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So I caught wind of this little phone game made by an obscure indie company named HAL that people are gushing incessantly about. Little thing called Part-Time UFO.
It's not free-to-play.
Believe it or not, that's a good thing, because that means no microtransactions, no banner ads, no intrusive videos, none of that shit. Much like my earlier phone gushfest Love You To Bits, it's just you, the game, and whatever free time you want to devote to it.
There are two things to note about Part-Time UFO.
One is that it is goddamn adorable. You play as a little cartoon UFO with eyes and a giant crane claw. Your goal is to pick up objects and stack them in the Designated Area. There are medals for stacking them in a specific way, or under a certain time limit. You earn coins, which you then use on adorable outfits which minorly tweak your gameplay but are more importantly incredibly cute.
The second is that it is goddamn infuriating in exactly the addictive, "I have to beat this fucking level" way you expect it to be. You are a tiny UFO and that means you can't exactly move very well with heavy objects. Things swing and sway and knock into each other and there is some serious Physics Going On. In essence you are trying to pilot a sentient crane game into doing your bidding and it doesn't always (in fact very infrequently) work the way you want it to.
But you keep trying. Because you know you can do it if you can just nudge this pillar into the right position, or get these cheerleaders to stand on top of each other, or or or or
and suddenly five hours have passed and your phone is telling you that you have 2% battery left.
All in all? Probably the best $4 I've spent on a phone game for a while. It also makes me want to crush someone's skull.
You know. As you do.
It's not free-to-play.
Believe it or not, that's a good thing, because that means no microtransactions, no banner ads, no intrusive videos, none of that shit. Much like my earlier phone gushfest Love You To Bits, it's just you, the game, and whatever free time you want to devote to it.
There are two things to note about Part-Time UFO.
One is that it is goddamn adorable. You play as a little cartoon UFO with eyes and a giant crane claw. Your goal is to pick up objects and stack them in the Designated Area. There are medals for stacking them in a specific way, or under a certain time limit. You earn coins, which you then use on adorable outfits which minorly tweak your gameplay but are more importantly incredibly cute.
The second is that it is goddamn infuriating in exactly the addictive, "I have to beat this fucking level" way you expect it to be. You are a tiny UFO and that means you can't exactly move very well with heavy objects. Things swing and sway and knock into each other and there is some serious Physics Going On. In essence you are trying to pilot a sentient crane game into doing your bidding and it doesn't always (in fact very infrequently) work the way you want it to.
But you keep trying. Because you know you can do it if you can just nudge this pillar into the right position, or get these cheerleaders to stand on top of each other, or or or or
and suddenly five hours have passed and your phone is telling you that you have 2% battery left.
All in all? Probably the best $4 I've spent on a phone game for a while. It also makes me want to crush someone's skull.
You know. As you do.
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