Cling Thing is a great new casual game for iOS
Every time I think there’s no possible way to make another game based around collecting three stars in a unique way, a new game pops up to prove me wrong. That’s exactly what Cling Thing did, and like the other games in this increasingly popular genre of mobile games, it does it to perfection.
Anyone with a smart phone knows the basic concept by now: There are three stars you can collect, so go collect them! For Cling Thing, the method in which you do that is very similar to how Spider Man does his thing. You control an alien/monster-like ball that has the ability to shoot sticky strings in all directions, and the elasticity of these strings pulls the ball itself to wherever it stuck. By shooting one of more of these sticky strings, you can swing around the levels in true Spider Man style, collecting stars and then heading for the exit.
As you can imagine, the levels get more complicated and more difficult as you go. Enemies are added, there is water where you have to fight floating to the surface, balloon power-ups to make you float in the air, spikes, keys to be collected, and so on. The graphics are beautiful, as seems to be the standard for games like these, and the game mechanic is very addictive. I still remember playing some Spider Man game on an ancient console years ago, and remember how I just used to swing around the city with no purpose, and this actually reminds me of that.
The controls are mostly good, though for the iPad, there are certain times I wish I had the iPad itself mounted and was playing with two hands. The reason is that as levels get more advanced, you need to use multi -touch to shoot multiple sticky strings and better control your movement, and sometimes that can be a bit tricky with one hand.. It’s very far from a major problem, and the game generally plays really well. I also have to give them credit for making the fish in the water react to your presence, that’s high tech stuff! (leave a comment if you get the reference)
Cling Thing is available for both the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99 gets you the universal version that is usable on both, and while that price is low and the in-app purchase of $1.99 to unlock all levels is completely optional (you can unlock them by just playing), there’s a very distasteful ad bubble on the main screen that shoves app suggestions down your throat if you pop it. It’s an odd decision to put such an obviously unwelcome “feature” in an otherwise polished, beautiful, and fun game, but it shouldn’t stop you from trying the game out.
Download: iTunes
