Mobile games are generally not my thing – I’ve found a few in the past that have been fun for a while, but I don’t go out of my way to find and play them, so when I was approached by Freakout Games on twitter to review their game Solbot: Energy Rush I was a little surprised but not against the idea of checking it out.
I was pleasantly surprised with the experience!
Of course, here is where I have to state this was a requested review – however, I’ve not been compensated in any way for this review, and the opinions expressed are my own genuine thoughts and feelings.
Solbot: Energy Rush is a mobile game available for Android and iOS developed by Freakout Games. It’s a pretty straightforward, easy to control game where you control Solbot on a mission to collect renewable energy sources. Yes, the game has a message to it regarding enviromentalism but it doesn’t bombard you with it. Far from it, this message actually does function as a solid drive to the game, and to some elements of the game experience, which we will get to later.
The key gameplay is simple – you tap to move Solbot left and right to collect the orbs which match the color of Solbot, and avoid the ones that don’t match – touching those will destroy Solbot and force you to restart the level (or continue with a key, more on that later.) Of course, as the levels progress you will encounter hard and harder patterns but that isn’t to say the difficulty gets unfair – powerups in the form of lasers which clear out all non-matching orbs, a magnet which grabs all orbs that are the same color as Solbot, shields and more will show up as levels progress to help you out.
The level flow is also mixed up on occasion with sections where you must avoid lasers firing down at Solbot – a challenge to be sure, but a fair one.
Indeed that’s the great thing about the game – the challenge feels incredibly fair. It’s usually a simple slip up that gets you killed, but that’s fine – you can just continue, since the levels are short.
Of course, if you are having a hard time with a level and are near the end, you can continue after defeat by using a “key” from your inventory. These are limited, but you can earn more by learning about enviromentalism.
By simply reading a small bit of information, you get a chance to continue. Hey, learning can be fun right? This is, of course, optional, but getting to learn a nice fact that can help you (and everyone) out in exchange for a key to progress in the game you’re already playing feels like a win-win situation!
When it’s all said and done, Solbot: Energy Rush is a fun title. Quick to play in short bursts but more than enough to keep you occupied for longer times if need be. I have quite enjoyed my time with it, and will certainly continue playing beyond what I did for this review. Freakout Games made something nice here!
Oh, and did I mention the games music is pretty awesome, because it’s pretty awesome.
Below is the trailer for the game. It quite well captures much of what the game is about. Check it out! Also be sure to follow Freakout Games on Twitter! They are some fun people!
Android Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.freakoutgames.chromaflyer
iOS Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/solbot-energy-rush/id1368418939
It should be noted when Freakout Games first approached me inquiring about a review, another person on twitter posted that they felt concerned that the game asked for the devices location and to access photos and media. I’ve found zero reason to feel concern from this, but I did feel it worth addressing.
As an additional aside, in the time since I originally planned to review the game, the team had let me know that they were accepted into the Indie Prize Showcase at Casual Connect Asia 2018! That’s pretty awesome!