POINPY

Poinpy is one of those rare mobile games that is an actual game. …Okay so obviously I’m being a bit facetious—frankly I’m not much of a mobile gamer. Smartphones just aren’t suited for the types of games I enjoy playing, and mobile games (especially “free”-to-play ones) are often plagued with frustrating design choices that disrespect the player, with the goal of getting the player to fork over cash to ease that frustration. So it is incredibly refreshing to play something on my phone, for free, that actually respects the player. And it’s a well designed game, on top of that. While Poinpy is far from the first game of its kind, it delivers an incredibly solid and well-polished experience comparable to other small indie arcade games you can find on PC and console, with an insanely addictive gameplay loop. And the controls work well on a phone too. In my opinion, the creator’s prior game, Downwell, suffered from the use of touchscreen buttons (which are never quite as responsive as the real, tactile buttons on a controller); Poinpy’s tap and slide controls, by contrast, are simple and intuitive, yet allow for a similarly compelling experience. I skipped this game back when it was on Netflix (because, like… why is Netflix hosting games anyways? lol) but was intrigued seeing it release on the App Store 100% free with zero drawbacks (only with the option to leave a tip). Kinda crazy, whoever came up with that. But it might actually be a secretly genius financial decision because I actually did end up voluntarily leaving a tip, and I probably wouldn’t have spent any money on this game if it were instead filled with ads or behind a one-time paywall. The game is truly free, though, so if you’re dead set on not spending any money (and make no mistake, there is no incentive for tipping, the devs don’t guilt-trip you, it’s entirely at your discretion) there’s zero risk in downloading and trying it yourself.

I own the devs previous work across multiple platforms, and really enjoyed this when it dropped on Netflix games. I wouldn’t have minded paying for it, as I’d basically beaten it on Netflix before it was removed. I don’t remember exactly but I think the puzzle levels are new… or I neglected to unlock them before. Either way new to me and a nice surprise! TLDR: Great game, glad I’m able to play it again; I tipped $2.