Lightomania is a lively Windows Phone puzzle game that has you bouncing and shooting fuzzy little creatures where they can gobble up a hanging light. You'll bounce the fuzzy creatures off each other and navigate around an assortment of obstacles and dangers to get to the light bulb.
Available for low-memory devices, Lightomania is full of colorful animations and challenging puzzles to conquer. The game has seen a fair amount of success on other platforms and in playing Lightomania over the past few days; I can see that success carrying over to the Windows Phone version.
Lightomania does not bother with a complicated main menu offering options to jump into game play and to access the game's settings. The settings button will reveal access to the following:
- The game's Facebook page
- The About screen
- A button to reset your game progress
- Language settings
- A mute button
- The how-to section
The storyline with the game has you controlling two fuzzy little creatures who are addicted to light and plan to steal all the light bulbs they can find. They just need your help to do so.
Lightomania currently has 102 gaming levels that are spread across five gaming packs. You begin your gaming quest with the Tutorial Pack that has six levels of play that will get you acclimated with the gaming controls. Lightomania isn't a difficult game to pick up but has enough hurdles to overcome to keep things challenging.
Game Play
The game screen has your two fuzzy thieves placed in various locations, a few lightning bolts scattered about that need to be collected and your light bulb dangling from the top of the screen. Across the top of the gaming screen is a hint button, a reset button and a pause button.
Along the bottom of the screen is your move counter and the number of lightning bolts collected. Collect enough lightning bolts within the move limits and you'll earn wings and advance to the next level.
The goal of each level is to collect as many of the lightning bolts as possible and eventually have one of your fuzzy thieves eat the light bulb. You launch your fuzzy creature by stretching its tongue and releasing it like a rubber band to send it sailing across the game screen.
The mechanics of doing so calls on you to tap/hold your finger on one of the creatures and slide your finger backwards. A trajectory shadow will appear to help you gauge your shot and when all is lined up, just release your finger from the screen to launch your creature.
The path to the light bulb is rarely a straight shot, requiring a little strategy on your part to use both fuzzy creatures to work as a team to accomplish your goals. The thieves can bounce off one another for added height, you have sticky panels that you can bounce to and from. There's even a wheel that you can stick your characters to then spin them into position for the next move.
Other obstacles to navigate around or to avoid include buckets that serve as portals that will send you from one side of the screen to another, spiked platforms and stacks of soup cans that block the light bulb.
Should you get stumped with a gaming level, the hint button will roll a black and white video of how to solve that particular level. You get one hint with the game and in-app purchase opportunities are available to buy more.
Overall Impression
Lightomania has a lot of things going for it and I can understand why the game is so popular on other platforms. The puzzles are challenging, graphics and animations well drawn up and game mechanics will not get you frustrated.
The game does remind me of the Cut The Rope series of games but the tag-team approach the two fuzzy thieves offer helps the game stand out. I also like the small things that help give Lightomania character such as the facial expressions on the fuzzy creatures and that they will slowly fall asleep if you take too long to make a move.
All in all, Lightomania is an addictive and entertaining game that is well suited to help you pass short bits of time with or for those occasions you want to spend a little more time gaming. The trial version will let you play Lightomania through the Tutorial Pack and the first six levels of the next gaming pack.
Lightomania is currently rated at 4.5 Stars in the Windows Phone Store, which is spot on.
