Alphie the Squid is an ocean exploration game that allows the user to follow an adorable little squid, named Alphie, through the deep blue sea to discover fish and aquatic creatures while racking up points to move to the next level. The game is not only fun, but also educational. When playing the game, the user needs to understand the characteristics and abilities of a real squid in order to effective conquer the enemies and rise to the top of the oceanic food chain aka become a big squid.
The game is extremely user friendly and suitable for adults and children alike. Upon launching the game, the user can view the gallery which details the creatures and treasure fish that the user will need to discover. As the user discovers the various animals, the picture becomes clickable and a short summary of the animal is available to the user. Below is a picture of the gallery with the Giant Squid activated:
After a review of the gallery, the user starts at “The Beginning” of the ocean (the follow on levels have aquatic oriented names such as Blue Lagoon and Current Rides). The purpose at this point is to swim along the ocean, eating fish and avoiding enemies. The user only needs their finger to direct Alphie through his habitat. Any user that is familiar with a touch screen phone or tablet will have no issue using the game. Below is a picture of a seemingly satisfied Archie after he discovered a Parrot Fish!
The navigation of the game is simple and small pop up window will appear periodically and provide key directions, such as to avoid certain dangerous creature as Alphie is approaching an area infested with that particular animal. As the user gets further into the game, the abilities of the baby squid become more integral to the success of the game. For example, Alphie can camouflage himself and then hypnotize his target in order to successfully capture and eat his prey.
Overall the graphics of the game are great. The colors are vivid and the detail of the sea life and the seascape is true to life. The music is nice, elevator type music that won’t get on your nerves and there is an option to shut the music off completely. The various prompts and pop-ups that appear throughout the game are helpful and not annoying. This isn’t really a game for speed. It is more about collecting the fish, learning about the fish/creatures, moving to the next level and exploring numerous facets of the ocean. This is a perfect game to play with a child to take advantage of all the learning opportunities without worrying about failing a level by running out of time.
This is a paid app that I downloaded from iTunes and used an iPad to play it. The company that produces the game, Crystal Entertainment, has a solid online presence with an abidance of information to assist in the purchase decision or to help along the way after the game purchase.
If you have an android device you can snag it for FREE on Amazon!
Make sure you like Alphie on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter. You can also find him on Google+ and a game trailer can be found HERE.
The game can be purchased via the following links:
:: iTunes
:: Googleplay
:: Amazon
