Rollems Lite
by Eric March on October 27, 2008 at 4:06 pm
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(4 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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App Name: Rollems Lite
Developer: Andrew Nevick
Category: Logic & Puzzle Games
Every now and then, a game comes along that manages to be simultaneously derivative and new by combining elements from other games in rather clever new ways, and Rollems happens to be one of those games.
Conceptually, it borrows certain logistical elements from the likes of Columns and Zoop!, but adds its own flavours to come up with an idea that is both well-suited to the iPhone and rather fun besides.
The basic objective is … well, it’s Columns to a T. Groups of 3 coloured balls drop down from above and you must line them up at the bottom in groups of 3 or more of the same colour to eliminate them from the board. Group 4 or 5 and you get higher scores; create a cascade and you score still more.
However, it’s the mechanics of the game wherein the twist lies — literally. Unlike Columns, the game is played on a 360° playing field set on an incline to give the perception of depth, with the next piece falling from the center of the and you must rotate your device to pick an area to place your pieces. The playfield is denoted by watermarked balls (that sounds painful) to show you where pieces should fall.
But the circular arrangement isn’t just for gimmicky kicks; it is divided into 6 individually coloured segments that confer extra bonus points upon you if you eliminate balls of a colour that match the segment. Extra bonus points can be had for cascade bonuses (causing an automatic chain reaction from balls falling after an elimination). Furthermore, creating long chains (manually eliminating as many consecutive lines as possible) will increase your bonus multiplier for even bigger points.
Rollems is stylish in a minimalist, feng shui sort of way; there’s nothing to distract from the core gameplay; the only on-screen buttons are to pause (above the home button), and a cycle button to cycle the order of the colours in falling pieces — there’s one in each corner of the screen. It looks pleasant. Not amazing or gorgeous. Just pleasant, understated, and tasteful, like the unassuming living room at a friend’s house that doesn’t have much to it but somehow still manages to look better than yours.
This lite version is “time limited” (though I haven’t been able to figure out yet if that means individual games are time limited, or if you can only play it for X number of days before it kills itself) and won’t let you enter high scores. Fortunately, if you happen to like the game, the full version can be had for the low, low price of a dollar.
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