Eufloria HD – experience this Beautifully Orchestrated Strategy game to grow, colonise, expand & explore

by Paul Wilks Jan 15, 2013 9:26 AM – 3 Comments

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You pretty much know that when you open a game for the first time and it suggests you wear headphones that it’s going to be an immersive ‘experience’ rather than ‘just a game’. Well, this is exactly what happens in Eufloria HD and it’s wholly justified. The game is, in short, a beautifully crafted game with subtle, yet important, strategy elements that you really do experience holistically, rather than just casually play. Even shorter, its mobile touch-screen gaming at its utter finest.

Price: Free for the demo or $4.99 for the full version

Tested on: Nexus 4
Content Rating: Everyone

AndroidTapp.com Android Game Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

Beautifully crafted visuals!
Deep musical score!
Addictive gameplay!
Clever use of strategy elements!

Cons

Barely a con really- this isn’t going to engage the action junkie. If you demand the immediate action brutality of something like ShadowGun, this will seem very slow by comparison and you might not give it the credit it deserves.

Features:

Every now and again a game comes along that personifies all that’s good in mobile gaming. It uses the medium in an intelligent way, utilizing the touchscreen in such a way that it always feels natural- quite the opposite then to the on-screen thumb controlled action games that are surely better suited to consoles that provide a separate controller. Such games would include titles like the award winning Osmos HD, definitely one of last years best games. Eufloria HD is another game that is equally good and as enjoyably immersive as you can find on the Android platform.

Initially the game plays a little like GalaxIR or Archipelago- where you seek to gradually expand your territory. In Eufloria HD you control the movement of seedlings, plant trees and spread out like pollen across various ambient asteroids. The game has this richly organic feel to it. The fact is, it is at times all-out war, quite ferociously so, but it’s done in such a beautiful way it feels more like you’re watching nature.

As you get further into the game, you’ll need to grow all manner of different plants and trees with various abilities and ways of spreading. Seedlings too are diverse and independent and you have to learn how to effectively use each. You will soon be breached by enemy life forms and they have to be defeated for you to be successful. There seems to be an entire universe to explore and grow into but you play the game at such a relaxing pace you find yourself happy to take things slowly and to absorb every moment.

I think because the way the visuals and music combine, Eufloria HD becomes this ‘experience’ rather than just a game you play. For a taster, watch the video below:

Watch on Mobile

: Eufloria HD – Zoom in and out to see what is happening on each planet

: Eufloria HD – Highly original gameplay

: Eufloria HD – Easy to play initially, but does become more complex as you progress

: Eufloria HD – Zoom out to watch seeds spread

: Eufloria HD – Only up to 40 seedlings can be supported

: Eufloria HD – Learn about the universe

: Eufloria HD – Tutorial gently guides you through the controls of the game

: Eufloria HD – Beneath the stunning visuals lies a cool strategy game

: Eufloria HD – Beautiful and fluid graphics

: Eufloria HD – Easy to access help and reminders

: Eufloria HD – Various controls and abilities

Fun Factor:

Eufloria HD is a fun title with genuinely engaging gameplay. It’s a mature game that perhaps won’t suit excitable kids who prefer Angry Birds and running zombies, instead it is a game which enthralls you throughout in a calm and satisfying way.

Addictive:

Oh yes! I think once you begin it’s tricky to forget the game. Perhaps the only trouble I’ve had with it is that I’ve had to literally put time aside to play it. It sucks you in quite deep and so it’s perhaps not the best game to play casually in short bursts.

Graphics:

The graphics are simply designed but very well rendered, giving you a rich and polished experience. It’s a big game too- 140MB and I’m certain much of this will be going into the graphics.

Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:

As described before, Eufloria HD suggests you play with headphones to get the most from the sound. The acoustics are made up of a combination of ambient music tracks and natural sounds; all in very high fidelity and extremely atmospheric.

AndroidTapp.com Rating

AndroidTapp.com Rating! (4.9 out of 5)

Should you Download Eufloria HD? It’s genuinely hard to fault such an incredible game. It’s enriching, enjoyable, thrilling and pure fun all the way through. It provides a significant challenge and doesn’t patronize you with overly simplistic gameplay. Eufloria HD is certainly one of a kind, despite it sharing elements with other games. It provides an immersive experience that is perfectly suited to touchscreen devices and I would whole heartily recommend that you try it out. The game even has a Demo version to try first, so be sure you do.

Developer: Omni Systems Limited

Tags: Android App, Android App of the Week, Android Apps, Android Game, AndroidTapp.com App Review, App of the Week, Eufloria HD, Eufloria HD. Archipelago, GalaxIR, Strategy

Categorised in: Arcade & Action

3 Comments

By FloR on January 21, 2013 at 2:38 am:

Great and addictive game, I play it since months. But is this a sponsored review? Where is the hint and warning about performance, it regularly boils my device when playing more than. 15 minutes, and I have to drill details down to the min to keep it playable in later levels with 200+ units. In large levels quite annoying and you quickly get reminded that the game was initially built for another platform and then ported to Android. My Galaxy Nexus should be powerful enough as it has similar specs as Nexus 4

Reply
- By Antonio Wells on January 21, 2013 at 7:35 am:
  
  @FloR No, this is not a sponsored review.
  
  Reply
- By Paul Wilks on January 21, 2013 at 9:42 am:
  
  To echo Antonio, it’s not a sponsored review.
  
  Not quite sure I’d agree that a 1.2 dual core, 1GB RAM device is ‘similar’ to a 1.5 quad core, 2GB device, I find they are quite different performance-wise.
  
  Reply