Doodle God – polished and quirky ‘Alchemy-style’ game
by Paul Wilks
Feb 13, 2012 12:02 PM –
Install
Doodle God is a alchemy-style element creation game. Like all similar games (it’s a growing genre) you start with a basic four elements; Fire, Water, Air and Earth. From there you get to enjoy a gorgeously rendered environment which is both fun to play with and very addictive.
Price: Free, ~2.96
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Low Maturity
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- One of the coolest intros ever!
- Superb graphics!
- Beautiful sound!
- Unlockable extras!
- 4 Episodes!
- OpenFeint scoring!
Cons
- Like perhaps all these games, you have to be quite methodical and organised. While the game helps you greatly to do this, you still might repeat your combinations over and over.
Features:
Alchemy-style gameplay becoming a genre all of it’s own! What should we call it? How about ‘mix em up’? Doodle God, by JoyBits, is certainly one of the more refined and distinguishable titles and Market stats would indicate that is is also one which is very popular. Doodle God is also just the tip of the JoyBit iceberg as you can also try out Doodle Farm and Doodle Devil.
With gameplay in this burgeoning genre pretty similar- ‘combine one element with another, create new element’, how does Doodle God differentiate itself? Firstly with the introduction; a charming and witty voice-over, swirling and detailed graphics and wonderful sound furnish a lush opening sequence making you realise this game has seriously high production values.
This polish continues in the game where animations and screen transitions are fluid and buoyant throughout. On each new discovery you often receive a jubilant message from the narrator which encourages your progress. Such inclusion really makes for a really interactive feel to the game which not only contributes to the fun but is pretty cool too.
There are 300 or more advanced elements to find so plenty to be going on with. Doodle God actually comes in 3 different flavours; Free, paid-for and FTP (Free to play). Free to play means that, while the game is free and full, you only have the ability to make so many combinations before you have to wait. Much like the way free tycoon games force you to wait to build energy up, so too you have to wait for the energy to combine more elements. To be honest, it’ll take you a good while before you run out initially, and the game is free after all.
Even on the FTP version of the game you get four episodes, each with a loose narrative and plot which unravels as you progress. Obviously the aim is to create more and more complex elements and work your way up to humans!
I do think you need a head and a methodological approach to these games, as well as patience. It’s quite easy to repeat combinations and waste an energy unit. The organisation of elements is really comprehensive in Doodle God- far better than other titles, but you still need a high level of diligence and calculation to create the trickier elements. Still, the popularity of these games in the Market demonstrate that there are lots and lots of casual gamers who love this kind of gameplay. Doodle God is a quite possibly the best example of the genre, certainly in terms of design, so definitely check it out.
Watch on Mobile
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Doodle God FTP – Start with 4 basic elements
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Doodle God FTP – New element created
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Doodle God FTP – Combine elements
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Doodle God FTP – Bring up two groups at a time
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Doodle God FTP – Use real cash to buy extra energy etc
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Doodle God FTP – Reactions history
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Doodle God FTP – Instructions
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Doodle God FTP – Daily gifts
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Doodle God FTP – Options
Fun Factor:
Doodle God is buckets of fun for lots of reasons. Gameplay is great and simple to get into. The sound and graphics are exemplary for the genre and make the game hugely immersive and compelling. The rich quest-style narratives to certain chapters really add new dimensions to the gameplay and over all it’s very easy to get sucked into the Doodle God world.
Addictive:
Once you are drawn into this world and built up a steady collection of elements, there’s always that tugging feeling to try more. Each discovery obviously unlocks a whole load more combinations to try out- hence the requirement for a methodological approach, especially when prioritising energy. On this basis the game gets more addictive the more you play it- and the nature of the genre means it’s a superb time-killer.
Graphics:
The graphics are very well designed and suit the game perfectly. The visuals are a combination of excellent cartoons, slick animations and a kind of beginning-of-time-scroll thematic. It really works well and is a highlight of the game.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
The music and sound is absolutely wondrous. There is real depth in adding narration, plot and rich musical accompaniment. It’s a superb example of exactly how game sound of this style should be done.
Tags:
Alchemy,
Android App,
Android Apps,
Android Game,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
Doodle Devil,
Doodle Farm,
Doodle God,
Doodle God FTP,
JoyBits,
OpenFeint
Categorised in: Brain & Puzzle
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