IOS Spotlight #34: Polarity

Title: Polarity
Developer: Bluebutton Games
Platforms: IOS Universal, Ouya
Price: $4.99
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With solid mechanics and good touch controls, Polarity finally gives IOS a proper first-person puzzle platformer.

Compared to the genre as a whole, Polarity isn't the most original or innovative or even the best in the genre. We've rotated level, manipulated boxes, lasers, forcefields, activated platforms in other games before. But the genre has always been lacking on IOS and Polarity does it justice with its varied puzzle mechanics. Across twelve levels, you'll be reorienting parts of the environment, swapping your polarity to turn force fields into barriers or carry boxes through, or jumping over gaps while manipulating switches to move platforms. The controls are simple but work: left side moves, right side adjusts the camera, and there are icons for jumping, for actions like picking up boxes and pressing switches, and for switching your polarity. While the camera feels too loose, even on low sensitivity, the overall control scheme is effective for solving the game's challenges.

Polarity isn't the longest experience, but that doesn't mean it's not challenging. Some level can take 15 to 20 minutes and they're all well designed and fun to interact with and solve. You can purchase Polarity for $4.99, and vote for the game on Steam Greenlight. Polarity is also available on Ouya