Feast or Famine Review (iOS)

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MEET GLYPH, THE RUNNING MUNCHING CAVEMAN WITH A REALLY BIG APPETITE

Genre: Arcade / Side Scrolling

Developer: X4 Games
Version: 1.0.4

Modes: Single Player Only

In-App Purchases: In-Game Currency (Bones)
Price: USD0.99

GAME DESCRIPTION

Feast or Famine is a side scrolling arcade style auto running game. You play as Glyph the caveman, desperate and determined to survive in his harsh world. The game takes you through multiple levels where you'll have to avoid traps and enemies while hunting elusive prey, making your way through 2 stages with 20 levels in each, a total of 40 levels. To win each level you'll have to survive throughout the level and reach a platform made of dark stone blocks. If Glyph dies at any point of the level before reaching the stone platform, you'll have to restart the level (with no penalties). The early levels are easy but they quickly gain difficulty.

Glyph runs automatically and continuously till he reaches the end of the level, you will however be able to control his jumps and attacks. Jumping and attacking in Feast or Famine are pretty intuitive, a tap on the right of Glyph will make him jump, tapping and holding makes the jump higher. A tap on the left of Glyph will make him throw his weapon, tapping higher or lower controls the direction of the throw, tapping and holding stops time and you'll be able to take your time lining up your throw with the frozen Bison and Birds. This function also works great as a quasi pause button, especially since the pause button at the top right of the screen can be a little difficult to reach while trying to avoid traps and dying.

Hunting is a necessity in Feast or Famine, the meat-er at the bottom of the screen will deplete while Glyph runs through the level and the running and munching caveman will need to hunt Bison and Birds to replenish his meat-er and he'll starve if you allow it to deplete completely. Glyph's appetite is really big and he'll probably eat his way through a few Bison and Birds by the time you reach the end of the level.

Throwing your hunting weapons cost feathers (seen just above the meat-er), if you run out of feathers, Glyph will automatically replenish them over time, though it does take awhile. Collecting a weapon powerup will fully recharge the feather counter instantly and you'll be able to continue raining spears on the helpless Bison. If you wait a few seconds after your feather counter is full, the feathers will start to glow, the next weapon that Glyph throws will do extra damage.

Glyph has a few Bison and Bird hunting weapons at his disposal, from far reaching throwing Spears to heavy Rocks and even a Raygun. These are either collected during each level in the form of powerups or you can purchase the powerup from the shop and use it at any point in a level.

Speed boosts like slides made of bones or vines hanging from above help Glyph catch up with stampeding Bison. While keeping an eye out for speed boosts to catch up to those tasty Bison, you'll also have to avoid running into pools of water or bees defending their hive as these will slow Glyph down. Running into traps on the other hand, like tar pits and spiky cactus, will kill Glyph instantly. To make things even more difficult for poor Glyph than they already are, invincible roaming enemies like raging bulls and huge giants with clubs will instantly kill Glyph if they get him.

Bones can be collected while playing the game and can be used to buy items in the store like weapon powerups and even a dodo bird that makes you invincible for a short time. You can also purchase Bones with real cash in the shop.

GRAPHICS & AUDIO

Feast or Famine has good graphics reminiscent of cave paintings, we did notice that our stickman hero Glyph does become a little difficult to spot amongst similar coloured obstacles at times. The anxious and insistent tribal music suits the theme of the game well.

REPLAYABILITY

With a 3 star scoring system based on how well you did each level, Feast or Famine has a high replayability level.

CONTROLS

Controls are intuitive, smooth and precise. However, we noticed occasionally that Bison still move, albeit slowly, even though we had stopped time.

STABILITY

The app crashed 3 times while we were playing it, it was however, not laggy or choppy.

IN-APP PURCHASES

1,000 Bones for USD0.99

5,000 Bones for USD2.99

10,000 Bones for USD4.99

Items in the store cost from 250 Bones to 999 Bones. We like that you won't have to spend any money (other than the initial purchase) to enjoy the entire Feast or Famine game. In-App purchases are decently priced.

SHOULD I GET THIS?

You'll probably like this if you like side scrolling arcade style games. This game might be a little tough if you're a beginner gamer.

DISCLAIMER

The product(s) featured in this review were purchased/obtained by ice cream when the sky is grey.