In case you haven’t noticed, casual games aren’t my cup of tea. When it comes to games, I usually enjoy games that include some kind of story, a lot of action, and the occasional girl in a string bikini. That’s why when I came across Push Panic, I didn’t pay attention to it at first since I’m not one for casual games. Boy, was I wrong in doing that.
Push Panic is a game that anyone can play, but only a few can master it. The concept is simple: Play through levels where blocks with different colors and designs drop down at a predetermined rate where you need to select as many of one type of block without the blocks reaching the line at the top of the screen. When you select a block, a symbol is placed over that block to signify it’s been chosen. You can then continue to select blocks of the same color and tapping on any of the blocks that have already been tapped will clear all of the blocks that have been selected. Later on, the game introduces a number of power blocks, such as a 2x multiplier block or the “link” block, which allows you to start selecting a new color, that keeps the game interesting through its initial offering of 50 levels.
Once you’re done with all 50 levels, you’re then able to play through all of them again in order to obtain a gold score, or if you feel like a change of pace, play one of the three other modes included in the game: Score Panic, Color Panic, and Time Panic. All three modes have live online ranking, even while you’re playing the game. Push Panic connects to both OpenFeint as well as Game Center, which allows you to compare your rank with friends on both platforms. As you can see from the trailer below and the game’s screenshots, Push Panic supports the iPhone 4’s Retina Display, which makes the blocks’ colors pop out even more so.
FINAL THOUGHT: Push Panic may have single handedly changed my mind on casual games. Sure, the gameplay might seem easy for most non-gamers to comprehend, but I knew I was hooked on the game when I realized I had been playing it for 3 hours straight. Getting a gold score is quite a challenge and the other three game modes add a good amount of variety.
Push Panic ($1.99) – [iTunes Link]
