Wind-Up Knight by Robot Invader is the first Android/iOS game I’m going to give a full recommend. A welcome take on the auto running genre going back to Canabalt, it favors crafted levels as opposed to the standard randomly generated infinite ones. It’s these crafted levels and the grading system that hooked my love for learning and mastering a level. The challenge of getting all coins is enough, but finding the hidden item in each level by keeping and eye open for possible hidden doors or openings and figuring out how to access them reminds me of great platformers on more traditional systems. If the random nature of most running games turns you off from them Wind-up Knight is most likely what you want.
On top of the classic platforming, the art brings the game up a notch. Charming music and a cute hero with items to deck him out in (that help you out in more than looking cool). The interface is mostly good, except for a few spots where you can’t back out of the store; or at least I didn’t see an icon for that. I ended up trying to buy an item and backing out that way. Maybe it was a trap.
Wind-up Knight is the first iOS game I’ve enjoyed playing that wasn’t due to being in a situation where I’m:
- bored at work
- my other option is looking at weirdos on the train who think I can’t see that they are picking their nose but I can totally see it
- waiting for my next match in insert fighting game