Magic Dodos is an interesting Windows 10 game that combines elements of a platformer game with a puzzle game. The free game challenges you to manipulate a pack of mindless dodo birds and guide the to safety.
Available for Window 10 PC, Magic Dodos has colorful, cartoon-like graphics, simple mechanics and 100 levels of play. It does take a few games to get a feel for movements, but overall Magic Dodos is a fun game to spend a little down time with.
On first launch, Magic Dodo drops you right into the first level of play that is more tutorial than challenge. Here you learn the basics of gameplay and as additional features become available, additional tutorial guides appear. Once you complete this tutorial level, the game progresses to the next level or you can back out of things and head to Magic Dodo's main menu.
The main menu offers the typical game options such as access to the settings, to the achievements and gameplay. The 100 levels of play span four environments and are progressively unlocked. Magic Dodo's achievements reward you with eggs that can be used to replenish lost dodo birds should your game skills be a little rusty. Should you run out of eggs, the birds replenish over time.
The objective of gameplay is to guide a pack of dodos to the safety of a magical portal. The birds drop from the top of the display to a series of platform levels that can be manipulated to help these birds reach their destination.
Levels can be shifted horizontally and vertically to move the birds into position to walk to the portal. You can also move sections of the platform around to create gaps the birds can drop through to reach the portal level. The dodo birds are somewhat mindless and walk in one direction until they hit a solid object, then they turn around and continue to walk.
There are dangers to avoid such as allowing the dodos to walk off the edge of a platform with no landing zone in sight or thorny plants that kill them. The more birds that reach the portal, the higher the score for that particular level and each level has a minimum number of birds to save before you can advance to the next level.
Magic Dodos does include a few levels of play where you must rescue caged dodo birds or a game of survival where you avoid angry warriors to mix things up. As you shift the platform sections around, the dodo birds freeze in place and if you want to stop the entire game display, a stop button is nestled in the upper right corner. This freezes all the birds and allows you to survey the lay of the land and plot your moves.
While some levels require careful planning, others rely on the speed for success. For example, one level has the dodo birds dropping just below the portal. You need to raise the platform section up to the portal to allow the dodo to exit, then lower it quickly to catch the next bird.
While a challenging Windows 10 puzzle/platform game, it may take a few games under your belt to get a feel for the movements. The hardest thing to keep track of was where a bird re-enters the screen when they walk off the side. Sometimes this results in them returning to the screen where no platform is and you need to scramble to establish a safe landing point.
Magic Dodos plays out best from a touchscreen device; tablets are particularly well suited for this game. Mouse and touchpad cursor controls are supported, but these are not as responsive to the pace of gameplay. The game might translate nicely to Windows 10 Mobile, but the small screen may take away the finer visual details of the game.
All in all, Magic Dodos game offers plenty of challenges and once you get the hang of gameplay, and can be a fun way to spend a little down time.
Download Magic Dodos from the Windows Store
