Apparently chickens can fly, and we're glad they can in the new game Chicken Dynamo. Another entry into the casual side-scrolling category, Chicken Dynamo takes a proven gametype and adds some fun flare while keeping things simple. Similar to popular flying titles like Jetpack Joyride, this game offers gameplay that can be as simple or as challenging as you want to make it.
Read along after the break to see more of what Chicken Dynamo has to offer.
The controls and gameplay of Chicken Dynamo couldn't be simpler. There are no buttons, taps or controls required other than tilting the device from side to side to make you character move up and down. In classic side-scroller fashion, you're being constantly moved along through levels at a decent pace, with both obstacles and coins in your path. Some obstacles -- like the satellites and propellers -- are stationary or aimlessly floating, while others -- rockets and biplanes -- are actively trying to hit you.
As you cruise through the air you try to grab as many coins as possible while trying to of course dodge the obstacles. It's game over if you hit anything, naturally. Scoring is based on both distance traveled and coins collected, so it's in your best interest to focus on both. You get a large number of bonus points for blowing up the rockets that are trying to hit you, and you can do so by flying over other obstacles to get the rockets to crash.
The most interesting mechanic of the game in my opinion is that if you fly off of the viewable screen -- at either the top or bottom -- you'll appear on the other side. This adds a fun and challenging dynamic to the game when you're looking to dodge objects and grab coins. Sometimes there are strings of coins that can only be grabbed this way, and other times you find yourself hitting objects on the top of the screen because you tried to dodge something on the bottom. It's the clever use of this mechanic that makes it feel like it was done intentionally and not just tacked-on.
There are only a few settings to be found in the game -- changing music/sound and the tilt sensitivity -- which is about all you need in a game like this.
There were just two small bugs we found in the game, the first being that it doesn't keep the screen awake when you're playing. For example, if you have your device's display set to dim and sleep after 30 seconds of inactivity, it will dim even when you're in the game. Because Chicken Dynamo doesn't require any tapping on the screen, you can go well over that timer without interacting with the display. A quick fix can surely be implemented for this. Also, we found that the game isn't designed to properly display on 768x1280 displays (like the Nexus 4), but rather only 720x1280 (16:9) ones. This leaves small black bars on the top and bottom of the screen on the few devices with this less-than-standard resolution.
Chicken Dynamo - Tilt and Fly can be found on the Play Store for just $0.99, which is a small price to pay for a fun game with great mechanics, sounds and design. There isn't a free with ads version available, but it's hard to fault the developer for that at this price. I can easily say that the game is worth your hard-earned dollar.
