Sky: Review (Ketchapp)

     Developer Ketchapp consistently creates games that are beautiful, and maintain the tradition of older games' fun simplicity.  Their newest free-to-play game, SKY, is yet another wonderful creation holding true to that standard.

     SKY takes the age-old Pac-Man type of score-collecting game and puts it in a rail-sliding set of procedurally-generated trails to navigate.  The player's avatar in this case begins as a mere yellow square, but as you collect more of the coins along the pathways you follow, you can unlock a bevy of other icons such as a skull, a unicorn, or a tiny ninja.  I would like to note that the ninja is hilarious in it's tiny death animation.

     The game begins simply enough.  You are the square sliding along a path.  With only a jump and double-jump (tap and double-tap respectively, making playing single-handedly possible) you must avoid obstacles in your path.  The complexity of the task is greatly compounded by the fact that each time you die you need to begin anew.    
     Okay, that's not so bad.  It sounds like an easy thing to play, right?  Well, what is interesting here is once your square travels into a tent perspectives and directions may change, as well as compounding the number of squares you have.  Often, you'll find yourself controlling four separate squares on four separate lines and jumping in unison, desperately wishing for an orange marker that brings them all back into one yellow square.  Trying to adequately keep them all alive during the short bursts can be quite challenging.

     Honestly, the negatives of this game are slim.  The ads are annoying, but an IAP can relieve that issue for a small fee.  In addition extra in-game coins may be earned by voluntarily watching occasionally when offered.
     Then concerning purchasing the new in-game player icons, they never unlock the ones you want.  I tried the heart, but got the ninja, and so I tried the unicorn and got the skull, and so on.  So maybe there is a problem with that, because it doesn't say the box you get is random, you scroll through them and click unlock, but it doesn't unlock the one you pick.

      The game has very responsive controls and a wonderful lulling piano score that creates a pleasant experience all around.  SKY is an excellent minimalistic game- it's fun, addictive and challenging, everything a game should be.