In Review : Symbol6 by Gogogic

by George on Apr.30, 2009, under Reviews

Symbol6 is a stylish puzzle game from Gogogic in Iceland. The game combines elements of Tetris and Missile Command in a novel package.

The game revolves around a large hexagon that fills about half of the screen. Within this hexagon are six (later seven) smaller hexagons, each with a unique symbol on it. As the game starts, you have to rearrange these symbols to match symbols that fly in from the edges of the screen. Match them up and you get points (and you can build up combos as you go). Miss a symbol, and you lose some life.

The game rapidly becomes more frantic, throwing more symbols at you, as well as adding a seventh symbol for you to juggle. In addition, you also get incoming ‘bombs’ which can cause all sorts of trouble, such as randomly rearranging your symbols. To fend these off, you need to rotate the iPhone to put up a shield. Managing this while fending off waves of incoming symbols becomes a significant challenge.

One thing that stands out is that Symbol6 is a beautiful game. The presentation and polish is top notch. Gameplay is simple to grasp but very difficult to master. A lot of thought has gone into the game’s design and it shows.

The game is quick to get into, and suits short play sessions. Having to rotate the device to deflect incoming bombs helps to break up the gameplay and provide variation. I found that the difficulty ramps up very quickly. The game starts off slow, then there’s a patch where you feel nicely in control of your destiny before you finally end up fighting desperately to keep yourself alive. It would be nice to see that middle part of the game last a little bit longer, as it is during this time that the game is most fun.

One issue I had is that while playing the game, it’s hard to know how well you’re doing. The transition from one level to another goes by largely unnoticed – I feel that giving the player a chance to take a breath, check their score and relax before throwing them back into the game would aid the pacing of the game greatly.

So, is Symbol6 worth the paltry sum you’d pay for it on the App Store? Absolutely. It’s an elegantly designed game that feels at home on the iPhone platform.

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