Price: $1.99 Score: 8/10 Category: Games
What is it about junkyards that seems so appealing? Some of the best parts of Wall-E take place in a junk-filled wasteland, as does one particularly amusing episode of South Park.
Heck, there are whole TV programs about finding rusty junk and turning a profit. Dirty, discarded things just shouldn’t be as entrancing as they are. And yet, somehow, we are drawn to them.
So maybe it’s not that surprising that Trashboy (official developer site here) also has some serious junk appeal. Trashboy is a fun game is all about a cute little robot that lives in a rubbish dump, and it’s a pretty charming little world.
When a gang of big, nasty mechs attacks the hero’s only friend (a dirty old doll, ‘natch), our robotic hero goes on a quest to battle the big guys and find his little friend once more.
The character designs in Trashboy are great: very expressive, very clean, and definitely unique. There are also some unique choices when it comes to syntax, but a few awkward sentences here and there don’t do anything to diminish the fun of the actual game.
It takes a bit for levels to load thanks to animation between some levels, but this too can be ignored: the strategy portion of Trashboy is very satisfying indeed. While the controls are a little tricky to master, you’ll soon be navigating around obstacles, shooting delicious oil at your enemies to distract them, and luring the big guys to their deaths like a boss.
The long and short of it is this: Trashboy is ideal for anyone who loves cute robots, action-strategy games, and fun puzzles. Trashboy is the kind of iPad game you don’t want to discard.
Trashboy is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.