Review: Bubble Filler
Score:
84%
One of the classic arcade games is Qix, where you have to move your cursor around, creating rectangles and filling up the playing field. Hit a pre-defined percentage and you'll clear the level. The key is to do that safely and not be killed. But can it be updated for a smartphone and changed from rectangles to circles? Bubble Filler is about to answer that question.
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Nowadays we live in a world where the idea of a cursor is diminished and phones no longer have joysticks (or even keys), the finger has replaced all of that. So what happens to the Qix style game? Well, you could use the tilt sensors on the smartphone platforms, you could put a virtual D-pad on the screen, or you could do what Visual Dreams have done with Bubble Filler. And use a finger.
With most of the screen making up the game grid, all the player has to do is touch the screen and a bubble appears. Hold your finger down and the bubble grows (with a delightful "pppppfffffff" sound effect). Cover enough of the screen with multiple bubbles and you pass the level and move on to the next.
Nope, it's not that easy. For a start, there are bouncing balls in the field, and if these touch a bubble that is still inflating then the bubble pops and you don't fill up anything. Given that you have a limited supply of bubbles to complete a level, this gets awkward because as you progress, more bouncing balls will be thrown into each level, leaving you less space to inflate big bubbles - so balancing the ease of small bubble creation with the limited resources is the key building block of the game.
Oh and there's physics as well, so your bubbles are going to roll around, be nudged by the bouncing balls, push each other and settle to the ground, subtly changing the gaming landscape as you play.
You do have some advantages. Just because you have touched one part of the screen to start a bubble does not mean you have to stay there - by dragging your finger you can drag the inflating bubble around the screen. This is going to be needed at later levels to inflate to a decent size while avoiding the bouncing balls, and adds a bit more tactical thinking.
Because this isn't a reactionary arcade game, you are going to need to think and stay calm. There is no time limit to play, so you can simply wait until the balls are in a good position for you to make your move. But asking a gamer to sit still and wait... that's tough.
You do have some extra toys to play with, but they are very limited. If you run out of bubbles, you do have the option to use a "life" to get an extra ten bubbles to finish a level, and you also have a stopwatch which will stop the bouncing balls and let you inflate around them (but only till you inflate too much and pop a bubble, then momentum returns). Interestingly, these don't reset when you start a game, but you earn one extra toy as you continue to play - it might take many games to get awarded an extra life, so you'll need to think carefully when you want to use it.
Tie all of this together not only with a score system, but also a list of achievements to complete (pop 250 bubbles, finish level 10, complete the first level in just two bubbles, etc.), and Bubble Filler is suddenly given a lot of longevity for a short game. That's smart game design. And the design is not wasted with the graphics or speed, because this is a nippy game, with no obvious slowdown, even at the later levels with a huge amount of physics and trajectory calculation going on. It looks smart too, with enough shading to give the bubbles and balls a sense of solidity, and the changing colour tinges for the background give a nice visual delineation between levels.
In short, this is a really good idea, programmed well, and one that's perfect for the small touchscreens you find in a smartphone. I like it, and think many of you will as well.
-- Ewan Spence, Sept 2011.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at