Okay Geek Farm
App Review - Solipskier
Jason Tsay
Solipskier
App type: Game
Price: $2.99
Compatible: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad - iOS 3.0 or later
Developer: Mikengreg LLC
In Solipskier, you don’t play as the skier as you may expect. Instead, you create the snow on which the person skies. The point of the game is to go through as many gates as possible. Going through consecutive gates will increase your score multiplier. Since you “draw” the slope, you can make the guy go downhill or climb uphill. The trick is to draw long slopes downwards (with the occasional small uphill) to increase speed as rapidly as possible, which boosts your score. Consequently, random, choppy drops and long climbs won’t do you much good. Each time you go through a gate, you also pick up the pace, marked by the rainbow behind you. Miss a gate and your speed will decrease along with a reset on the score multiplier.
Note that red “X” gates will kill you. In addition, there are “tunnels,” or long strings of blue gates, of which you can really rack up the points and accelerate. Often times, there will be a “jump” after the tunnel, where you are required to throw Solipskier up over a certain distance marked by an orange line. How do they make sure you pass the jump? Well, you can’t draw snow in the area of the jump/orange line. How do you know when the next gate will be coming up? Green arrows near the right edge of the screen are marked with a decreasing number indicating how close you are to the upcoming gate. The same goes for blue tunnels and red “X” gates.
Drawing short sudden uphills while Solipskier is going fast will throw him in the air. The higher and longer you stay in the air, the more points you get. Just make sure to draw snow where he lands or your game will end. Note that the faster you throw Solipskier into the air, the more rapidly he will drop, and the quicker you’ll have to start drawing snow.
Doing tricks will help you gain points. How do you do tricks? While Solipskier is in the air (off the screen), stop drawing snow and you’ll gain more points. Once more, this adds to the risk of the game because if you don’t draw snow in time when he drops, you lose. Another stunt that will get you extra points is going through a gate while airborne.
A fast rock soundtrack ensures that your face will be glued to the screen anticipating the next gate or jump. Visuals are equally as pleasing; a dark gray background of mountains and clouds matched with light gray snow is interrupted only by a rainbow trailing the speeding Solipskier. Houses randomly pop up in the background where you draw snow — it isn’t all that noticeable but it really adds to the feeling of speed when you’re skiing rapidly downhill.
Overall
Solipskier is one of the most addictive games we’ve ever played on the iPhone. It’s just straight up fun. While you can pick it up at any time to play, it’s fast paced and still requires skill to some degree. We really couldn’t ask for more in an iPhone game except perhaps Game Center support. That way, our endless hours of devotion to the game would show up on some leaderboards to wipe in our friends’ faces. But then again, do you really need friends when you have Solipskier?
Download Solipskier on iTunes Now
iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad - iOS 3.0 or later
Update: At the time of this review, Solipskier is on sale for only $0.99 - so grab it while you can!
