Description: Swiper is a simple, yet addicting game that challenges your reflexes and accuracy under pressure. It has a pretty simple core mechanic at its heart: There are four alternating colored cards that you must swipe the right direction based on the color as quickly as you can, for example the yellow card should always be swiped up. While that sounds nice and simple, Swiper is more a game about reflexes and how long you can keep your nerve. It’s easy to lose concentration and swipe the wrong direction…and surprising how much that messes with your head. Swiper is a game that’s great for short time killing sessions and you can post your high-score busting games to see if you are the best on the Google Play leaderboards. With an Android Wear version available as well, Swiper could be the game you need to give yourself an easy break on the go or keep the kids entertained.
How it Works: Download Swiper from the Play Store. After that, just choose which game mode you want to play and start swiping. In app purchases allow you to buy more challenging card decks to see if you can up your game.
To get a feel for what each game mode is about, just hit the question mark.
While the game modes are a little different from each other – with Time Attack being my favorite – they all share a single mechanic, which is swiping cards in the right direction, which is quickly laid out as you start any of the game modes.
When playing, it really is as simple as swiping certain colored cards in the right direction, it seems really simple and it is, but it becomes addictive as well as quite challenging after a while. It’s interesting when you miss a card how it messes with your head!
I particularly like the way that the time trial ups the ante each and every time that you hit the swipe target for every 10 second stint.
At the end of you run, you’re given a score, with the main aim here being to beat your high-scores as you keep on improving each time you fire up the game.
From the high score screen you have the option to share your scores on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
There are additional card decks to unlock with an in-app purchase, each with increasing difficulty. The Double Bad Coaching deck made me laugh as it not only has the wrong direction written on the card for your brain to ignore, it also shouts the wrong direction at you!
I had to really concentrate on the color of the card and ignore these prompts; definitely more challenging.
From the Main Menu pressing the Google Play controller icon will bring up all the leaderboards and you can compare how you scored against your friends.
Opinion: I really enjoyed my time with Swiper, and when we add in the fact that there’s an Android Wear version of the game available it’s easy to see that this is a great game for bite-sized sessions. These days, it seems that a lot of games forget that these are ‘mobile games’ and should be played on the move. Swiper is exactly that, a game that can be played on the move that looks good, plays well and is a whole lot of fun. My favorite was the time trial that pushes you to do better each and every 10 seconds, upping the ante in increments, it’s a nice way of testing your reflexes and keeping you on your toes. Swiper is a game that will draw you in and always be there when you need to kill five minutes here or even when you want to spend an hour or so conquering a high-score.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – As you’d hope from a game based on reaction times, Swiper runs really quite nicely.
- Features (4/5) – The whole game hinges on a simple, core mechanic, but it’s a whole lot of fun and will certainly keep you alert and it’s damn addicting, too.
- Theme (4/5) – Swiper is a colorful game and everything is nice and bright, allowing you to stay alert and swipe furiously.
- Overall (4/5) – An addictive, fun game that doesn’t ask much from its players, Swiper is one of those games that’s instantly playable and replayable no matter where or when.
Pros
- Great for short bursts as well as longer, more involved sessions.
- No complicated controls, complicated rules or anything like that; just load it up and play away.
- Swiper is nice and colorful, with some good-looking animations to boot.
- There’s even an Android Wear version for your wrist!
Cons
- Might be too simple for those looking for something more involved.
- Any unlock or to get rid of ads requires an upfront in-app purchase.
Conclusion: While some might see Swiper as a game that’s seems too simple, a lot of people will easily take to it and find it a compelling and addictive game be it on their smartphone or on their wrist. I wish that you could unlock extra card decks without having to pay an in-app purchase, but to be fair to the developer the ads are light and you can download the game for absolutely nothing. No matter what though, Swiper is a good deal of fun, and if you’re just looking for a game that’s simple and a lot of fun, then you really needn’t look any further.