App Profile: Icarus - A Star's Journey

Pish posh and all that

Rating: 2/5

Typically I'll try out a game and just delete it if I don't like it. I think it's important to give feedback in this case however. The game is fun. It's challenging, and just difficult enough to be engaging and enjoyable. I'm disappointed with the number of video ads that are shoved in your face after virtually every death (which happens often in a timed advancement game like this). The level of full video ads with hidden skip buttons is aggressive and severely detracts from the experience. I recognize the aim of the game is to drive revenue. But tone it down and I'll continue to play. The number of ads shown in 3 minutes of play was about 11 videos. I ended up putting my phone in airplane mode to skip the ads, but the game crashes and resets some after every 3 deaths as a result of no internet connection. This game could be good, AND drive profits, if you tone down the aggression level. Right now you're going to get about 10 mins average play time. You can increase that by limiting ads to every 10 deaths or so instead of every 2/3. More play time means more long term profits by ad partners. TL;DR: play on airplane mode for better experience unless ads are reduced.

jpsulak

Rating: 4/5

The game is smooth and flows well and is a fun to play to pass time. There's not much to it; you just slingshot the star around obstacles and into each safe haven, collecting what I assume are star bits as you go in order to level up your health. It's pretty much self paced, as the only timer is your health bar which regenerates in each safe zone. This allows for a really good zen game..... except that It shows an ad every other time my health bar goes empty. I'd prefer to see more "watch this ad to continue from where you died" vs "I'm gonna show an ad just because you died". That would make the game better. Fun game; way too many advertisements.

Dr. Steampunk Unicorn

Rating: 1/5

This is one of, if not the best single tap game I've ever played. The gameplay is unique compared to other similar games and is entertaining, but the visuals and sounds are what make it shine. Just listening to the sounds as you play with the peaceful music makes it the perfect game for me. I wish I could rate it 5 stars, but like everyone else is saying, there are just too many ads. Each time I die and an ad pops up the tranquility of the game immediately disappears. It ruins the mood the game is so good at giving, and makes it feel unplayable. I would have rated this game 5 stars if it weren't for how intrusive and mood-killing the ads are. So sadly, I can not recommend this game, as much as I wish I could.