Platform: Windows Phone
Developer: Monkube
Genre: Platformer
Price: Free (₹ 160 for full game)
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Have you ever thought what would it be like to experience a comic book in the form of a game. If yes, then My Friend Spooner is exactly what you are looking for. It is a game which tries to tell a tale through the combined efforts of two different mediums, ‘Comic Books’ and ‘Video Games’, and succeeds in all aspects.
The story is about three friends Husk, Tent and Spooner who embark on a journey to search for Hidden Gems, the eagerness to know the next part of the story exists throughout the course of the campaign. The situation is similar to a novel where you keep on leafing through the pages at a faster pace to discover what’s next. Twists and turns reveal background stories of the characters and keep the gamer captivated.
Design
Indie and mobile games have time and again surprised many people with their art direction, which tends to focus more on art style than graphics and My Friend Spooner is no more different. Its design resembles that of Limbo with the beautifully crafted black and white looking world being the center of attraction and characters which have a humanising touch to them.
Special attention has been given to smallest elements which really immerses one in the game. It is good to see a mobile developer taking care of these things. The same design philosophy carries over to the cutscenes, or more specifically, pages of the comic book (a graphic novel). Consistency in the design among different levels stands out in the course of 52 levels and 4 different worlds of the game.
Gameplay
It is a typical platforming title where your goal is to direct Spooner and his friends to the exit. The game makes use of the three characters simultaneously and each of these characters has their own special abilities which come in handy during different situations. At times, you need to combine the abilities of these characters to come across different objectives are found in every level. The initial levels of the game act as tutorials trying to get you familiar with the mechanics and explaining everything step by step.
Controlling these characters is accomplished through the simple use of swipes. To go in different directions all you need to do is swipe that way, interacting with certain objects involves the use of some complex swipes. All the levels in the game are an individual puzzle, so you need to use all the abilities at your disposal to complete them. Even though the control scheme in My Friend Spooner takes a very minimalistic approach, it struggles with issues. At times, the game simply refused to recognise my gestures and the problem can become frustrating during a few levels. The developer would do well to fix these issues through updates.
The innovative levels of the game make one relish it and further levels are locked behind a paywall. Rather than spamming the game with in-app purchases and microtransactions, Monkube made a smart move by charging a one time fee for full access to the game, which can be very tempting once you’re hooked to the initial levels.
With a rock solid art direction and simple approach towards the gameplay, My Friend Spooner succeeds in its comic fusion vision and its also available for 512MB RAM devices on the Windows Phone platform.
What’s iLL
+ Story
+ Art Direction
+ Platforming Skills
What’s not
– Controls
*Don’t forget that this game has been rated M by ESRB because of the presence of drugs and abusive language. Parents should take care to enforce this.
