The Jolly Gamesman and His Many Toys
Canabalt for the iPhone and iPod Touch
Silhouetted monsters destroy structures in the background as buildings, rubble and bombs collide around you. Your one and only task is to continue forward, running and jumping from building to building, for as long as you can.
This is Canabalt.
Only three times has my gaming gotten in the way of a planned event:
In elementary school, Final Fantasy III on the SNES made me late for class as I couldn’t find a save spot in time.
Years later, I gave my girlfriend $50 on our 9 month anniversary to take a friend of hers out for dinner, so I could play Halo 3 all day and not be disturbed.
This week, I missed two bus stops because I was going for a high score in Canabalt.
Game play couldn’t be any more straight forward. As your character runs forward, he also runs faster. Along the way you will encounter falling bombs and boxes to jump over, along with the buildings you are running on collapsing underneath you, making the leaps and bounds between buildings and into glass windows even more harrowing.
Why you are running, where you are going and what is chasing you is never revealed.
Canabalt has a great score, but it can get repetitive as the short nature of the game will have you listening to the same sample many times. Sound effects are minimal, but it is recommended to use headphones while you play, as there are some subtle hints about the obstructions to come as you continue forward.
Graphics harken back to the 8-bit era with the black and grey pixel art perfectly keeping with the non-descript nature of the title’s plot and goal, and taking nothing away from the experience.
At $2.99 (at the time of writing), Canabalt is the definition of an addictive pick up and play game.
~The Fine Print~
Twitter integration allows you to update your followers about your high scores.
Yup, it’s awesome.
Nice work so far. Thumbs up for Stumble. I played Canabalt. I died. A bird hit me in the face.
Wow. That is stupid addictive.