Shrinking Shapes Review

Game development might seem like a difficult thing to get into but with the indie scene thriving, the process is clearly not as daunting to many aspiring developers. Enter Daniel J. Smith, a 17 year-old who has just released his first app/game called Shrinking Shapes.

Shrinking Shapes is deviously simple, it's a reaction-based game that tasks players with choosing the correct coloured shape as they continuously shrink, if they disappear then you've failed. There are only three colours and three shapes but this doesn't mean the game isn't difficult. In fact, the way it operates means that your instinct is to go for the colour it says straight away. This is quite deceiving when there are three shapes of the same colour and you'll quickly lose if you aren't fully focused. The game makes itself more difficult through a number of ways. One such way is that the words switch around occasionally so instead of saying blue square, it will say square blue. The words themselves will also not always be the same colour as the shape you're meant to choose and sometimes the words will appear in two colours making it especially difficult.

Shrinking Shapes only offers two gameplay modes, Race To Ten and Marathon Mode. In Race To Ten you must progress through nine rounds of Shrinking Shapes, trying to get to the tenth as quick as possible. At the end you get a rating out of five stars and it will take some practice to get to the fifth. During my play-throughs I only ever managed three stars. It also tells you your best time so you can aim to beat it, even by the slightest of margins. Marathon Mode tasks you with going as many rounds as you can before you fail, rating you in the same way that the Race To Ten Mode does. I would have liked to have seen more modes expanding on the concept but since the game is free to download you're not wasting any money.

Shrinking Shapes offers an addictive if limited game. The two modes are fun enough by themselves but you won't find anything else to do. It's the sort of game where you'll likely play for small stretches during the day, possibly on your way to work providing you get public transport. I'd definitely recommend it to fans of reaction -based games as you'll have a lot of fun trying to best your previous score, be prepared to be frustrated though as it is surprisingly difficult. I'm interested to see if first-timer Daniel J. Smith will release another title in the future, perhaps expanding on this concept or bringing us something entirely new.