Village Gamer

Developer: Genius Factor Games, Vancouver BC
Publisher: iTunes
Platform: iPhone and iTouch
Genre: Mobile
ESRB: Everyone
Price: $1.99 usd

Gravity Well is a level puzzler which requires the player to maneuver a little blue ball from one end of a maze to the other. There is an optional tutorial available, and game options permit the player to adjust the volume for both effects and music. The soundtrack, created by The Humble Brothers is not at all irritating and is of higher production quality than many of the mobile games out on the market. The soundtrack is also available for purchase in the iTunes store.

If you have to quit the game for whatever reason, you can select the level you were at or any other level which you’ve completed when you restart the game. Gravity Well also allows the player to put the game on pause if needed.

Gravity Well’s developers have a distinct knack for making the player think and find creative ways to control the ball as it moves through each maze. The ball moves when the player touches the screen, warping the grid a creating a “gravity well” which pulls the ball. It’s not always as easy as it seems to get the ball through the grid, because the game’s gravity force is not affected by the tilt of the iTouch or iPhone.

As the levels increase in difficulty, the player not only has to deal with the brick wall obstacles, but also the sharp pointy blocks, electric barricades, magnetic fields and timed gates. Sometimes it’s possible to barely squeak through the gates before they close, just like in the movies – but as the gates close, their angled ends do not work in the player’s favour, which means re-opening the gate and hoping that the gravitational pull will work with you. As the ball decreases in strength, its colour changes from bright blue to yellow to orange to dark red before it explodes into little pieces. No worries if you die though, because Gravity Well lets you begin the level over again. Your score is tallied once you navigate the ball to the static gravity well at the end of the maze, and takes into account the number of times you touched the screen, how many objects you’ve hit, and the amount of time spent in maneuvering the ball from end to end.

The graphics in Gravity Well are clean, colourful and reflect the care and quality which Genius Factor puts into their products. The environment works well with the colour scheme, and it’s very apparent what each obstacle is and what its function is. Also of note, a portion of Gravity Well’s proceeds are donated to help support the BCSPCA, Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society. Gravity Well gets a double thumbs-up from Village Gamer.