Tiki Toss 3D is pick up and play fun with an island theme
OK, so there's not a lot to Tiki Toss 3D, but it's one of those enjoyable little games you can flip on while you wait in line (much to the bemusement of Windows Phone 7 friends). If you've ever played Bimini ring toss, where you try to get a ring suspended by a string onto a hook mounted on a wall (or small board), then you will be familiar with Tiki Toss.
Interface
The interface is simple enough. After choosing the type of game you want (Best of 10, Session or Arcade) and level of difficulty (Amateur or Pro) you hit Play to begin. You'll start with the screen shown to the right, a ring suspended in air, waiting to be thrown.
The game does a great job of simulating an island feel, complete with animated surfers in the background. The bar at the bottom is activated when you tap the boom box, and the game features several songs to choose from while you play. It's a nice feature that adds to the ambiance.
I found the buttons on the main menu a little small, perhaps, and the "music off" indicator reset itself when I entered the list of music available, but other than the OpenFeint screens everything is consistent within the game.
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Game play
Is it fun? As I said, this is a casual game. It simulates a simple-but-challenging game in real life. You place your finger on the screen to grab the ring, then swipe down to throw the ring. Depending upon how you flick your finger across the screen, and how you initially placed the ring to begin with, the ring will swing over to the hook and attempt to hook itself.
What seems simple is actually quite a challenge, but not because the game doesn't have great physics. The physics are quite excellent, and the responsiveness to my swipes were impressive. If you find yourself frustrated with games that don't "feel" right you know what I mean -- some just don't do a good job of simulating anything. Not so with Tiki Toss. The game mechanics are quite strong for such a simple thing, and that makes playing the game a welcome diversion. You'll find it hard to just swipe down and hard over and over again to keep winning. The game detects rather fine motion, so even a little angle at the end of a swipe can send the ring over just enough to not land on the hook. But this isn't so exaggerated as to be annoying, or feel like the game doesn't work. In fact, it's quite satisfying because you feel your actions are being properly registered by the game. In short, the game just works properly.
Price, availability
At $0.99 this is a pretty easy purchasing decision. You get every penny's worth of value. There's a lot of detail, some fun music and excellent game mechanics. The game is Universal, so you can play it on the iPad, but the graphics are not upscaled and look a little jaggy on the iPhone 4 as well. Still, the game is fun and will whisk you off to a quick island diversion when you're stuck in line at the DMV, so there's little to complain about with Tiki Toss 3D.
