An Alien with a Magnet is a new Windows Phone 8 game that is being touted as a new gaming genre, the AAPARP. Which is short for Action/Arcade/Puzzle/Adventure/Rotating-Platformer.
I'm not too sure about the new genre but An Alien with a Magnet is a fun, challenging, graphically appealing game for your Windows Phone 8 device. You are tasked with guiding your alien through a maze of planets, collecting prizes and avoiding dangers such as black holes and asteroids.
With over forty-five gaming levels, An Alien with a Magnet has plenty of gaming and a welcome addition to the Windows Phone gaming library.
The game premise has your alien piloting a spaceship thta is equiped with a magnet that pulls the ship into orbit around various planets. You use the orbit to launch the ship from planet to planet all in an effort to get the alien back home.
The main menu has options to jump into game play, access the game's options and, if playing the trial version, buy the full version ($1.99). Game options include sound/music on or off, access to developer support, access to the About Screen and resetting the game.
Game play has two gaming modes, Adventure and Time Attack. Each are multi-level games where you have to navigate through the planets to a finish line (exiting the solar system). The Adventure Mode has you playing more for points while the Time Attack has you playing for the best time.
While each game mode has stars, diamonds and other bonus items to collect the Adventure Mode is the only mode where these points matter. The gems collected will go towards your diamond count (used to unlock bonus levels) but not for points. Remember, in Time Attack you're playing for speed not points.
Game play is a matter of touch. You touch the screen to start a level where your alien is already orbiting a planet. As long as you tap and hold the screen, the alien ship will orbit. When you release your touch, the ship leaves orbit and sails into open space. As you near the next planet, tap and hold the screen to activate the magnet where you'll be pulled back into orbit.
Some levels have, for the lack of a better term, marshmellows floating in space that you can bounce off of. Then you have asteroids, planetary rings and black holes that will ruin your day. You can also crash land on a planet if you don't activate your magnet to start the orbit.
The puzzle aspect of the game comes into play as the path from start to exit isn't always a straight one and your rotation around a planet will restrict some of your movements. Timing is also an element in that if you release your screen hold your ship may over shoot the next planet or drift into danger.
An Alien with a Magnet ran smoothly with no crashes or stability issues noted. Levels did take some time to load but the delay isn't painfully long. Overall, An Alien with a Magnet is a fun, challenging game that is well worth a try.
There is a free trial version available with the full version running $1.99. An Alien with a Magnet is available for Windows Phone 8 devices and you can find your copy here in the Windows Phone Store.
