We've got endless runner games, endless jumper games and now an endless surfer game. Soaper Coaster takes you to the world's longest bathtub for a challenging game where you must provide a steady supply of waves to guide a rubber duck over, under and past various bathtub hazards. You've got your common hazards such as hair dryers, frayed wires, soap dishes and then you have the not so common hazards such as enemy rubber ducks armed with laser canons.
Available for low-memory devices, the game includes upgrades for your duck to increase its awesomeness and an online leaderboard. It may take you a few tries to get used to the controls but overall Soaper Coaster isn't a bad time waster of a game.
Rub a dub dub, one duck in a tub
Soaper Coaster has no-nonsense main menu with options to start a game, mute the sound/music and launch a secondary menu. The secondary menu has options to visit the game's store, view the leaderboard, access the settings and view the gaming credits. The settings menu is somewhat redundant with controls to adjust the sound and music levels or mute them all together.
As you play Soaper Coaster you will earn gaming coins that can be used in the store to purchase power-ups for your duck. The perks include a jet pack, magnetic backpack (to attract coins), turbo boosts and more. You can also remove the ad-support with a coin purchase or a $1.49 in-app purchase.
When you are ready to jump into game play, just return to the main menu, tap/hold the screen, your duck will fall from the top of the screen and you are off to the races.
Game Play
The game mechanics with Soaper Coaster may take you a few tries to get the hang of. When you tap/hold the screen a wave will be generated in the tub. Slide your touch higher up the screen and the wave will rise accordingly. The key to success is keeping your duck above the water line and avoid the many dangers that will come your way.
Dangers include soap dishes, frayed electrical cords, faucets, hair dryers, enemy rubber ducks armed with laser canons, enemy sharks that fire rockets at you and more.
You also have waterfalls that will disrupt your waves which you will have to jump across. This is one of the trickier moves with Soaper Coaster and may cause the most frustration. Theoretically you'll need to raise your wave high above the water and pick it back up immediately after the waterfall at water level. This will allow your duck to jump (or drop) past the waterfall and resume its journey.
The game isn't simply about seeing how far you can send your duck down the tub. You will have clusters of coins to collect as you duck and dodge all the dangers and the game has missions or goals for you to work towards. Goals such as collecting a certain amount of coins, traveling a set distance, survive a shark attack, etc. These missions come in clusters of three and when you complete all three, you will be rewarded with extra coins or gear and your duck will climb up the ranks.
Overall Impression
Soaper Coaster joins the ranks of the dozens of endless journey games that are simple, challenging and fun games to pass the time with. Again, it may take you a few runs to get used to the mechanics of the game but the game's addictive quality keeps pulling you back in.
The biggest issue I had with Soaper Coaster is where to place my finger without it getting in the way. It has to be placed in front of the duck but too far to the right of the screen and your finger blocks the warning signs of oncoming dangers. Too close to the duck and you clutter up your view of the duck. I'm finding placing my finger about a quarter of the way in from the right works best.
Overall, Soaper Coaster is a fun game for your Windows Phone and not too shabby of a time waster.
- Soaper Coaster – Windows Phone 8 and 7.x – Free – Store Link
