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| Flurkies by Elements Interactive |
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According to Elements Interactive, the goal of their latest game, Flurkies, is to "Guide the Flurkies through all the levels by collecting coins, pushing crates, getting colour showers, gliding over ice and making them work together". So is it worth your time helping these "cute and adorable little hairballs" find their way home? If you like the kind of game where you have to put some thought into each level, and you’re not itching to blow something up with every move, then Flurkies is definitely a game for you to check out.
The basic premise behind Flurkies is quite simple. You must traverse 60 levels, guiding the poor lost creatures to their respective exit portals on each level so they can get home. The basic skills of a Flurkie include moving left and right, jumping the equivalent height of one square, and pushing things. They can also fall off of ledges, and on the plus side always land on their feet (in other words, they can’t be hurt). There are four different colored Flurkies, and in order for a Flurkie to exit a level, they must be on a portal that matches their color. In addition to being on these portals, any coins that are lying around the level must be collected before the level can be completed.
The beauty of this game is how you must use the Flurkies together to solve puzzles. With few exceptions, all Flurkies in a level will interact with at least one other Flurkie before the level is solved. In many cases, due to the limitations in how a Flurkie can move, you may use several to get a job done. For instance, a hard to reach coin might be easily gathered after climbing a staircase comprised of helpful Flurkies. Or, maybe you need to cross a single square gap by pushing one Flurkie with another. Be prepared to spend some time thinking about the best way to use all the participants of a level to their best advantage. Of course, a puzzle game wouldn’t really be any fun without some thought, now would it?
In addition to the Flurkies themselves, there are a couple of other items that can be used along the way. Some levels have crates that can be pushed around and used either to stop a Flurkie from moving or to help them reach a coin or platform that’s more than one square above them. In addition, some levels have little sprayers that can change the color of your Flurkie. Be cautious of these, however. There are times where they are deviously placed on a level where they aren’t needed. You must then use your skills to consciously avoid them or risk irreparably turning your Flurkie the wrong color. Finally, from time to time they introduce new tile types. The first couple that you run into are ice, which can be a slippery affair, and conveyor belts, which only allow you to travel in one direction.
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My main gripe with the gameplay is the movement controls. To move your flurkies you either use the D-Pad or tap the stylus to the left, right or above the flurkie that is selected. The problem I had was that the stylus movement control seemed a bit awkward but was more stable, and the D-Pad control was more natural but on more than enough occasions caused the active flurkie to flip out temporarily, sometimes doing things like repeatedly jumping for no reason. Some of this over-sensitivity could be related to my device, but it could have been avoided with better stylus movement (maybe arrow keys on the screen?) The other minor issue is that I’ve found no way to assign the ability to switch between flurkies to a hardware button, so I’m unable to play the fully play the game without a stylus.
Visually the game holds up well enough. The background graphics are simple but effective, and little animations like moving conveyors and flashing portals keep the images from being too plain. The flurkies themselves are pretty cute given the little detail they are drawn with, and between the sparkle when they are selected and the look they give when preparing to push something, you can’t help but adore them. The currently selected flurkie even dances around while it’s waiting for you to make your move.
The music is okay. There are only two tracks, the one that is played during menu selections and the one played during the game itself. They are tolerable for a while, but before long you won’t have any objections to turning the music off. The sound effects are nothing special either, but the "yippie" when a flurkie is selected and the little grunt they make before they push something simply enhance their overall cute factor.
Lately I’ve been pretty pleased with the selection of puzzle games I’ve gotten to play, and I’m certainly happy to add Flurkies to that list. While there’s nothing revolutionary about the gameplay, it certainly provides you with a decent challenge. The sometimes touchy control scheme is a bit of a detractor, but for the most part it works. A little more flash might have been nice, but not really necessary given the genre of the game. If you like brain teasers, there’s no question that you should give Flurkies a try. Overall Score: 8/10
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