Let your finger act as a god of the blobs in Blobiverse
Blobiverse is a simulation game in which your finger plays god among all the blobs and small animals wandering the land just below the surface of your device's glass. You have a large landscape filled with grass, trees and small lakes to work with plus all of your tools for placing blobs, animals or scenery in your world and watching it blossom. Guide or antagonize the blobs as they slowly shape the world you rule. Blobiverse is free with in-app purchases for iPhone and iPad and requires at least iOS 7.1.
Most of your godly controls for the game are located in a row of icons at the bottom of the display that scroll to reveal even more. You have your blobs, a set of some animals and some trees among other things. Tap one to essentially select it as a paint brush, allowing you to tap all around your Blobiverse to place them.
It took me an unreasonably lengthy amount of time to figure out the controls in the game. It doesn't come with a tutorial or brief instructions. When you tap something new, a diagram appears that attempts to explain the function, but does so in a vague way that often left me confused. The diagram either wasn't clear, or following its visual instructions didn't produce the desired effect. Getting to know Blobiverse was more frustrating than it should have been.
Eventually the blobs start spreading and building upon this new frontier. They chop down trees and use the wood to built tents and small forts. A community center of sorts magically appears as the game progresses where there seems to be an open exchange of tools and goods among your blobby citizens.
One of my blobs decided to then plant some seeds and grow some vegetables. I accidentally tapped the FarmVille-esque crops and killed them though. Life is tough when you're a god.
Speaking of your godly duties, they can only truly be fulfilled when you have enough mana capsules. For all intents and purposes, I'm just going to refer to them as energy. As you control aspects of the Blobiverse or place various new blobs and scenic additions, your energy meter at the top drops. It regrows over time, but if you're in such a rush packs of mana capsules are available as in-app purchases.
Part of the charm in Blobiverse is, as a god, discovering what your abilities are. You might tap something and find you just completely obliterated it (like those poor vegetables) or you might discover something new from the tap. You have to pan around and explore.
I get that out of Blobiverse and in that regard, it succeeds. That said, I do wish it provided more guidance for beginners. I was left scratching my head far too often trying to figure out what I could and couldn't do with the world in my hands.
As far as entertainment value, I regret to say that Blobiverse loses its novelty quickly. It's fun exerting your power for a bit, but I don't stay engaged, at least not in the same way as I would if I was to play something with more substance like the Sims.
Blobiverse is a universal game for iOS and it's free in the App Store.
