PacTruck is a Windows Phone arcade game that has you guiding a truck through a Pac-Man styled maze, collecting cash along the way.
The game has simple controls and 255 levels of play. Available for low-memory Windows Phones and Windows 8, PacTruck makes a nice first impression but may not be everyone's cup of tea.
PacTruck's main menu has your typical options that includes accessing a Help menu, a link to rate the game in the Windows Phone Store, a link to the developer's Facebook page and access to the game's online leaderboard.
The only settings available from the main menu is the ability to change the background color by tapping on any of the six squares lined up beneath the Play link.
You also have the option to log into the game using your Live ID. While you can play PacTruck without logging in, granting access to your Live ID will let you access your saved game progress from both Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices.
The 255 levels of play are progressively unlocked but not mapped out. PacTruck will remember where you left off and pick things up at that point when you return to game play.
The game screen is a Pac-Man styled maze with you controlling the green truck. You control your truck by swiping in the direction you want the truck to steer. Non-touch Windows 8 devices will rely on the keyboard arrow keys.
The maze will have an assortment of gold dots that represents cash that has to be collected and delivered to the drop off locations (the area with two white car symbols). The dangers of the game include two robber trucks (orange and yellow) that will need to avoid. The orange robber trucks will crash your truck and steal your cash. The yellow robber trucks will move around the maze at a slower pace and will gobble up the gold dots.
To help give your truck a fighting chance, you can collect the green dots spaced across the maze that will turn your truck blue and allow you to run over/momentarily destroy the robber trucks (much like how Pac-Man can gobble up the ghosts after eating the white power-ups). They will eventually return to game play but you will have a few seconds of danger free roadways.
Each level has a target score to reach before being able to advance to the next level. You reach the score by collecting and depositing the cash without letting the robbers take too much. Your time, score and goal will be displayed in the center of the game screen.
For the most part, PacTruck plays out much like a game of Pac-Man but adds the step of depositing what you collect at the drop-off locations. You can deposit what you collected in portions or you can wait until you have all the gold dots collected. As best as I can tell, your green truck is safe from the robbers while parked in the drop-off locations.
Overall Impression
PacTruck is a decent Windows Phone game that does grow on you a bit the more you play the game. While controls are simple, it is really easy (almost too easy) to miss a turn if your timing is not spot on. I wouldn't mind seeing a little more forgiveness in the timing aspect of the turns.
The arcade game is somewhat challenging and if you take too long to gather up the gold dots and deposit your earnings, the robber car's pace quickens.
All in all, I can see PacTruck having a certain amount of appeal with gamers but I can also see its appeal being somewhat limited. PacTruck isn't a terrible game but if you are not a fan of the Pac-Man styled games, I don't think this Windows Phone title will sway your opinion. At last check, PacTruck is pulling down a 4.5 star rating in the Windows Phone Store and 4.7 stars in the Windows Store, both of which are in the ballpark of where this game should be rated. If you give PacTruck a spin, let us know in the comments what you think of this arcade game.
