Edge becomes Edgy, here's a quick review

I wrote the review below several weeks ago, but when I went to post, the app didn't appear. I asked and the developers explained a name kerfuffle that landed the app in limbo until today, as reported by BetaNews. It seems "Edge Games" didn't like the game being called "Edge" and to make a long story short, the same game is now called Edgy. Huzzah!

Edgy is an action puzzler. Some dexterity involved, and you'll be scratching your head as you scoot around an isometric landscape of hazards and obstacles. You play a cube, apparently living life on the edge, constantly in danger of falling off. Edgy is a retro platformer, really, but beautifully rendered on the iPhone with some fun, 8-bit retro audio.

It took a few months and about eight attempts to start enjoying Edgy. It isn't a bad game, but the controls can be tricky. I'm sure that's an appeal for some, but to me it was a turnoff for what I figured would be a very casual game. There are three ways to control your hero cube around a geometric world of right-angles and moving hazards. The three control mechanisms are: touch/swipe to move, tilt to move and use a virtual d-pad of sorts. I preferred the d-pad, honestly. Trying to swipe the cube to make it move was an infinitely frustrating experience and I'm not even sure why it is an option as it barely works at all. Maybe there's a trick to it, but there were no real directions so I've no idea. Tilt to move is fun until you get thrown off the side of your maze a couple dozen times because the accelerometer can be twitchy at times. This leaves the old fashioned "push buttons to move" mechanism we know so well, but it doesn't elevate the game to anything special.

That said, Edgy is well-made and once you get the hang of what's happening is fun. It reminds me of Marble Madness, another geometric landscape featuring a ball instead of a cube. That game took a while to get used to, but once you did, it was mesmerizing. If you like puzzles and retro games you'll enjoy Edgy. And while I'd love to give you an iTunes URL, it appears the app is still not appearing in the US store. Check the official site for info.


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