Save the Snail HD – Slimy fun for all ages

Our rating:

By: Net Income CZ s.r.o.

Version #: 1.0

Date Released: 2013-07-27

Developer: Net Income CZ s.r.o.

Price: Free

User Rating:

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You’d think a game with snails in it would creep the living daylights out of children. You’d also think some physics based game that stimulates creative thinking would bore the souls out of them.

Well, you thought wrong. Very wrong!

Save the Snail is, surprisingly, rather interesting even for gamers that are a little older than the target audience. I’ll admit I was a little skeptical at first but after a few rounds I was hooked, which indirectly let to the delay of writing this review.

Gameplay is very simple. Players drag and drop typical household objects onto the play field, which can range randomly from pencils to salt shakers to help the snail. The playing field itself is a moving arena with obstacles that serve to change the snail’s path of travel. One of the objects dropped has to hit the snail, setting it in motion, going down the field in a pinball fashion. Thereafter, extreme timing and dexterity is needed to time the drops of the other objects, with the objective of creating a shield of sorts protecting the snail. A timer to the top side shows how much time the player has to complete the level, following which a drop of rocks or a floating mini sun passes by and envelops the field accordingly. Should the snail be hit, the level is lost.

While levels may look simple at a glance, there is more often than not more than meets the eye. Many puzzles in Save the Snail took me more attempts than expected because I was too cocky and underestimated the difficulty of the levels. Think rotating pinwheels that require you to not only time your first drop, but subsequent drops as well with pinpoint accuracy.

I was particularly fond of how everything seemed to integrate so seamlessly together it was as if the developers put in extra work to do so. The whole aesthetics of the game alone might be something overlooked by most gamers given the casual setting, but the cheery theme served to brighten up my mood even as I was on the verge of tearing my hair out over certain levels. I liked how the physics dynamics were more or less perfect, which really enhanced the entire experience of this game.

I would say that this game will definitely help with developing motor skills in children. A free app, parents can enjoy Save the Snail together with their children and even opt for an in-app purchase of $0.99 for an additional 13 exciting levels. I wish I had more thumbs to point up for this game.