[Shardz]

Game: Crossy Road v3.2.0
Developer: Yodo1 Games
Category: Action
Price: N/A
IAP: $0.99 - $3.99

Crossy Road is delightful fast-paced action arcade game mixed with dark humor and fun surprises as you test your reflexes and resolve trying to survive a linear path through a treacherous environment. Reminiscent of the 1981 Konami arcade title Frogger, Crossy Road challenges your character to skillfully hop through endless cross traffic and speeding trains while avoiding hazardous environmental settings and obstacles. Your primary goal is to accumulate as many hops as you can while persevering this chaotic cityscape to obtain a high score for bragging rights, similar to the wildly popular and ill-fated Flappy Bird title. As you maneuver through this cleverly designed 3D voxel world in four directions of movement, there are coins to gather that add to your purse total. When you collect enough coins and finally meet your fate, you are given a chance to spend your money on a virtual vending machine that will hopefully yield a new character. Players seem to consider collecting all of the possible characters a secondary type of scoring factor as there are quite a few unique types to earn throughout the game. Playing with a completely different character can alter the setting, change ambient lighting, display themed effects and introduce new surprises to each run. As of writing, there are at least 105 different possible characters to play as you test your meddle through this thriving setting of inevitable death. Each time you play, you might either beat your high score or collect enough coins to be able to change the way the game looks and feels, which appears to be a founding highlight of Crossy Road.

With each run, the game world is randomly generated with beautiful 3D voxel settings, vehicles, obstacles and effects that give the game a wonderfully uniform and popular look. Each character seems to have its own unique personality of its own and are comprised of the same detailed voxels that make up the game world as a whole. As you strive to survive this frantic setting, there are times when it's so joyous that you don't because the death sequences in various situations can be extremely comical. More than a few times I have giggled out loud as my character got creamed in traffic and stuck to the side of the vehicle to be swept off the screen for good. The voxel water effects of the streams and rivers look fantastic when you misjudge distance and jump between two logs, sinking to the bottom with a splash. Depending on the character you play, there are always surprises to be had and I see something new almost with each run. You can also select a randomize character option that will start each level off with one of your unlocked characters to give more variety and replay value. And replaying there shall be as the game is furiously harsh and loaded with ways to perish in every direction. Upon your untimely demise, the game will save a photo-styled screen capture of your death with social networking sharing options to make your friends laugh at your lack of coordination, as well. You will find yourself playing it repetitively due to the fact that each run can comprise of mere seconds and that next high score could be right around the corner! Google's Play Games is also in the mix to store your scores, characters and coins on the cloud so that you can pick up where you left off no matter which device you choose to use, which is always a bonus.

Every six hours you are presented with a gift of coins to add to your stash and there are notifications you can toggle to your preference. Also, there are quests you can complete to obtain additional coins to add to your stash once completed; however, once you finish a quest you must wait an additional six hours for another quest to become available, which I feel is a bit long. At the end of each run, you may also opt to watch a 15 second video in exchange for 40 coins, which might aid in getting you a new character a bit sooner. As with most free games that feature a monetary system, Crossy Road does indeed have IAP to gain coins to speed up the process in unlocking more characters. This is optional, of course, and you can always just play more or try to hop on coins lying within the levels to boost your savings, but it will take quite a bit of playing to unlock all characters that way. Probably the most common complaint regarding the way characters are unlocked is the fact that you can spend money and get one that you already have, gaining absolutely nothing. It's a gamble you take when you spend your hard earned coins; the more characters you have unlocked, the greater the chances of getting a dupe and losing your money.

As of note, there is a pack of 8 UK characters and another pack of 9 Korean characters that are only unlocked via IAP and cannot be earned through the game in any way. There is a pricey Korean character named Psy that actually unlocks a separate dance mode in the game, but will cost you a handsome $2.99 and is a limited time offer, as well. The IAP revenue model is alive and well in Crossy Road, so let the buyer beware if they so choose to go that route. Ultimately, this is a great game for quick breaks and fun to pick up for a few minutes here and there, or you can literally spend hours trying to beat your high score. The addiction factor is there in spades due to the usual short length of each run and the prospect of unlocking a new character to add to your collection. I recommend Crossy Road as it's a very well produced title full of laughs, fun and quick tests of twitch reflexes to perk you up on those boring daily breaks.

Pros:

• Beautiful 3D voxel graphics and effects.
• Fast and furious fun for those quick breaks.
• A very large amount of characters to unlock.
• High production values full of humor and laughs.

Cons:

• Several characters require IAP to obtain.
• Game play can get a bit repetitive over time.
• Unlocking all characters can be a difficult task.

Reviewer rating:
Device/OS used: Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 2012 / KitKat v4.4.4, Lollipop v5.1.1

Purchase at Google Play
Purchase at Amazon
Mobilism: Crossy Road v3.2.0 (Unlocked/Coins/Ads-Free)