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    • Project Void review

    Written By: Torbjorn Kamblad
    February 9, 2010

    Project Void is a cover all kind of puzzle. You have to cover the entire grid with the colour indicated. It starts out with only white coloured Tetris shapes to rotate into place. As you progress the game gets more intricate.

    The controls are all touch based. Tap and drag a shape at the top of the screen, and by using a second finger you can rotate the shape. I found it quite clumsy to rotate the shapes this way, and would rather have had some kind of rotate button option as well. Place the shape, and keep filling the void until you are done.

    img_0188I am having a hard time hiding the fact that I found Project Void to be a really boring addition to the App Store. The reason is that basically you can fool up as much as you like because there is no game over due to not matching the shapes correctly. You get penalised for any parts of a shape outside the void, but other than that you can basically just chuck the shapes onto it. There is a timed game mode as well, but it suffers from the same basic flaw. If you are ready to loose a couple of points you can breeze through it without any trouble. To me this made Project Void a complete yawn fest.

    The graphics aren’t too exciting either opting for a minimal approach. The music is ok, but I rather play my own, and thankfully the game lets me.
    Online scores can’t save Project Void for me, and I really think that it needs to go back on the drawing board. A game that isn’t challenging is just boring, and when it isn’t really nice to look at it can’t pass as a board puzzle game such as Triazzle. I can’t recommend Project Void at all.

    Final Rating

    1pt5-stars

    Project Void $1.99
    Version: 1.11
    Seller: David McGraw

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    • Mike Dako

      Hey, Torbjorn. It’s a casual game dude! Is there a game over in games like Tap Tap Revenge or any real challenge?

      Here’s another article I found: http://www.appsafari.com/games/10470/project-void/

    • Torbjorn Kamblad, Sweden

      Casual games such as Bejeweled, Peggle and Arachnadoodle all challenge the player. I would even call game over festivals such as Canabalt and Doodle Jump casual. But of course casual can be so many things, and if you find it casual to watch paint dry you are welcome to enjoy it.

    • Mike Dako

      Variation. There are all kinds of it in the gaming space.

      If you actually look at this game, which I picked up a few weeks ago, the challenge comes from resource management. How best can you use your pieces to clear the boards given? Can you do it better than the last time you did it? Did you get far enough to come up to the colored pieces? In the end, do you really need to be told that you fail in every game you play?

      Sure, there could be a more explicit challenge mode. I’m sure that could come in future updates. The review seemed overly harsh.

    • http://www.david-mcgraw.com David

      Well you can’t please them all. :)

      Thanks for the review Torbjorn! I’ll be sure to take this feedback into account in future updates. My initial goal was to have a game that didn’t pressure the user into failing. While many people have enjoyed it so far clearly there is another segment of people that really desire a specific goal/challenge.

      Take care!

    • Torbjorn Kamblad, Sweden

      @David

      I will update my review if future updates make it more challenging.

      I review games using the following basic assumption:
      Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. According to Chris Crawford, the requirement for player interaction puts activities such as jigsaw puzzles and solitaire “games” into the category of puzzles rather than games.

      Based in part on the following dichotomies by Chris Crawford

      1. Creative expression is art if made for its own beauty, and entertainment if made for money.
      2. A piece of entertainment is a plaything if it is interactive. Movies and books are cited as examples of non-interactive entertainment.
      3. If no goals are associated with a plaything, it is a toy. (Crawford notes that by his definition, (a) a toy can become a game element if the player makes up rules, and (b) The Sims and SimCity are toys, not games.) If it has goals, a plaything is a challenge.
      4. If a challenge has no “active agent against whom you compete,” it is a puzzle; if there is one, it is a conflict. (Crawford admits that this is a subjective test. Video games with noticeably algorithmic artificial intelligence can be played as puzzles; these include the patterns used to evade ghosts in Pac-Man.)
      5. Finally, if the player can only outperform the opponent, but not attack them to interfere with their performance, the conflict is a competition. (Competitions include racing and figure skating.) However, if attacks are allowed, then the conflict qualifies as a game.

      Text borrowed from Wikipedia. I don’t have time to go through my physical library for references. I have to rate entries called games out of a game perspective, and Project Void lacks in that respect. As a casual relaxation tool mentioned by Mike Dako above it might be perfect for a lot of iPhone owners.

    • Tim

      You stare into the void, and the void stares back!

      So is it safe to say that I should aVoid this one?

      I was going to buy this, but now I’m going to Void my check!

      Seriously though, I am non-plussed.

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