Mobile Games Roundup
Mall! Devil! Rocket! Rope! Trap!
Mouse Trap
- Android: Free. Requires Android 1.5 and up.
Wading through the endless Android freebies is on a par with being a regional X-Factor judge. Half the time you're not sure whether to laugh or cry. Mostly you just wish that dignity and self-awareness will save the day, but it generally doesn't.
Mouse Trap isn't going to change anyone's world. You might not even feel compelled to show it off to a mate. It's basic, it looks crap, and it's not even slightly original, but that won't stop you from playing it for hours on end.
Even the premise is painfully dull: get the mouse to the exit by sliding blocks out of the way in the shortest number of moves. Whoop-de-doo.
But once you actually get on with playing it, there's a rapid realisation that it's making your brain happy. You solve one puzzle. You want more. Then it's on to another. And another. A few dozen later and, oh, your train has reached its destination.
The fact that you'll almost resent ending your commute probably tells you all you need to know about Mouse Trap. That there are 1900 levels of the stuff might not be such good news for anyone else trying to sell mobile games.
7/10
Midnight Mysteries: Devil On The Mississippi
- iPad: £2.99. (50 per cent off for a limited time.) Additional content £0.69 - £1.99.
Of all those peddling the bafflingly popular hidden object games, MumboJumbo succeeds in managing to stave off the existential crisis just enough to allow me to enjoy them.
In the third of its Midnight Mysteries series, it continues to believe in the idea of dead people making for a good cast. In this instance, we hook up with the likes of Mark Twain and William Shakespeare to try to vanquish evil that's stalking them in the afterlife.
But determined stalkers aren't the only problem with being dead. Apparently an awful lot of things get lost in amongst untold junk, and it's your lot in life to patiently prod and poke until things eventually reveal themselves. Once you've managed to prove your worth in such matters, you can actually get on with the business of solving actual puzzles in the vein of early-nineties point-and-click adventures.
When Devil On the Mississippi actually lets you off the leash to explore, collect items, solve puzzles and interact with characters, it's a perfectly serviceable affair. But as with MumboJumbo's other titles, too much of your time tends to be invested in tasks that you could solve without even looking.
If the point is make your mundane life seem exciting by comparison, then I guess it's job done, but hardcore adventurers may find these sections taxing for all the wrong reasons.
6/10