Help a rolling armadillo collect gold coins in this western-themed maze puzzler.  Your armadillo will roll in one direction until it hits a wall or other obstacle, so you have to plan your path accordingly.  Armadillo Gold Rush is available to download on iOS devices, and reviewed on iPad here.

In each level, you must collect all the gold coins to complete it.  As you finish levels, you’ll unlock new ones, so you don’t have to do the stages in order.  There are dozens of levels, so you should be entertained for quite a while.  Controlling your armadillo is easy, just swipe in the direction you want him to roll, and he’ll roll until he hits a wall or other obstacle that can stop him.  Since he can’t stop unless he hits something, you’ll have to plan out your path to get all the coins.  Luckily there are a lot of tutorial levels to teach you how to play.

There are plenty of other obstacles and objects to interact with and avoid in the mazes.  There are doors that block your path and switches to press to open them.  You can push crates or balls around, and even bombs which can destroy rocks blocking your path. There are wedges and arrow panels that can change your rolling direction.  Watch out for dangerous obstacles, too.  Your armadillo can’t swim, so don’t roll him into water unless you push a crate beforehand to make a bridge.  Avoid canyons altogether, and watch out for enemies like scorpions and snakes!  You can squish scorpions if you roll over them, just don’t let them touch you while standing still.  But you’ll have to squash snakes with blocks or bombs, as you can’t touch them at all!

You’ll earn stars based on certain types of aspects, like how fast you beat a stage, if you can beat it in as little moves as possible, and how high your score is.  Random fruit will appear for you to collect to boost your score.  The game does have some small problems.  The spikes that come out of the ground in some levels have a very small window for you to pass through, and it can be hard to tell just when that is.  And if you get hit in a level, you’ll have to start it over again from the beginning, which can be annoying in trickier, longer levels.  It may be asking too much, but I think this kind of game could have really used a level editor, too.  But if you enjoy block pushing maze puzzler games like Adventures of Lolo or Kickle Cubicle, you may like this one, too.

Kid Factor:

Violence is minimal.  If you get hit by anything dangerous, you’ll just fall over (or sink into water or an abyss), and an angel armadillo will fly up as the Funeral March tune plays in the background.  Reading skill is helpful for the instructions, and younger gamers may need help with the tougher levels.  The game could be considered somewhat educational as it teaches thinking, logic, and planning skills.

Tags: Game Reviews