Incredibly fun app - might be one I’ve had the best time with since the “Golden Years” of the Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies, and Cut the Rope kinda phone-gaming era.

Part Time UFO was made and published by HAL Laboratory (of Kirby fame) wanting to focus on games made specifically for smartphones in mind. This is why I think the game works so well, and why its reminiscent of the games that I remember most fondly in smartphone gaming. Part Time UFO is made with the phone in mind, and tried its best to focus on making a game that worked with a smartphone’s features (touch screen, portability, etc) rather than fight against them. Phone gaming at this point has a bit of a bad name for itself, having mostly devolved into however cheaply a person can make a game that can quickly take a player’s money, infamously cover the gameplay in ads, and force the player away with pop-up after pop-up of MTX requests.

Paying around $4 in exchange for a fun game experience is extremely worth it in my opinion, with Part Time UFO costing around that. Early smartphone games usually only offered a demo for free, but a very kind $5 or less price for the full game. A cheap price for hours of uninterrupted fun, and for good games, too! Games made with the intention for the player to work with the smartphone’s touch and lack of buttons, rather than fight against it.

That is where I had to dock points from Part Time UFO though, as while the game clearly is well-intentionally made to be a phone game, and is leaps and bounds ahead of many other current smartphone games, it still has to rely on covering parts of the screen with a joystick and button. People often say that this game is a better experience on Switch, and I can believe it. Even though the game was originally made just for phones, the way they put a touch control joystick and button right in front of you immediately has the player start to fight against the phone’s capability, rather than work with it. It results in the player desperately wishing they had a physical joystick and button, which the Switch can happily provide them.

Even with that as a bit of a glaring knock-back, I do really love Part Time UFO, and find myself quickly losing my time when I open it up. It has quite a bit to offer, and has great replayability in allowing players to retry levels to get a perfect score, very in tune to how early smartphone games work in eating up your time. I really do recommend this game to anyone looking for a good find for their phone! It’s $4 and I think I’ve already spent 3 hours on it, and I’m not even done! The Switch version probably controls better, but it’s also double the price. I’m guessing they add more stuff or something to reason the price, but also maybe not! It is Nintendo after all lmao.

Oh well, check Part Time UFO out, you’ll have a blast. It’s cute, charming, and fun - and will absolutely eat all my battery away when I take the train.

3.5/5

Great game. Played this right after 2, which I loved, and this one was also fun.

Liked the initial stage, was eh on the next 2 (australia and holland) and was thinking about dropping the game momentarily. Too much focus on new cast and too many eh missions, some even downright trash.

Game picked up in China for me and then the last 2 areas were phenomenal. Glad we got some focus on the main trio near the end, and a lot of good missions too. These games live and die by their mission quality which is why this game is an 8/10 for me while Sly 2 is a 10/10.

Oh and why the fuck did they downgrade Carmelita's Voice actress?

Well, this is it - this might be the peak of smartphone gaming. Monument Valley is an absolutely beautiful mobile game that focuses on challenging the player through mazes and optical illusions to learn more of their own story and purpose. The use of storytelling as well as the phone’s touch screen and general formatting results in Monument Valley being one of the best in the smartphone gaming library. The player works with the puzzles they’re given through taps and contorting the map to their advantage, all to get from point A to point B. The story is simple but still emotional enough to create a reaction.

It’s hard to critique the game, as the flaws it has don’t really rely on the game itself, rather the limitations that being on mobile hinders a game, even though this is the format they chose when designing it. The issues Monument Valley runs into are its short playtime and lack of replayability, with me finishing the game in about 1-2 hours. Since it is a phone game, I imagine you’re supposed to only play it in short bursts, but in my case, I played it in its entirety while on a long plane ride - so that’s more on me than the game itself, honestly.

Monument Valley is an absolute must-play for those looking for the “best of the best” in phone games, and is a gorgeous trip from start to finish. It feels a little odd rating it so high for being so short and putting it at the same score as some pretty large epics in gaming, but when rating I like to compare games to their peers which in this case falls into mobile gaming. The real question now is will I find a phone game worthy of being 5/5… or more so am I ready to admit that the original Plants vs Zombies might be exactly that lol. Well, we’ll see - in the mean time, why not entertain yourself with one of the prettiest games to ever grace the App Store.

4.5/5