The trend of bringing more and more PC and Mac adventure and casual strategy games to the iPad is a great one in my opinion – they work well with the touchscreen interface, present more than a trivial experience, and are still playable in small time increments. Games like Civilization Revolution, Jack of All Tribes and Tiny Token Empires are examples of this … and now we have Youda Survivor! Let’s take a look!
The Hype:
For all real fans of time management games – the most frenzied adventure yet! Can you survive on a mysterious island as well as find your way back home? Try it out in Youda Survivor. Here is your chance to become a real Robinson Crusoe. You will have to win over the hearts of the native tribe by proving that you are the one person that can save them from cunning pirates. Obtain mystical tribal items with magical powers; learn rituals which you can use to control the weather and use special machines to advance in your quest. Learn the secrets of tribal diets and boil powerful potions to make you stronger. Prove that you have what it takes to survive anywhere and under any circumstances.
? 80 Amazing levels
? 5 Extra powers: rain, wind, lightning, birds and monkeys
? 11 Exotic animals
? Fast-paced action
? Exciting adventure
? Upgrades, bonuses and awards
? Survive a deserted island!
? Game Center Support
? Multitasking with iOS 4.2+
The Reality:
Youda Survivor places you – not surprisingly – in the role of someone washed up on shore who needs to figure out a way to survive. You need to battle against the elements, hunger, and predators … or perhaps you can use them all to your advantage? You also meet up with a tribe that requires you to help provide items they need in exchange for helping you stay alive.
Starting off, all you need to do is collect some eggs from teh seagulls who visit the beach. You can use the eggs for mixing potions to sustain your health or simply collect them for yourself.
But quickly that isn’t enough, so you need to find a reason for the gulls to hang around and drop more eggs … and for more gulls to land! So you learn how to create a rainstorm through an incantation, which provides moisture to give you additional dig-sites, and keeps the holes you have on the beach filled with water.
Sounds great, right? Well, not so fast! Every time you dig a hole, or mix a potion or perform just about any task you use up some of your health. It doesn’t replenish by itself, so you need to create potions or destroy enemies who threaten the beach to gain more health. Certain items combine to form more powerful potions – but naturally they also take longer to make.
And since there is a time management element involved, you are constantly battling the clock trying for that Gold level! But even after a few levels that starts to get challenging – you will be struggling to balance your health against the objectives and the time, so you will often require a few tries to reach the gold medal.
But along the way you will have a load of frantic fun. You complete tasks and use energy to gain tokens, which you can in turn use to advance levels and buy new powers and machinery to allow you to more easily complete your tasks.
After a long play session I found that some of the tasks and levels felt repetitive, but in the more common short sessions of a couple of levels I was always entertained and challenged. I spent about a dozen hours playing through the 80 challenging levels in order to my quest for Gold times, and thoroughly enjoyed Youda Survivor throughout. If you are a fan of fast-paced time management games, definitely give this one a shot!
Here is the trailer for Youda Survivor
Review: Youda Survivor
Where to Buy: iTunes App Store
Price: Free ($6.99 in-game unlock for full adventure)
What I Like: Fast-paced and engaging gameplay; fun challenges; loads of stuff to do!
What Needs Improvement: Levels can get repetitive after playing for a while
Source: Publisher provided review code
