Craigen (Game Review)

Feels like forever since I reviewed a game, but really it was only three big posts in a row that weren't games (Paddlefox, APC Rock, Submitting to the Marketplace) but before that I would do a game review between every programming/hardware post. Well, now the games are piling up in Thulfram Towers and yet there are hot things going on with the Rock and I'm almost ready to update my ZTE Open! But that's not what today is about. Today is the telling of the great tale of brave Craigen, noble warrior of Poland and Enclave Games!

Craigen is a barbarian hero who must cross the Dragon Pass and defeat orcs. Why? Well, here's the story of Craigen, starting at a local inn (in medieval Poland?)

You don't want to skip past his tale. And his need for ale.

Barbarians need their ale, that's for sure!

Those pesky orcs have done it again! Something must be done. And Craigen is the one to do it.

And so begins the game. I love it when someone makes a story for a game, even as simple as this one is. And the art is really fun. The artists at Enclave have a really good sense of the absurd. In case you don't remember, Enclave are the people who brought you Captain Rogers.

From the far future to the distant past, Enclave has it covered. Where will their next game take place?

One of the things that I really like about Enclave is that they are really thinking about what works on a phone. What is touch? What happens when there is no keyboard or mouse?  In Captain Rogers, you did everything with one finger (more than one gets awkward on a phone).

Here are the Captain Rogers instructions:

One finger. Tap to go up, release to go down. I had trouble adapting to this, but at the same time, I admire the innovation and think there's something great in the making with phone games and Enclave is leading the charge.

With our barbarian hero Craigen, the instructions are a little different, but again, very innovative.

Tap on the left to jump and tap on the right to slash with your sword. Simple, clean, and fast. Of course, you have to get used to this, but that's the point of innovation. This is a "runner" type game. You run from the left to the right and you must keep going. But watch out for ditches!

Here's Craigen, about ready to jump over a ditch.

If he misses and falls in the ditch, it's Game Over.

But it's not just jumping, you can (and must kill). You'll run into all kinds of monsters, like this guy. Slash before he gets you. Hurry!

This game is tough! In the shot above, Craigen has to jump up and then slash the skeleton fast!

One nice thing about this game is that there is a button on the right to turn off the cool music, and a button on the left to Pause.

You'll want to pause to take a breath and plan your next action, because there are a lot of ditches and monsters.

I've been playing a lot of early and middle Mario games and this game reminds me of them in a good way. You have to plan your next moves and react fast. There's lots of challenge and this is something you can play again and again, trying to get to the ale. I haven't made it there yet, but I'll keep trying.

This is just a perfectly fun game and I want to see more from Enclave.

Cost: Free
Genre: Runner
Score: 5 (out of 5)
Tested on: Geeksphone Peak (Firefox OS)
Get it at: Firefox Marketplace