Volt, an electricifying puzzle game for Windows 10 Mobile
Volt is a challenging puzzle game for Windows 10 Mobile that takes an interesting twist on the recycling process. You play the role of a battery destined to be recycled and find the urge to escape the recycling plant and save yourself.
Equipped with electrical charges that can swing you around the recycling plant and a very limited ability to hop, Volt challenges your imagination with over sixty levels of gameplay. Graphics are a little on the dark side and puzzles are filled with dangers and switches you need to account for as you race towards the exit.
The Windows 10 Mobile game lacks a trial version, with the full version running $0.99. The lack of a trial version may be the only downside to this entertaining puzzle game. Volt is available for Windows Phone 8.1 as well as Windows 10 Mobile.
Volt opens up with an animated backstory detailing the horrors a battery faces in the recycling plant that eventually transitions to the game's primary menu. The primary menu for Volt has options to jump into gameplay, select your battery style, adjust the sound settings, reset the gaming progress and exit the game. Gameplay begins with, what appears to be, a basic single cell battery (maybe a C size battery?) and as you progress through the game, additional battery styles become available.
Gameplay involves over sixty levels of play that span four industrial themed zones. The levels of play are mapped out and can be replayed to improve your score. There is also find a "How to Play" section on the gaming map that walks you through a brief tutorial on gaming mechanics.
The goal of Volt is to guide your battery through each gaming level to reach the exit point and eventually escaping the recycling plant all together. Movement of the battery isn't overly complicated to perform, but may be challenging to describe.
The battery has the ability to shoot electrical charges that attaches to walls (think of Spiderman shooting a web). The battery can then swing from these charges to get around the puzzle level. Sliding your finger across the charge disconnects the battery from its anchor point. Just be careful in using your electrical beams in that each level has a limited number of charges the battery can use.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
The other movement skill the battery possesses is the ability to bounce or jump. Tapping on the battery causes it jump or bounce ever so slightly. This skill comes in handy and allows your battery to bounce himself off walls to create swing momentum or creep to the edge of a ledge the battery needs to fall from.
Most levels have the battery already suspended by an electrical charge. You create a new connection, cut the original and use that swinging momentum to propel your battery across the screen.
The early levels are relatively straight shots to the exit portals and around the fourth level, the need to plot a more challenging course to get to the exit develops. Dangers are present in each gaming level such as saw blades, electrical fields that you cannot attach an electrical charge to, and bouncy floors that destroys your battery.
The ninth level of gameplay introduces you to switches that control moving walls that block your access to the exit point. When you hit the switch with an electrical charge, the wall opens or begins to cycle (opens, closes, opens, closes, etc.). The latter adds a nice timing challenge to the puzzle level.
Puzzle levels have the ability to zoom out to allow you to view the big picture and as you transition between the gaming themes, you will face boss stages that elevate the gaming challenges significantly.
Overall, Volt is a fun and entertaining puzzle game that is available for Windows 10 Mobile. The game isn't terribly complicated to pick up and play, but it may take you a few levels to get the hang of gaming mechanics. Gameplay tests your skills at strategy, timing and imagination. The graphics and animations with Volt is a little on the dark side but sets the mood of the dangerous recycling plants rather nicely.
The only downside that jumps off the page with Volt is the lack of a trial version. The game is currently priced at $0.99, making it economical, but it would be nice to see a trial version that gives you access to the first five levels of play. That is enough gaming exposure to either sell you on the full version or race to uninstall the game completely.
Trial version or not, we found Volt to be an entertaining gaming title to pass the time with.
George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.