Raining Blobs is a relatively new Windows Phone arcade game that has a bit of a Tetris styled flair to it. You have to group blobs of color together as they fall from the top of the screen and clear them by adding two of the same colored blobs that have stars.
Raining Blobs has five gaming modes, plenty of challenges and is colorfully animated. The controls are a little cumbersome to begin with but you do get used to them the more you play. There is a slight addictive quality to the game and if you're looking for a casual game that has a little challenge to pass the time with, Raining Blobs is worth a try.
Game Layout
Raining Blobs main menu has a bit of a cluttered feel to it with controls to mute your sound, access the leaderboard, visit the game’s Facebook and Twitter pages, view the About Screen and visit the Help Section lining the top of the screen. The game has a retro, Atari-styled soundtrack and after a while, that mute button can come in handy.
Gaming options sit at the bottom of the main menu with a Hyper Mode being available by tapping the yellow block in the center of the menu. The five gaming modes that break down as follows:
- Normal Mode: Game play follows a more leisurely pace where you advance through levels of play, trying to best the top scores
- Hard Mode: Game play picks up a bit with a quicker pace and more challenging game play.
- Hyper Mode: Described as the ultimate challenge, the Hyper Mode simply generates the blobs at a heightened pace.
- Timed Mode: You are given two minutes to see how many points you can score.
- Story Mode: Sixty levels of game play with preset puzzles you have to conquer.
Game Play
Regardless of which gaming mode you choose, game play is fairly consistent with Raining Blobs. The game has a Tetris feel to it in that you have various shaped blobs falling from the top of the screen and you have to group them together by color. When the same colored blobs are grouped, they merge into one blob.
Some of the blobs have stars and when you group two of the same colored blobs that have stars, they are removed from the screen and you earn points. The larger the blob, the more points earned.
Gaming controls line the bottom and side of the gaming screen that control the falling blob’s horizontal position and the blobs rotation. The controls are a little on the cumbersome side at first but after a few minutes of game play, you get used to them. I'm not sure if screen swipes would have been a better option.
Along the side of the gaming screen you will find a display of the next blob that is set to fall, a count of your cleared blobs and a pause button. Across the top of the gaming screen you will find your score and level of difficulty. If playing a timed game, your game timer will appear at the top of the screen as well.
Raining Blobs does have a few power-ups that show up during the course of game play that will add a star to a blob, remove a row of blobs, and remove three blobs. Black blobs are also present that will block your colored blobs from merging. The only way to clear the black blobs is by clearing the colored groups around surrounding them.
Game play will continue (depending on the game mode) when your blobs reach the top of the screen, the game timer expires or you fail to meet the goal of your current puzzle level. Game pace with all but the Story Mode will increase the further you progress in the game.
Overall Impression
Raining Blobs is a game that may be a good illustration for the old saying, "You can't judge a book by it's cover". The menu, heck even the Store Tile, gives off the impression that the game was developed with little rhyme or reason. However, if you give Raining Blobs a chance, it might change your opinion.
Game play is challenging enough to keep things interesting and once you get the hang of the controls (mainly remembering the rotation buttons) you will have a fighting chance. I wouldn't mind seeing an option to use swipe controls to maneuver your blobs and the option to change or rotate the background image.
Still, while there is room for improvement, as is Raining Blobs isn't a bad game for our Windows Phone gaming library.
There is a free trial version available with the full version running $.99. You can find Raining Blobs here in the Windows Phone Store.
