Kiwanuka Review- Bridging People Together, Literally.

I’m going to be honest. I am not one for mobile games. There are only a few that I really enjoy. Somehow this tiny little puzzle game, Kiwanuka, managed to grab my attention. CMA Megacorp, a group of 3 developers put together this new 2D platformer. Here is what I have to say.

Gameplay and Controls

The game starts with you being the first character you select, and you wield this super sweet lighting staff. Wherever you drag it, lightning arcs from it and you follow, along with your hoard of followers. Makes you kinda feel like Moses, or a really popular Tumblr page.

The goal of the game is to lead your followers to the end of the level to find someone else who should be following you. Then the next level they get the staff and lead the people to the next person, and so on.

Back to this lightning staff of infinite leadership. If you swipe your finger up from the staff you can see a big circle around your character, getting bigger the farther you go out. If you release it straight into the air, your followers will create a human tower! Swipe to knock them over to create a human bridge. And double tap to destroy the bridge, even while you’re on it.

The nice thing is that you have an unlimited number of followers. This kind of throws the game into the casual category. But the obstacle of the game is the crystal colored platforms. Not only will they not allow you to link bridges to them, but if you touch one, then the level explodes and you have to restart.

This makes everything about precision. There is no time limit, and no limited number of attempts, so you can try and try again until you get it just right. unfortunately precision is difficult in this game the smaller your screen is. If you have big fingers and are playing on a smaller device, then you might run into some trouble. 

Presentation

The game looks good. Hands down. The colors are vibrant and the art style is unique. Everything follows a geometric design of straight lines. I love the characters as well.

Though Kiwanuka is not setting any standards, the game is visually appealing and the textures are smooth. I played the Android version on my Galaxy S4, but I’m sure it looks even better on a tablet.

Sounds and Music

Awesome and completely ridiculous. The music was done by Unicorn Lazers. Everything is psychedelic and dubstep nonsense floods the title screen. The levels are filled with mellow tunes, and none of it gets annoying. Well done Unicorn Lazers

Yeah But Is It Any Fun?

Yes and no. So far i’ve enjoyed the challenge. The game makes me think, and I like that. However, the puzzles are kind of bland. It feels like there is no set path or “easiest way” to reach the goal each level. I wish there was more of an “ah-ha!” moment when you figure out the puzzles, but the reward is lackluster. It’s almost like the designers just stuck a bunch of platforms around and hoped that the level would work.

How About Replay Value?

After you finish this game, if you do, I don’t foresee anyone racing to open it back up again for a while. While you might play it sitting in the doctors office or while waiting around at work, you won’t be going out of your way to play through it again. The draw to this game is puzzles that make you think. Once you’ve got them down then you’re just running little people around with your big fingers on your tiny phone screen.

Also, game gets hard… and frustrating. After a huge difficulty spike combining timing and accuracy, you might just end up putting this game down and going back to the app store to look for something else. 

Results

6/10

2D platforming and puzzles are a dime a dozen these days. Kiwanuka doesn’t add anything new to the formula, though it is heavily stylized and fun to hear and see. Precise movements with your finger make the game frustrating. I’d much rather take another look at this game in a console version.