Well guess what? Sometimes mobile apps ported to PC aren't a godawful blasphemy. This is maybe one of the first games I played that was seemingly intended purely for iPhone that later became a PC port that isn't such. I've played games that had ports that were made with the ultimate intent of also going to PC (such as Shadowrun Returns) this doesnt seem to be one of them, it was designed to be an iPhone App, and only later emerged in the steam store for the same low price of the original app.

Reading the reviews on steam, i was surprised, and became curious. This game is actually decently made, much more than it looks. The game seems like it might be the perfect game for boys ages 7-10, save for the fact it ultimately gets very hard. yet a lot of the core design and several features seem geared for kids. This doesnt mean its a kids only game. But it borrows a lot of the better elements (imo) from minecraft and has many friendly interface features. Some of them seem specifically for kids, then again it is designed for IoS.. its an iphone game.

maybe i took an iOS game like this far too seriously but I like the presentation. This really is just like my title. Minecraft has become a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for children, lol. The premise and storytelling, lore, atmosphere and adventure aspect is very much like stalker, with many of the gameplay and RPG elements being along the aspects of minecraft. The combat is very much like STALKER in the sense you have lots of freaky enemies flying at you, jumping at you, etc and sometimes you take medkits or bandages anti-poison anti rads in the midst of combat. There was also an attempt to create 'anomalies.' There are some cheesy bits, and there's a few references or lifted content from other games as well you might recognize. There are some aspects of gameplay which one learns to exploit to get ahead and save time. The building and crafting is only rudimentary but it functions well for the sake of providing a context with which the player can pace their wandering. Some things seem a bit goofy. Like a shovel that you dig for sand, really dig for sand? The pickaxe to ore progression will annoy some people, cause the prerequisites arent a flat and linear progression (you have to use an tier two WOOD axe, to get a Tier two ORE pick) but its so simple with a mere two tiers that is seems irrelevant, and the resources abound anyway. you could just wander and find the pick, or other tools. Some things however, seem difficult. A lot of these difficulties can be exploited. by the time you master the game it is a real breeze. A lot of design features are well done and surprisingly translate quite well to PC, and make it feel like a childrens game. There are even profiles in it in case you want to play the harder difficulty and your son wants to play the easier mode. (and the place to switch the profiles is kind of tucked away and hard to find, so to me it seems like it has good design features and some are geared towards kids, just IMO...)

While the graphics arent the best (models, textures, animations), it works okay i felt. the video effects arent half bad at all. the fog and lighting is fine, water is fine. lighting effects are decent. but if you can enjoy a game like 3089 you wont notice anything other than hostiles having very easy to beat AI when its time to fight. There are a few mapping bugs as well here and there on certain spots of the island but they are minor. The combat style of some of these enemies is unusual as is the way things spawn and the nature of progression, this can translate into unusual gameplay due to some of the enemies, what they tend to drop, and what you really need to get your job done. This particularly feels S.T.A.L.K.E.R. like in the sense that most crafting can be avoiding and you are just picking through the loot of your foes. Despite its flaws, many of its quirks, a few gimmicks, and the fact it is a mobile game ported to PC... Its tough to not like a game that has lots of themes and genuinely feels like a title seated across the table of fallout , half-life, stalker but is totally doing its own thing and doesnt lose sight of the better aspects of minecraft while doing it. Ultimately the game feels quite gamelike and miraculously isn't a bad FPS despite being made on mobile (i kid you not)just about any game i've seen that copies any of those games fails in some way and this one held its water! if you like those games you probably wont care and enjoy this game because it got enough right. I certainly find the game cheap enough but it probably has room to grow as well so give this one a look at some point down the road or keep your eye out for a steam sale.

I am tempted to rate this one at four stars but that feels like it is pushing it. It's just an average game at a very fair price. There are hokey bits a few balance issues other quirks that say 'unpolished' another bit i wasn't a fan of exactly is one very unfortunate aspect of the design (which is really a spoiler) that while really was necessary and appropriate for this game doesnt translate well or really encourage the player to play the whole game through, I did however, like the game enough to endure through it all the way to the end. It becomes quick by the time you really figure things out. Dont get distracted with lots of building and crafting. Supposedly there is a multiplay mode that becomes unlocked when you complete the game or make progress through a third of the game.

In the end I've played plenty of ported crap that is just crap and well, i like this just because it wasn't crap and the adventure aspects of this game really did appeal to my curiosity and sense of wonder enough to actually play it.

I'm not sure why I feel this way but this game is everything I had hoped The Fortress of Dr Radiaki was lol (if PC Gamer can give THAT game an 81 Then I think giving this a 65-75 80 is more than modest)