Each turn you take your skill level rises, and each time you reach a new level, your score multiplier will rise – meaning your scoring potential gets better each time you play. But it’s just as fun playing on your own because you will continue to beat your own score. It’s entirely possibly to play the game without playing, and if you want to play against mates, it’s easy enough to lay down groundrules. As a result, we’d say Tomb of the Mask is an incredibly, retro-throwback that is, remarkably, free. The game locks you in, and once the spell of concentration has been broken by being hit be something and having to restart, the chances are you’ll fly straight into another object once you restart. Players that spend a lot of time with this game might well find power-ups, or watching an ad won’t do such a good job anyway. Watch out for the obstacles when you go for all those pointsĪs for the game itself, shields and power-ups can only take you so far – it’s far more about mental ability and concentration and fast reactions. So… our top score might depend on whether we can be bothered to sit through a 30-second commercial for Clash of Clans? That’s not how skill works! So, that’s where the gameplay differentiates from arcade classics, but the pretence you could be in front of a joystick and a couple of sticky buttons comes crashing down when your game ends and you’re asked whether you want to give up or watch a video ad to keep going. Oh, and you can’t stop to take stock either because pressure continues to ramp up – if the screen catches up with you from the bottom, the game also ends. Once you’ve made your decision there’s no turning back, but those decisions become harder and harder as the obstacles become more plentiful. However, the gameplay differentiates from those kinds of arcade games in its pacing – for fast-paced pickup and putdown on the toilet or on the bus action, the developers have ensured that controls require a player to simply swipe in the direction they want the character to go in, and that character will go that way very-fast, until it hits a wall, or a dangerous obstacle. The game requires players to move a little character around an endless environment, collecting dots and powerups – much like Pacman – to add to your score. Like a more manic, uncontrollable and hyperactive Pacman, Tomb of the Mask embodies the same retro-appeal as the 80s arcade classic, but if you think the game will also embody pure entertainment aesthetics, you might be disappointed. Our original review, written in March 2016, is presented in its entirety below. Revised rating: Still captivating, but the new IAP leaves a sour taste. Importantly, though, the game is still fun, still (sort of) free, and still leaving us chasing that high score. Though it’s a crying shame there’s no cheaper way to remove ads. ![]() A frankly exorbitant premium pricing service has been added – $8/week or $100/year, ouch! – but if you play the game as it was intended, without buying cheaty respawns every time you fail, we’re pleased to report this is an entirely unnecessary extra. But that’s not unexpected – it was challenging and addictive then, and it remains so. ![]() if you must throw your phone, aim at something soft, like a pillow or the molten heart of the sun.So what’s new? You know, not a lot gameplay-wise. Tomb of the Mask is old school action on the go that classic gameplay fans looking for something unforgiving will find a lot to like about. The swipe-to-move mechanism can sometimes be fiddly enough that an optional onscreen directional pad would have been nice, but you'll at least typically get one "free" resurrection per run if you don't mind watching a short video ad. Power-ups feel nice but not necessary, so you're not pressured to shell out for them, though I always recommend throwing any developer of a free game a few dollars when you enjoy it to show your appreciation, and being able to think and react fast to everything onscreen is appealingly hard. While the near-total silence feels like a missed opportunity to have a really snazzy and catchy old school soundtrack, Tomb of the Mask's pixel presentation goes perfectly with its simple but brutal gameplay, and there's a surprising variety of enemies and obstacles to contend with the farther you go. While it's not the sort of game I can play for long periods of time without getting shaky and sweaty, Tomb of the Mask still feels like the perfect mobile game for arcade fans who want to be able to pull out something fast and challenging at a moment's notice.
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