Treemaker: Swing around the levels and plant your way to freedom!
You may have seen or heard about this beautiful 3D game on the iPhone already – now all Android users can join in and feel the fun from this soothing puzzle game!
Gameplay: You control a black treemaker creature who’s able to cast a branch out where you tap on the screen. A second tap will cause you to cut the rope. If you drag and swipe on the screen whilst you’ve casted a rope then you’ll increase the swinging speed. Using all these mechanisms you can fly around the levels of this physics game. The aim is to collect all the seeds.
Initial thoughts: The game is very stylish and artistic. The beautiful silhouette of the creature and the trees upon the gentle gradiented backgrounds is enough to wow most people. Perhaps what really creates the relaxing atmosphere is the gentle tonal music which is very easy on the ears.
The good parts: Treemaker is a fab little puzzle game which trains your ability to learn a new skill and adapt your techniques. There’s a clean and simple tutorial at the beginning which guides you through the game (but make sure you read the text otherwise you won’t know about how to increase your momentum in swings… like me). Once you get into the swing of it then can focus on the problems and train your skill at planting your roots efficiently to get your three stars.
Rustling through the leafy levels isn’t too taxing initially and if you ever get stuck it’s because you’re not used to the Tarzan feel of things or you’re being too ambitious. But the real challenge is trying to get all the three stars. It’s not easy (and not clear)… We think it’s dependant on the number of roots you throw out. The less you throw out then the more likely you’ll get the three stars.
So far from our brief play testing we’ve found it to be a great time killer. Sometimes you can get a round when you just have to keep practising a particular swing and the difficulty is just enough to keep you occupied for 5 to 10 minutes on the difficult rounds.
Some negatives: We don’t like pointing out bad things about games, but apart from the color changes in the different stages, it seems like there isn’t very much variety. The techniques to solving problems are different, but the core of the game is the same. I would have thought that there could be many more powerups or special actions to add more depth to the game. A last gripe is that the levels are quite short.
Rating: 3.5/5 Treemaker is a gorgeous little puzzle game but could do with some more depth to spice up the levels and give more variety. Definitely worth downloading to play though because it’s free!
Treemaker Promotional Youtube Video
Treemaker tips from Android Games Review
There are a couple of core ways to navigate the rounds. One is to pull yourself upwards and cut the branch very soon so you fly through the air with your inertia. The other way is to go through in a calm and controlled fashion where you build up your speed in your swing and do precision lands.
Completing the rounds within the allocated number of branches is easy. But getting the three gold stars is difficult. You need to be very creative with your swinging… try and break down your methods and think of the different ways where you can optimise your swings.
Treemaker QR Code
(Click on the images below or scan the barcode with your Android phone to goto Google Play)
Developer: Mikrotie
