You'd think by now that migrating creatures would have learned not to let the young'uns walk in the back of the line. What's to stop them from getting distracted by popsicles, becoming lost, and having to puzzle their way back to the pack through dangers untold? Nothing, that's what. But you can help reunite the young yeti with its family in Lost Yeti, a cute puzzle game by Neutronized. The goal is to get the yeti to the black and white square. Click and drag ice cubes or other blocks that are between blue and yellow arrowed blocks in their row or column to clear the way, though you can't move any row the yeti or an enemy is currently standing in. Unless the yeti is completely surrounded by blocks, it will walk straight until it hits an obstacle, then turn clockwise if possible. Needless to say, however, if the obstacle happens to be an enemy or some spikes, you'll have to start the level over.
In the browser demo, the popsicles don't do anything but taste good, but in the mobile version, you can use them to skip levels you are having a hard time with. While some levels let you take your time, others have moving enemies that eat your treats and make you get out of the way quick or face the consequences, which can be frustrating... I'm looking at you, leaping boar. Sometimes in situations where speed is important, it's a little too easy to over-slide your row, causing premature death, but practice and a steady hand helps a lot with this. As you progress, you get to work with more than just ice cubes, from the star blocks you have to match to make disappear, and blocks that you can punch through. While the demo has plenty to keep you entertained, if you download Lost Yeti for your mobile device, you'll be rewarded with two extra worlds full of interesting new enemies, block types, and music. The graphics and 8-bit soundtrack of Lost Yeti remind me of some Nitrome games, the interface is simple, and the puzzles interesting. Though we got a good game out of it this time, maybe next time the yeti will keep better track of their children.
NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on the Galaxy Nexus. Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.
The browser demo is pretty much unplayable once enemies show up - you can't control the ice precisely because it "overshoots" returning to a grid-aligned position when you let go. (So, for example, if I drag a block a quarter of its width to the right and let go, it goes two squares to the right before stopping.)
Nitrome, eh? I think I know a thing or two about their games. XD
I downloaded Lost Yeti the day it came out for iOS. It's an adorable little puzzle game, and works very well with mobile devices. The game challenges you to complete the level in the least number of steps, and the lowest numbers make it on to the leaderboard in the Game Centre.
Collecting popsicles is necessary for skipping levels, but to be quite frank, I have only skipped a few, and most of them were accidental. There used to be in-app purchases for buying popsicles if you went below the limit, but those got removed in the second update. Skipping levels isn't that costly, and the levels are usually easy enough to complete unless you're aiming for a low number of steps or trying to obtain all the popsicles.
In later areas, levels are wider than the screen. There is no manual side scrolling, and it would have been nice to have the chance to see what obstacles are coming up well beforehand. Nonetheless it's still manageable, though it would have been an asset.
Overall, Lost Yeti is a wonderful diversion, from the cute yeti sounds to the replay value. I'm still trying to get all the popsicles, and like the review says, that boar is evil, crushing all my delicious frozen treats like that!
The sound gets totally messed up if you press replay.
It permanently doubles each time and offsets, so it sounds like it's going faster each time.
Also if you turn it off, next time you start up the game it will be off already at intros and all.
I mean really?
Add: It's only the replay after a finished level (not the fail replay).
Great new game from Nitrome. Will check it out on my phone.
Erm, it's not by Nitrome, though the art style does remind me of some of their classics. It's definitely worth checking out.
I agree with imtherealeggman. Totally unplayable on a browser.
Good game!
Ha ha, nice game! I think to try it myself as soon as possible. Sounds promising, although lacking a little graphic, but the idea itself of the game matters most. Until then I want to finish all angry birds games from the internet. I'ma big fan on these kind of games.
Update