Gyro – such a beautiful & slick arcade game!
by Paul Wilks
Jun 14, 2012 12:27 PM –
Install
Gyro is a slick and well-developed arcade game that asks you to spin a wheel and collect coloured balls for points. Insanely easy to play, incredibly hard to put down, Gyro is beautifully designed and very cool indeed. Best of all folks, it’s also free!
Price: Free
Tested on: HTC One X
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Well designed graphics!
- Addictive and challenging!
- Easy to play!
- Online scoring!
Cons
- Might feel repetitive for some.
Features:
Gyro is a gorgeously designed and highly addictive arcade game which blends retro addictive gameplay with smooth graphics and simple controls. Take the wheel in a colour-matching challenge where you must rotate the large circle so the incoming smaller circles match the correct colour. Things get frantic when there’s more circles coming at you. With each you match successfully you score points, the more points the better.
Controls are intuitive and user friendly, actually providing you with 2 options that can be used alongside each other. You can rotate the circle by touching it directly, or you can use info along the bottom which does the same thing. Depending on how busy the game gets, you might prefer the info bar control as it allows you to see everything around your big circle. Either method is simple to use and both feel natural.
There are different circle types that come towards you. Some set up a shield that stops circles entering areas which they are not matched with, saving you life. Some create orbiting shields that destroy incoming circles. Others still destroy all circles on the board. These are usually in your favour, although the orbiting shields stop you from earning points.
High scores allow you to unlock a different sound set and Pro mode. The joy of Gyro is in its simple yet beautiful design and the fact it’s ad-free and easy to play. It’s also very casual, meaning it’s a great ‘go-to’ game when you have a little time to kill. While it gets a little repetitive after prolonged periods of play, the game is incredibly addictive.
Watch on Mobile
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Gyro – Gameplay 1
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Gyro – Gameplay 2
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Gyro – Rotate circle to match colours
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Gyro – Spin the wheel to ensure incoming balls
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Gyro – These orbit the large circle destroying incoming circles
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Gyro – Not bad for a beginner!
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Gyro – Better score
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Gyro – Swarm interface
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Gyro – Achievements
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Gyro – Settings
Fun Factor:
Gyro is loads of fun and genuinely challenging. High scores feel very rewarding and unlock additional elements of the game. Playing the game is incredibly easy; just moving your finger around or from side to side in the info bar, but mastering the game requires a combination of fast reflexes and excellent timing.
Addictive:
Highly! I think because it’s so casual, immediate, rewarding and fun, it’ll be a game you pick up and play when you have a few spare moments. Additionally, because of the simplicity, it’s unlikely you’ll just uninstall after prolonged play. Scoring is managed through Swarm- another social gaming platform similar to Scoreloop and Openfeint. I’ve not seen swarm before but it actually looks pretty slick.
Graphics:
Graphics are quite simple really, but match gameplay perfectly. The circle is responsive, smooth and fast- perfect for spinning around and scoring points by matching circles to colours correctly. It’s an example of a game where the visuals and the gameplay are perfectly suited- while they might not be ’3D’ I think they still score very highly for beautiful design.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
When a circle is mis-matched with the wrong colour, you get a warning vibration, which is duly alarming when there is more than 3 or 4 at a time. The sound is subtle, quite serious but immerses the gamer into it.