Donut Games 4 game review roundup

Donut Games is a Swedish game developer specialising in casual flash games and you can try the ones I review at their webpage. I choose to review these four games together because of their casual nature and not because they share the same game mechanic or graphics.
Lucky Coins $0.99

Lucky Coins is like a mix between pachinko, pinball and peggle where you get to drop a ball onto a game board(pachinko) and the ball bounces around the board on springs and pegs(pinball) and it gets stuck in magnets that lets you aim and shoot the ball(Peggle) to score more points. You got four balls to score with and each round the game board changes giving the game variation.

Sunday Lawn $1.99

A game where you get to control a little dude mowing the lawn.

You get more points the more you manage to cut in a row and the quicker you mow the entire lawn. There are different obstacles to avoid like pooping English bulldogs and hedgehogs. If you walk into them it is game over, strange as you would expect a hedgehog to loose an encounter with the blades of a lawnmower. Three different control methods available and I like the arrows on screen best. There are eight lawns to mow to get the highest score.

Monkey Flight $0.99

You get to toss a monkey to get points for fruit you collect and other bonus stuff picked up.

The monkey bounces off clouds and elephants making it go further. Once you have launched the monkey there is no way to influence the game and you have to wait and see where it bounces. Hitting a boulder or puddle of mud ends the round and you get three monkeys to chase highscore with.

Castle Smasher $1.99

Castle Smasher is the least casual of the bunch as it does incorporate a bit of strategy and planning ahead.

You have a catapult with limited ammo and a couple of guards versus a big castle. You can set the angle and power of each stone you attack with and there are bonus stones if you hit them on the castle walls. Enemy soldiers attack and you have to eliminate them as well or they will kill your guards forcing you to surrender. After you smash a castle you get to choose bonus for the next level and there is extra stones, bouncier stones or extra guards to choose from. There are five castles to smash as efficient as possible to reach a highscore.

Presentation & Graphics(all four games)

All four games share the same kind of easy on the eye colourful graphics that at times feels a bit too simple. The framerate is smooth and menus are clear and easy to understand.

Sound(all four games)

The games have different tunes and sound effects suitable to the theme of the individual game. All the games fade out any iPod music but by doing the double home button trick you can at least have your own music but without the sound effects.

Game life

The games have local highscore tables and that is it. There are no achievements or unlockables. If you enjoy the game you can get loads of time out of it, try the flash versions first, if you play them lots you should probably get them for the iPhone as well.

Gameplay Lucky Coins

It works brilliantly and I like the fact that there are lots of magnets giving you the chance to choose which way to send the ball. Feels that you have more control than in pinball.

Gameplay Sunday Lawn

Fun but unforgiving, if you make one mistake it is game over. Three different control options of sliding on screen, buttons on screen or tilt. When I crash into a hedgehog the controls aren’t to blame, rather I have been too greedy and taking too much of a risk.

Gameplay Monkey Flight

Once you send the monkey flying you have nothing to do which makes it a bit boring. As my ten year old daughter stated “I aim for the stone because then I get to shoot again quicker”.

Gameplay Castle Smasher

Castle Smasher is as fun as it is frustrating. I often feel that I send my stones flying without knowing at all what they will hit. Feels random in that way. I like the fact that bonus upgrades give a bit of strategy even though it is shallow at best.