Softnauts Review

Softnauts is one of those games that I would put into the same category as the Flappy Bird and Temple Run like games. Its addictive ‘see how far you can go’ element is an incredibly compelling one that is used by most games in this grouping. This system may be generic, but Softnauts puts an odd little twist to it. Instead of it being a never-ending trial of repeated failure, Softnauts includes a neat story element that eventually leads to the completion of the game. It is your goal to collect lost memory chips scattered about the galaxy to reveal small parts of the galactic map and story.

Softnauts’ mechanics are relatively simple; tap the screen to go one way and tap it again to go the other. You have to avoid meteors that have different movement patterns and can bounce off of one another. In later stages of the game it becomes incredibly hard to avoid these meteors because of the constant redirection of their movement. Power-ups can help you avoid the meteors; an anti-magnet is available to use. This power up repels anything coming near, allowing your rocket to squeeze through tight situations. You can obtain a pick up that charges your ship's’ shield, allowing you to charge through gigantic comets. Other various power-ups can help you on your journey. These aren’t very exciting as they mainly only help gather coins and the power-ups already mentioned before.

Advertisements are a great way for small mobile games to make money. I’m perfectly fine with this game running advertisements because they weren’t pushing microtransactions upon us. The only problem with what they’re doing is that advertisements pop up right in the middle of your current run. My poor ship’s crew will never see Earth again because of the obtrusive advertisement that led to their tragic deaths. This is really the only problem I’ve had with this game. Softnauts lacks any substantial problem which is surprising for such a release.

Even though my poor crew died tragically, they’d still want me to recommend this game. I recommend this game to you because of it’s little story addition. This small addition sets it apart from the other generic distance games and really makes this game a compelling play.