Voodoo Dice

Voodoo Dice
Developer:  Exkee
Category:  Platform Puzzler
Released:  July 2010
Usual Price:  £7.99
Hours Played:  2
Controller Compatible:  Yes
Rating:  0 Stars

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Although classed as a platform puzzler, Voodoo Dice could also pass as a puzzle game as you mainly only travel around one, large, flat surface. It's unusual for an indie game in that it's in 3D but with bland gameplay this offering is unfortunately no Hamilton's Great Adventure.

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Menus, Progress & Stats

All menus are negotiated by moving a dice around, as you do in the game. The first screen gives you four choices to either see the credits, leaderboard, help & options or to play the game. On rolling on the "Play" square, you then roll the dice onto one of four profiles whereupon you're taken to the world-select screen and then the level-select screen for one of the four worlds. Here, with the area reflecting the corresponding world, levels become unlocked as you progress and you simply roll the dice onto the level you wish to play. Each level displays the best time so hardcore players can aim to complete the game in the best time. 

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Gameplay

In Voodoo Dice, you control a chunky six-sided dice around a flat landscape occupied by other dice, teleporters, one-way systems and switches. Your task is to simply reach the exit portal. Many of the early puzzles require you to manoevre your own dice to an adjacent square next to other dice while matching up the pips. This then might destroy that dice so you may continue, or it may attach that dice to your own so that you may then move it somewhere else - usually to click a switch to activate a door or to send it somewhere via a teleporter.

The playing area is divided into squares and you move the dice left, right, up or down by rolling it one move at a time. Personally, I did not get much out of Voodoo Dice at all. Most sessions ended up in just rolling the dice around quickly until finally getting the numbers to match. Yes, I could have stopped to mull it over in depth but I just found that the "roll around randomly until you get there" method to work best. To me, frantically doing something in a random manner until you get to the solution is just not fun and I have to say that I just found this game to be totally unispiring and dull. On the plus side, you do get to play in full 3D and you can rotate the playing area 360 degrees.

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Conclusion

Although I am still on the first of four worlds, Voodoo Dice just doesn't live up to its promise and doesn't motivate me to want to continue through the game. It is true that the various obstacles make it an intriguing puzzle-solving adventure but, as mentioned, I want to solve my way through a game and not bumble and blunder my way through it. I have given this game numerous chances and have often returned to it just to see if my previous evaluation was valid; unfortunately, I get that sinking feeling time and again. For this reviewer, I'm afraid this particular game won't be gracing the hard-drive anytime soon.