App Review No. 60 Don't Touch the Spikes

Strong Points:
Clean graphics
Good music/sound effects
Different gameplay (lack of side-scrolling)
Lots of birds to collect
Lots of modes
Modes have variety while still sticking to the core gameplay
Addictive


Weak Points:
Frustrating
Records the amount of times you've played
Birds get very expensive, very quickly
Difficulty spikes (get it?)

In-depth Review:

Don't Touch the Spikes is another game that follows the long-standing tradition of featuring birds in addictive games. It also involves spikes, dodging them and candy as well as variations of birds and no side-scrolling (!).

The gameplay is much like Flappy Bird in the way that you control the bird by tapping and that you have to dodge obstacles. However, unlike Flappy, you are in a confined environment with no side scrolling and instead have to dodge spikes on the walls. The ceilings and floor are completely covered in spikes whereas the walls are only partially. You score a point by touching a wall, which also changes your direction. This separates the game from many of its type while also eliminating any framerate issues associated with side-scrolling. The amount of spikes increase as you play the game and the positioning of said spikes is random, which can lead to some difficulty spikes (get it?). Also, every five points, the background changes colour which is helpful for keeping track of how well you're doing without looking at the score.

Along with points, you can also collect candy (although this feature can be disabled for a purer experience). Candy is collected by flying into it and it appears every time you collect a piece. They can be used to find the best place to hit the wall (as they only appear in places which won't kill you) but if you miss it then it doesn't disappear until collected meaning it can be in front of a spike. Candy is used to pay for different birds to play as and these vary between different colours and shapes to ninja birds all the way to prehistoric ones. The birds are very cheap to begin with (only 10 candy) but quickly increase in price (with the last bird being worth 2500 candy).

The final thing that the game records are the amount of times you've played which helps stop the addiction a little once you've realized that you've played 1000 games. This would be fine if it was on another page (like Ironpants) but as it is on the front page it is a bit annoying as it makes me feel that every game must be played to the best of my ability rather than just having a quick game which is what I play these types of game for. One nice thing though is that the leaderboards don't appear to be broken unlike most of the other games of this type.

Overall, Don't Touch the Spikes is a good, addictive app with clean graphics and nice sound but is let down slightly by its loss of pick up n play ability. But I still want another go. And perhaps another.

Rating: 80%

Goodbye for now, Harry

Update: 10 brand new birds have hatched and are ready to be bribed with candies. And, on that not, two new types of candies have been added: blue (+2 candies) arrive from level 25 and pink (+3 candies) arrive from level 30. Also, some challengers approach! Defeat all fifty birds in Duel Mode in order to be crowned the Don't Touch the Spikes Champ! And get a lot of candies as well. Finally, five new achievements have been added.

Update: yet another 10 birds have hatched and these have replaced some ads (basically, there's more birds and less adverts).

Update: when the Don't Touch the Spikes birds feel like they need a rest, they all go to the Park. Before promptly being hit by a hammer in order to get diamonds (which are used to unlock ten new, exclusive, birds). You can upgrade your Park with candies so as to attract more birds (and therefore more diamonds). Duels have been made easier, with more candies per victory so that you can afford the, rather expensive, park upgrades. The Park is also a great way to see as of yet locked birds. First it was spikes and now its hammers, is there no end to this pain? No, no there is not.

Update: yet more birds have hatched (20 to be exact. It must be due to all the relaxation from the new park that CENSORED) as well as 3 exclusive birds related to three Ketchapp games (download the games, get the birds). Also, the entire Bird Shop has been revamped with a new layout and three new achievements have been created. Finally, iAd ads have been removed from the iPad version.

Update: because the Don't Touch the Spikes birds don't feel like they are in enough danger yet, they all decided to go to the Cave. Help them explore the Cave with limited light (that can be upgraded with candy) and collect green crystals which can then be spent on yet more birds (20 to be exact)! Also, another exclusive bird has been added (unlockable if you buy another Ketchapp game). As well as this there are 5 new Park levels and 10 new achievements. Finally, you can now play against your friends and enemies on the same screen in 2 Players Versus Mode!

Update: do you feel that Don't Touch the Spikes isn't challenging enough? Neither do I, but Ketchapp sure do think so as they've added 100 new challenges for you to achieve! But what's the reward, I hear you cry! Why, it's 20 new birds of course (10 for completing challenges and 10 for other things)! Oh, and there are 4 more achievements as well!

Update: 14 new birds have been unlocked (and a free one) as well as two new helmets (well the new birds do need something to wear, I guess), 10 new duels (well the new birds do need to fight, I guess) and 20 new challenges (well the new birds do need something to challenge them, I guess. Finally, there are 5 exclusive birds earned by downloading other Ketchapp games (well the new birds do need something to exclusive-iy them, I guess)

Update: 10 new birds have flown in to be unlocked. There is also now a Daily Prize Wheel to spin every day and a new Hard Mode as well as some bug fixes