Eye on iOS: Volume 8
Help Volty
Bugs may be creepy in real life, but they’ve proven to be surprisingly endearing adventure game protagonists (Bad Mojo, Insecticide, anyone?) A bug is the titular star of Tvndra’s arcade puzzler Help Volty as well, though if you’re at all concerned about bulging compound eyes and six hairy arms, rest assured that Volty is not the least bit repulsive. He’s a beetle-like mechanical critter who has unfortunately found himself caught in a mysterious merchant’s game box, and in order to free him, you must guide Volty though twelve danger-filled puzzles and minigames.
That’s really all the story there is. There’s no explanation for who the merchant is or why he’s trapped poor Volty, or even why you really care to help him escape. As a premise, it’s just a bare-bones starting point for the dozen puzzling scenarios the game has to offer. And even that much has to be discovered through trial-and-error. The hunchbacked, hooded merchant says nothing, but clicking his puzzle box launches a close-up view. Insert a coin into a gaping slot, a dial spins, and suddenly you’ll see little Volty creeping out of a hole into a steampunk-ish puzzle arena to face his first challenge.
The first assignment serves as a basic introduction. Simply tap and hold the screen in the direction you want to want Volty to move. Lift your finger and he’ll stop, so expect to leave plenty of smudge marks as you continually guide him through his trials. As his name implies, Volty is able to generate an electrical charge by pressing the button on his back, which you’ll need in order to power up critical devices along the way. It all sounds harmless, and at first it is, though not for long. Soon you’ll encounter enemies that have but one purpose running counter to yours: stop Volty. Unfortunately, they’re all electrocution-proof, so you can’t defeat them, only avoid them while trying to accomplish your current task. That’s easier said than done, as one touch and you’re dead, and Volty is a plodding little fellow. Why couldn’t this game be “Help Jiminy Cricket”?
The objectives vary quite at bit as you go along. All while dodging enemies, you’ll need to release other bugs from their traps, nudge component parts into place (as a beetle, you can’t pick up and carry items), race (as well as you can) to escape deadly grids, aim and shoot cannons, traverse an intermittently-lighted maze, orchestrate a musical pattern, and even climb aboard a model train. Many obstacles require experimentation just to figure out the goal and learn what the new components do. In one scene, for example, you must “collect” floating balls of energy to power up a switch, but in another, similar blobs attach themselves to you and weigh you down, making enemy evasion nearly impossible. Oh, and those two gadgets on either side of a single screen prompt a Volty-frying laser when passed. Who knew?
With no instructions of any kind and danger always lurking close at hand, progress in Help Volty is often a matter of learning through failure. That’s not my favoured approach at the best of times, but it’s made worse here by limited tries. Upon successfully completing each new level, you’ll earn three coins to access the next. At a cost of one coin per death, it’s easy to run out on the tougher, later levels, sending you back to the previous stage to get more. The game throws you a bone by introducing a spare coin somewhere during your third and final attempt at a given level, but even reaching that in time isn’t always a gimme.
Granted, with only twelve challenges to overcome, this would be an extremely short game if not for the added risks, but padding play time with forced restarts is hardly a worthy alternative. I’d have liked to see at least the option to remove the coin limitation, but there will surely be many puzzle-lovers who would rather dispense with the opponents altogether. Their presence raises the tension along with the stakes, but it’s debatable how much benefit this adds to most of the levels, particularly since Volty is totally defenseless and controlling him can feel like an exercise in moving in sludge. And when Volty is joined by other electrical friends, several times you need to touch all of them at the same time – in one scene there are as many as FIVE at once (with a timer ticking down, no less).
Other than the opening moody market scene, the entire game takes place inside the game box. While never differing too radically, each round has its own combination of grainy, knotted wooden panels, torn stickers, peeling paint, metal engravings, rusted equipment, and hi-tech devices. It’s hardly a scenic environment, but the graphics are nicely detailed and polished. The ambient music changes with each level, and while you won’t be tapping your beetle tarsi to their beats, they provide a pleasant enough backdrop for the action. Some seem a little more cheerful than the circumstances would dictate, but anything more sombre would be too dreary in this game.
Created by three indie Dutch developers and released exclusively for iPad (along with a free introductory version), Help Volty is a reasonably entertaining diversion between more substantial offerings. With no story, lots of failure, and a healthy dose of tension, it’s perhaps best played in small doses, but that makes it suitable to a mobile platform. And for all its somewhat unnecessary frustration at times, there’s also something mildly addictive about its super-streamlined approach and simplistic mechanics. A hard-won victory towards the end of the game might elicit a “thank goodness THAT’s over”, but it will immediately be followed by a “let’s just take a quick peek at the next one.” There’s nothing so difficult that a little patience and perseverance can’t resolve, so if you’re feeling a little antsy for your next puzzle fix, you might just want to tune your antennae to this little bugger.
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