Game Review: Jumpster

October 1st, 2012

by Andrea Emmes

Game Review:  Jumpster™

So many games these days, especially social media games are becoming so cookie cutter and spat out so quickly that the quality is really quite trite and boring. I totally understand that most casual gamers are looking for a brainless zen-like kind of game that they can pick up and put down at any time for a few minutes here and there just to escape, but in some ways, I think this has left many games pretty stale and easy to play for a couple of days, but then become very forgettable. Let’s face it, hundreds of apps come out every day. That is a lot of games vying for your attention and retention.  Hardcore gamers like myself love to play casual games when I can’t get to my console but I like to have a little more substance and challenge even though I’m playing for a few minutes.

That being said, I just picked up Jumpster™, a new app from G5 Entertainment and Vogat Lands which offers a free version and of course the full paid version.  Jumpster™ is a AAA physics puzzler, reminding me of Where’s My Water and Angry Birds. You’re transported into this really cool looking alien environment where your avatar, which is fully customize-able as long as you can afford the coins, must travel from planet to planet throughout the galaxy looking for fuel. There’s a bit of a problem as your ship has been hit by a meteorite and is losing fuel. So in Jumpster™, you go through death traps, teleports and avoid other monsters and moving vehicles while in search of this precious fuel.

This game has a really good mix of simple and yet challenging gameplay to keep me wanting to continue playing this game for awhile. I’ve made it to level 15 pretty easily although every jump you make you expend Energy. This is definitely becoming a pretty common game mechanic and is easily monetized as you cannot progress through the game unless you have Energy. It regenerates but at a very slow pace so if you really want to stay in your groove, you have to spend either in-game currency or real money.  Besides being able to customize Jumpster, you can also purchase some cool power-ups that help give you Energy, protect you from spikes that can kill you, etc.  As you keep playing, the puzzles get more interesting and more difficult, adding clever nuisances that force us to really use our brain. You know, that thing on top of your head that we tend to neglect sometimes!!

I like this game. It’s fun and I would love to play more so I can see how it ramps up in difficulty and clever puzzle layout. I’m not fond of the tutorial text as it’s hard to read and clunky. I also don’t like that you barely earn enough coins after successful completion of each level but it’s definitely a great mix of clever gameplay and fun–totally worth downloading.

I give Jumpster™ 4 out of 5 Stars.