shooting those further away. This makes for a constantly shifting puzzle you have to keep track of.
Another nice feature here are two modes – one is similar to the traditional game play, with your bubble at the top, and you’re shooting down into a solid mass until you clear all the bubbles and move to the next level. In the second, however, you’re shooting from inside the hexagon. The aim is still to clear all the bubbles, but it definitely makes you approach it a little differently. I also really like that in both modes, it’s not a timed game. Instead, you get additional bubbles added to the board after a set period of time, so there is still some element of timing involved. However, the game ends in both modes when you have game board bubbles reach your shooter.
There isn’t much else to this game. You can see your previous best score and your current score, but there’s no list that keeps track it for you. It’s just a “beat your last best score” type of setup. It doesn’t connect to the Internet, or encourage you to link your account with friends. It’s just an exceptionally well-done bubble shooter to pass some time.
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Bubble Wars Main
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Bubble Wars Game Play
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Bubble Wars Defend Mode
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Bubble Wars Attack Mode
Fun Factor:
If you enjoy this style of casual game, where you’re shooting a bubble to match colors, then this is an excellent example that brings something new to the table.
Addictive:
As I mentioned above, I lost about an hour playing this game before I realized it, and then realized I hadn’t even taken any screenshots because I was so into the game. So I’d say the addictive factor is pretty high here.
Graphics:
The graphics are simple, but for this type of game, it works. You have a black background with colored bubbles, and in each successive level, there are more colors to try and clear so the challenge factor continues to get higher.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
There really isn’t a soundtrack here – there is a very techno sound when you start a new game, and then each move you make has a little “whoosh’ sound, but other than that, there’s no music, no wild sound effects, no vibration, etc. The developers focused on game play here, and it shows.