Reviews August 17, 2009

Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 18: Blackout

Time to take a look at another game for the Palm Pre, Blackout. Sadly, this is number four of five. Like many of the other games available for the Pre, it is a good concept, but an underwhelming exhibition of what this platform can do.

The premise is pretty simple. You are faced with a 5×5 grid of lights. Some are dark, while others are light. All you need to do is turn off all the lights. To do so, just tap any light to switch its state. Sounds easy enough, but each tap controls not only the light you are tapping, but each adjoining light as well (except diagonals). So, not only will you switch the light you tap, but also those around it. Now that complicates things.

This is a nice concept, although it is not particularly new by any means. And I have to say, I was really expecting more than I found. I would have liked more options, such as different difficulty levels and grid sizes. Maybe even the ability to change the background. I also found it odd that there were no instructions in the game. So, while gameplay was enjoyable, like the other games on the Palm Pre, I found the execution to be a bit less than expected.

I hope game developers can step it up a few notches on the Palm Pre…though that seems unlikely until palm changes its policies with respect to its SDK.