Edgar is a one-eyed, tentacled monster. He’s also a capsule toy in a vending machine just waiting to be bought and loved by some kid. But on the day that he is purchased, Edgar falls out of his capsule and now must make his way through the inner workings of the gumball machine so he can reach his new owner. Use your finger to guide Edgar through dozens of maze-like, action-packed levels to reach the goal in Cling! for iOS devices (iPad version reviewed here).

Cling! actually reminds me of a couple of other games. It’s like a combination of DK Jungle Climber on DS and Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin, another iPad game I reviewed a while back. In each level of Cling!, pegs are scattered about everywhere. When you place your finger near Edgar, he’ll use his tentacles to latch onto pegs and follow your finger around. If you release your finger from the touch screen, Edgar will get go of the pegs he was holding. Your job is to make it from point A to point B in a level, avoiding obstacles and traps along the way.

Some of the obstacles include dangerous blocks that will destroy Edgar in one hit, spiky pegs that you must keep Edgar’s main body away from as he climbs them, and other traps and pitfalls. In many cases, you must get a ‘running’ start and use momentum to cross large chasms with no pegs around to latch onto. The game requires quite a bit of finesse to control, and some of the levels can be downright challenging.

Hidden in some levels are hats that you can use to dress up Edgar for fun. Sometimes you can even find gumballs. Use gumballs at the shop to buy more hats and characters to play as. But gumballs are really hard to find, so if you want any extras, you’ll probably have to use real money to purchase them at the shop. Aside from the high level of difficulty due to the precise controls, Cling! is still a pretty decent and fun little diversion.

Kid Factor:

If Edgar gets hit by an obstacle, he just gets electrocuted in a cartoony way and then disappears in a puff of smoke. So violence is no worse than a Looney Tunes cartoon. Reading skill is helpful for the instructions, and since the game requires a high level of finesse and coordination, younger gamers and impatient players may get frustrated at the more difficult stages. Luckily levels are short and have endless continues.

Tags: Game Reviews