Elf – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Coober Ltd
Version #:
Date Released: 1969-12-31
Developer:
Price: 0.99
User Rating:
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No, this is not the long-overdue movie tie-in app for Will Ferrell’s hilarious movie Elf, which came out six years ago. Rather, Elf is a recently released game about a bouncy, little elf named Irving. And I use the word ‘bouncy’ both in the figurative and literal sense of the word. That’s because Irving is indeed a bouncy, lively, cheerful creature, and he also happens to be really bouncy, literally. And it’s this dual bounciness that is at the center of this somewhat Christmas-themed game.
The premise of the game is downright simple. It’s Christmas morning, and Irving just wants to shoot himself towards the winter sky. And it’s your job as the player to help him go higher into the atmosphere—and beyond.
The game is played in landscape mode and is started with a tap anywhere on the screen, which instantly sends Irving, his mouth perpetually agape, upward. Shiny objects, such as stars, bubbles, candy canes and boosters, of various colors, shapes and sizes, fall from the sky like snowflakes. These objects correspond to different points and you must direct Irving towards them by tilting your iPhone accordingly to make him hit or step on these items and, in effect, propel him and your score higher and higher. Do this strategically so as to achieve the best possible combination of points, but don’t make the mistake of colliding with a twisted tinsel if you don’t want to lose points. Because, in essence, this game is about beating your own score, challenging your friends on Facebook (only possible when you connect the app to your Facebook account), or if you’re so inclined, dethroning the top scorer in the worldwide leaderboard.
A game session ends when you fail to direct Irving toward an object while he’s going up or make him step on and bounce from an object on his way down, in which case gravity takes over completely and Irving is sent back to the ground. Then you can either be content with your score or play “just one more,” as I often find myself saying when engaging in pick-and-play games like Elf. However, some people might find the game, despite (or perhaps because of) its simple and admittedly undemanding gameplay, to be not exactly what the developer claims it to be: highly addictive. It does become repetitive after several sessions and I am impelled to move on to other, more challenging apps to tinker with.
But it should be noted that what Elf lacks in quality of gameplay, it more than makes up for in its brilliant design. When I first launched the app and saw the title character, I was immediately reminded of The Littlest Elf from the animated opening sequence of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Then I proceeded to the game itself and I was hard-pressed not to notice the amazing polish in the graphics. I was so impressed with the look and feel of the game, I wouldn’t have been surprised if somebody told me it was designed by one of the big Hollywood animation studios.
However, as it stands, if Elf were an animated feature film, it sure looks gorgeous, but its plot needs to be improved for it to be both a critical and commercial success.
Quick Take
Value:Low to medium.
Would I Buy Again:Make the game more challenging and I probably would.
Learning Curve:A quick visit to the Help page should be more than enough to absorb the rules and know that a little bit of strategy is involved.
Who Is It For:Those in want of a somewhat Christmas-themed pick-and-play jumping game.
What I Like:Outstanding graphics.
What I Don't Like:Undemanding gameplay.
Final Statement:Elf's design looks really appealing, but its gameplay apparently needs more oomph.
