pantheistic antipodes: DreamWorks Dash n Drop for iPhone and iPad review

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

DreamWorks Dash n Drop for iPhone and iPad review

The Holidays are in full swing which means its time to start adding some of that Holiday cheer to your iPhone and iPad in the form of fun Christmas games and apps! DreamWorks Dash n Drop one great such game. Dash n Drop is a "one tap" arcade game (similar to Tiny Wings) based off the new DreamWorks animation Rise of the Guardians where you must help Santa deliver gifts while collecting elves and coins and avoiding evil Nightmare creatures.

The controls for Dash n Drop are super easy: tap the screen to make Santa's sleigh go down and let go to make it go up -- and that's it! There are no other control associated with Dash n Drop. But don't let the easy controls fool you -- Dash n Drop is actually very challenging!

The goal of the game is to collect and deliver as many gifts as possible to the big cities in USA, Europe, and Asia in the allotted amount of time. The more presents you deliver, the more points you earn and the more Belief is spread. The progress bar at the top of the screen represents Belief so you can see how you're during while you play. In addition to points, you will earn more stars as you build Belief. In order to advance to the next city, you must reach at least 1 star.

As you fly around gathering and delivering gifts, you will also encounter coins, helpful power-ups, and evil Nightmare enemies. The Nightmare enemies will steal your presents and slow you down, so you should do everything in your power to avoid them at all costs! This is easier said than done, though, and I will admit to getting very angry on multiple occasions because it was seemingly impossible to avoid some of them (I still believe some cases are impossible). Of course, this just draws me into the game more by suckering me into trying over and over because my competitive nature must get it right.

In addition to power-ups that immediately help you during gameplay, you will also collect coins while playing Dash n Drop. These can be used to purchase more powers and abilities that will help you progress through the game. As with many games with in-game currency, you can also purchase coins with real money as an in-app purchase ranging from $0.99 to $19.99.

One of the fun things about Dash n Drop is that there are Daily Goals to try to achieve each day. If you complete all three goals, you get a reward. For example, today I was awarded 3 elves which contributed to unlocking new items in the Workshop like powers, boosts, and guardians that can be purchased with coins.

The only real complaint I have with Dash n Drop is that its UI forces you to visit certain sections like the Workshop even if you don't want to. The above screenshot comes up quite often and what irritates me the most about it as that It is asking me if I want to go the Workshop, yet the only answer I'm allowed to give is "ok". I may not be ass annoyed if I wasn't tricked into believing I had a choice in the matter.

The good

Collect & Deliver presents with the Guardians' magical sleigh
Watch out for Pitch?s powerful Nightmare enemies
Use awesome power-ups!: Jack Frost?s enemy freeze, Tooth Fairy?s coin catch, Bunnymund?s boomerang & more
Gather coins to upgrade your powers & abilities
Collect elves to unlock powerful boosts in the Workshop
Advance to special coin filled bonus rounds
Dash to locations around the globe
iCloud Support
Universal for iPhone and iPad

The bad

Occasionally you are presented with a popup that asks you if you'd like to visit the Workshop without the ability to say "no"

The conclusion

DreamWorks Dash n Drop is an extremely fun game and the fact that it's Christmas themed makes it even better for this time of year. What I love most about Dash n Drop is that although the controls are extremely basic, the gameplay can be very challenging. There were several cities that required multiple attempts on my part to even get 1 star to progress to the next city. If you're a fan of little time-killing arcade games, definitely pick this one up!