Being the owner of a pretty poor short-term memory I wasn’t too excited to see a game called ‘Memory Owl’ land in my review queue.
But after playing it for a while I have to say: Memory Owl HD is pretty damn memorable for a number of reasons.
But first the stats: –
- Developer: Magory
- Genre: Puzzle
- Players: 1
- Price: $3.99
Memory Owl HD takes the familiar game of finding pairs and merges it with the ‘gaming fad’ of now: a physics engine.
The aim of the game is simple: find pairs of matching tiles to pass to the next level. There are stars to collect along the way to bump your score up.
The number of tiles vary in placements and number throughout levels, which shakes an otherwise staid premise up.
To make gameplay even more ‘dynamic’ Memory Owl HD applies a ‘physics engine’ to the tiles and their environment – a features that adds a real urgency to gameplay, and one that is less predictable than simply ‘going again the clock’.
Amongst the ‘physics’ related issue you’ll be playing against: –
- Tiles can be knocked out of gameplay by animals (such as fish and birds)
- Tiles can become submerged
- Tiles can melt (Ice Zone)
Progressing through the game is done Angry Birds-style where by new levels are unlocked upon completion of the last.
Graphics, sound and options
For such a simple game I was surprised by the quality of the graphics, which easily put many of the FPS sitting on the shelves of the Software Centre to shame.
The music isn’t particularly distinctive, but amiable enough to not be distracting.
Options include difficulty settings, graphics settings, and sound toggles.
The game aimed at younger children it’s the type of ‘time waster’ that pretty much everyone can get enjoyment from playing.