The Nardio Review

Is it Worth Your Time?

Yes. Sleepwalker’s Journey is an imaginative puzzle game.

(Developer interview coming soon!)

 

What Should I Play it On?

Sleepwalker’s Journey is available to play on the iPhone or iPad. This game really benefits from the big screen so I suggest playing on the iPad.

 

What Did You Think Without Spoiling it?

Sleepwalker’s Journey is a fully realized and delightful puzzle game. Every world that you travel to has it’s own theme and each one is executed perfectly. The beginning world marks the start of your adventure and as you travel along you experience other dreamworlds like an amusement park, haunted mansion and snow kingdom. The graphics and music for each level are on point and really make me feel as though I’m part of the dream. The quirky hand drawn backgrounds have a lot of detail in them, which makes the game that much better. The developers cared about this game, and it shows.

Each level gets progressively harder with newer abilities popping up throughout the levels. Even though you’re more or less going through the same motions, it never gets old. The levels themselves are pretty short and you’ll always have to pay attention. Even though Moonboy, the hero, moves slowly, you need to stay several steps ahead of him in order to complete the puzzles with a gold star. There are some puzzles that are more frustrating than others, but they’re all doable. If you make a mistake, you can always use the rewind button to reset yourself before you made the fatal error. You can beat the game in less than a day though there’s plenty of replay value of all you perfectionists out there looking to get the gold medal for each level. It does get much harder later on, so be forewarned. That being said, it never feels like the game is punishing. It’s frustrating at times, but usually it just takes a couple deep breaths and focus to complete the level.

 

How Does it Play?

Perfectly. There’s no lag whatsoever and the swipe controls are on point. For a game that depends entirely on the timing of the swipes and touches, it would have been an issue if there was any lag. Sleepwalker’s Journey is a puzzle game where you have to help Moonboy get from the start of the map to his bed by manipulating the areas around him so he doesn’t fall off the edge or run into anything. It starts off easy enough in the beginning but later levels will have require you to look far enough ahead so that you can set up the path in time. On the way you collect stars and crescent moons. You don’t lose if you don’t collect everything or arrive to your bed late, you just receive a lower medal. As you progress through each level you have to start doing more than just sliding tiles around. Soon you’ll be riding on a unicycle, shooting Moonboy through cannons and lighting up candles so you can see your next move. It gets a bit hectic towards the end. It’s a good thing Moonboy walks so slow.

 

Why it Works

This game just screams quality. It’s obvious that the developer spent a lot of time polishing this app for release and I’m glad they did. The backgrounds are all amazing and really give you the feeling that you are playing through an actual dream world. The music fits the backgrounds perfectly. Every little detail was worked out right down to the medals. Yes. They might look like simple gold, silver and bronze medals with smiling faces, but if you look closely all the faces are just a little different. It’s this attention to detail and excellent controls that make a great game. The puzzles themselves are a lot of fun and there’s a real sense of progression. Each puzzle gets a little harder by adding more obstacles and trickier routes.

 

No Like?

Sleepwalker’s Journey a pretty short game but it looks like the developer plans on releasing more levels. One can only hope they do so soon!

 

Basic Info

• Cost: $1.99
• Worth: Perfectly priced
• 1 player game
• Universal app
• 63.5 MB
• 1 save slot
• Excellent replay value
• Child friendly. No violence, cussing or nudity
• Continuing developer support and fixes

Weblinks

Game Website –  http://www.11bitstudios.com/games/12/sleepwalker-s-journey

11 Bit Studio Developer Website – http://www.11bitstudios.com

App store – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleepwalkers-journey-hd/id571291096?mt=8