The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

The carpet in the upstairs is being replaced! That means you get reviews of iPhone games! That makes sense right? I think so? Something like that.

Anyway, the game that is currently ALL THE RAGE is Tiny Wings, and because I am perfectly weak to cute, as much as anyone else, I did pick it up.

Tiny Wings has a lot of similarities to something like a Canabalt or a Hook Worlds. You’re a tiny cute bird with, appropriately, tiny wings, and you have to try to move forward as fast as possible while navigating obstacles, and get as far as you can before “night falls,” which is really just something chasing you. The only real way to interact is tapping on the screen anywhere.

However, I do have to admit that, besides the cuteness charm, which the game does have, it also adds a different twist to the game. You score points by being in the air (because the little birdy wants to fly, you see) but you can only get in the air by ramping yourself off of hills. Not having a finger pressed to the screen makes the little bird flap his wings like crazy, making him light, and able to float. Pressing on the screen makes him press into himself, and he falls like a rock downward and, somehow, has a ton more weight.
Instead of jumping over things, then, you’re instead trying to get the maximum amount of speed off of each hill by pressing down while going down a hill, to pick up speed, but then letting go at the right moment so the little birdy ramps off and flies into the air. It’s actually kind of like doing proper jumps in a Tony Hawk, now that I think about it. If you release “perfectly,” the little bird does a little chirp, and you get more points. You can also collect coins to increase your score, and sometimes it’s better to do a worse jump that gets you back on the ground to collect coins than to really get soaring off of a hill.

It’s accessible and fun, and I understand why it’s gotten all the attention it’s gotten. However, like many of these sorts of games, if you don’t have friends to chase after scores with, or don’t get into a high score mood, Tiny Wings will quickly get old, as mastery is all that it offers. They set up goals to complete to “upgrade your nest” on the main menu, which is nice, but they’re mostly just “do better” so I haven’t really felt compelled to really chase after them. Still, I, honestly, had more fun with it than with Angry Birds, so…