May 26, 2011
Did I Mention It Is Like Lemmings?
As far as iOS games you should play go, you should probably play Spirits.
Basically, think of Lemmings. This game is that. I even just searched for “Lemmings” on the app store, and Spirits was the first search result.
You control a bunch of little forest spirits. They’re cute and well-animated. They’re trying to get to a little magic vortex. Any plants they touch along the way spring to life. You tap on them to make them change permanently into things, like a vine bridge, or a cloud that blows wind to move the spirits around. Your objective is to get a certain number of these spirits to that vortex, while bringing to life as many plants as possible along the way.
Seriously, it’s Lemmings. But it’s not just a rip-off. It does what Lemmings does well, but it adds its own interesting twists to the mix. Your little spirits are really light, so being able to blow them about with the wind is really a completely different sort of puzzle mechanism than most of Lemmings. Many levels revolve around how they all float naturally. You also don’t have a good way to block the spirits from moving around, a la the blocker role in Lemmings, which makes setting things up often a race against time, more so than I remember Lemmings being, where it was often me setting up a path ahead of time, and then blowing the blocker up to let everyone go to the door.
It’s a loving tribute to Lemmings, looks beautiful, and is a lot of fun in its own regard. If you like that kind of puzzle game, buying it really shouldn’t be something you worry about. Granted, I grabbed it for free during a one-day event, so I get the benefit there, and it is a bit pricy for the app store at $5. Still, it’s the app store. Sales and stuff are all the time. This is a really polished gaming experience that’s worth your time. I’m about halfway through all the levels, and I certainly wouldn’t have regretted dropping some cash on it.