The Atari ST. That’s what this game brought me back to. This is a game that harks back to the days when you could buy a floppy disk filled with PD software – software in the public domain – from some shifty guy at the market. The quality of the games included would generally be variable, to say the least, but the sheer quantity of titles per disk meant they were irresistible to any child reliant on pocket money to fuel their gaming habit.

You may wonder where I’m going with this: it’s natural that modern indie games evoke memories of their public domain predecessors. But in this case, it’s more than just the whiff of free and simple gaming that takes me back: it’s everything about the game. The aesthetic, of freely bouncing balls across a black backround, reminds me of nothing so much than the old demo scene. And the gameplay itself; a simple game of detonating abstract objects, reminds me of countless puzzlers of the time. But is that a bad thing?

The fact is, these old games were designed to be simple, throwaway experiences that you could play one after another – and what could be better suited to playing on the go? Sometimes all you want is a quick, mindless game to take up a few minutes of your time, and this certainly fits the bill.

The game is one you may have encountered before: you’re presented with a screen around which a number of balls are bouncing. You can tap on the screen to place a single explosion which will remain on screen for a few seconds and cause any balls which touch it to form similar explosions which act in the same way. Once all said explosions have receded to nothing, the level ends; your aim is to destroy a set number of balls per level, using this single chain of explosions. Moreover, you score points for every ball detonated, and every ball detonated by another ball gives you an incrementally better score. So, for example, a ball detonated by your explosion will be worth 1000 points. A ball detonated by that ball will be worth 2000, a ball detonated by the 2000-point ball will be worth 3000 points, and so on.

This sounds like it could lead to quite a strategic game, but the fact is that, particularly in the later levels, you have very little influence over what happens. Once you reach a certain number of balls the human brain becomes completely incapable of plotting a route through the chaos, and the game ends up coming down to little more than random chance. In this respect, it’s a little like Popcap’s blockbuster Peggle; however, that game’s genius came in making the player feel as though they were a master of the game whenever they won. Chain Reaction feels as random as it is, and so the player ends up feeling like little more than a spectator.

That said, on the earliest levels there is a bit more method to the madness, and the final levels, while essentially mindless, are actually quite engaging to watch; the spreading tide of explosions being beautiful in much the same way as fractal graphics being generated. And to be honest, sometimes that’s all you want: just tap and watch!
As such, Chain Reaction is certainly satisfying in its own right – a light bit of mindless entertainment, it will happily pass a few minutes of your time. I wouldn’t pay for it, but handily enough it’s completely free; a pleasant little timewaster!

Chain Reaction Gameplay Video

Background : here

Chain Reaction Screenshots

Version Under Review : 1.4.0.0

Website : Lynx Interactive, Twitter : @lynxinteractive ; Facebook

Chain Reaction is a FREE game for Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 Game Rating

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