Android Games Review: Tap ‘n’ Crash (t4ils)

Tap ‘n’ crash – a lovely little addictive and yet frustrating jumping game for your Android mobile. 

This is a compelling instant action leaping game which will test your skill and judgement in getting a super meat boy-like character to the end of the level without crashing.  In the Android game description it says: “Tap ‘n’ Crash is very hard! And that’s its main point of interest. If you find it too hard, then the game doesn’t fit you.” … um… yeah… that actually does sum it up nicely!

Gameplay: An ickle block slides along the ground and every time you tap on the screen then it’ll jump over the obstacles in your way.  Make sure you get past the hurdles though otherwise you’ll need to redo that track or level again.  The aim is to get to the end of each level whilst dying as few times as possible.  Various types of jumps exist for different levels, for instance you can perform high jumps, double jumps or even glide!  There’s a variety of different shaped rectangles to leap over, and in the later levels you can bounce off some shapes.  66 challenging levels have been given and they’re split into 6 worlds – good stuff for a free production!

Gripping stuff: This is a pretty intense game and that’s what makes Tap ‘n’ Crash fun to play.  In fact one reviewer commented that they can’t play while pooping because they tense up too much! … yes admit it… you play games whilst on the bog too.  Joking aside though, when you’re in the mood for a challenge then this game is perfect… and yet annoying at the same time because some sections are incredibly difficult!

When we started our play testing, we tried to get max star on all the stages.  But very soon we realised how foolish we were and just tried to get through the levels.  After you pass all the levels in a world then you unlock the ‘relentless’ mode where you drive yourself insane trying to pass all the levels in one continuous go.  After you complete this, then number of times you died gets posted online and you can see where you come in the world rankings.

There’s something about the game finish makes it appealing – the fully animated components combined with the gentle background sounds feed your mind and get you in the mood for fun.  It’s a bit unfortunate that I personally don’t like the font style.  But menu aside, the sounds in game are just right so they’re not annoying at all.  Oh and the particle effects that come out when you crash are pretty cool!

Verdict: 3/5  A great game that’s definitely worth playing, but do follow the suggestion in the Android Market description: if you find it too hard then it’s probably not a game for you.  This production worked fine on our test devices and in fact we felt that perhaps it worked too well because the game ran really fast!

If you like a challenge then this game is a 4 star.  But we’ve marked the stars down slightly because we need to take the greater public into account… and honestly speaking – it’s a bit too tough for a casual gamer.  As it is, playing this game actually tires you out because it needs so much concentration!  We’d like to see it have some sort of easier level setting where the game can be slower or the tracks have slightly more jumping range for the player.

Tap ‘n’ Crash Youtube Video
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpDXpekPL88]

Tap ‘n’ Crash Tips from Android Games Review:

  • If you’re finding that you’re dying a huge number of times, then try adjusting the zoom.
  • If you encounter a really frustrating level – don’t give up.  Stop playing and rest.  Just remember to come back to play, and the next time you try you should find that you’ve subconsciously figured out the solution.
  • The glide is a bit weird – you can activate it anywhere whilst you’re in mid-air.  This means you can trigger it whilst you’re still going upwards in your jump.  In other words you’re preventing yourself from jumping too high (you need this for one of your levels)
  • The jumping windows are really narrow – sometimes you need to be absolutely perfect with your timings.  So try and find out what helps you with your jumps e.g. use the grass or background to help you.  However, bear in mind that the grass appears in random places and can throw you off too.

Tap ‘n’ Crash QR Code
(Click on the image or scan the barcode with your phone to goto the Android Market)

Developers: t4ils

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