I’m fucking stupid; every day I end up with something new on my iPad. I’m never content with what I have on there when I know that only two taps away there’s going to be some cheap, new game to try. I’m on a doomed quest to try and find that next iPad game that’s going to stroke my boner for unexpected, original design and concept. Sometimes the pursuit is gloriously successful as showcased in Hook Worlds but other times it’s disappointing like with what ever shit Gameloft churn out. Hard Lines is a game which is at the same time exactly what I look for in an iOS title and also a game which is completely throwaway. I feel this may be a shortcoming of content is delivered and consumed on the device.

I met one of the developers of Hard Lines at the Indie Arcade during the Eurogamer Expo, he described his game as a blend of Snake, Pac-Man and Tron. There really is no better way to describe it, you control a Snake line as you would expect and your objective is to collect as many ‘coins’ as possible. However there are other Snakes in the arena and contact with their trail is fatal.

It’s a very simple idea and it works well, there’s an impressive selection of different control methods, each one with markedly different philosophies. There’s two swipe sensitivities and another two tapping variants, I think as you get a bit more pro you might appreciate the two button tapping system which is reminicent of the origional Snake on the Nokia.

Presentation is solid, it’s nice to look at with decent audio, overal the strength of the core idea is enough to carry this game, I’m not really into score attack games myself but this kept me playing simply because it’s fun and has character. There’s an upgrade system too where you can purchase power-ups to help you out, I’m mostly playing just to unlock the highest levels of those.

The iPad version of the game has an ‘extreme’ mode where you are given a much larger arena to play in, it’s a nice addition for a universal app to have.

I can’t say if I’ll still be playing this game in a couple of weeks but for now, it’s a good little time waster. Not as good a waste of time as Hook Worlds but still a lot of fun in a simple and compelling idea.

[7]

About the author

Michael Manning

Michael is a sound designer and composer working in the games industry. His portfolio can be found at www.manningaudio.com