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Turn Eggerland into a game show and give Lolo a little ball of explosives, and that’s
basically Man in a Maze for the iPhone.
Actually, give him a coffee mug, too. Just released to the App Store, Man in a Maze
obviously reminds me the NES puzzle game Adventures of Lolo. And if you have fond memories of
defeating King Egger and rescuing the seductive and spherical Lala, Man in a Maze is right
up your labyrinthine alley.
So you play as a guy named Chuck. Chuck is on a game show called Man in a Maze that he
may or may not have actually signed up for. He has to navigate one maze after another—each
one patrolled by robots and turrets capable of zapping him with 20,000 volts—with the
objective...of get the hell out of there.
Yeah, no sh*t, Chuck.
The game is basically a top-down action puzzler. As you collect gems, more gems appear. And
once you collect them all, the exit finally opens. Of course, there’s also money to
collect, enemies to avoid...knives to win. So Man in a Maze is one of those puzzle games
in which...you can do the bare minimum and just race through, or you can explore things
a bit. You could break open crates to see if they’re hiding anything. You can earn
tokens by killing bad guys...which you can use to spin the bonus wheel and earn more
coins. And those coins come in handy for upgrades and new items, like an invisibility cloak.
I’m not responsible enough for an invisibility cloak.
I really like the presentation, too. Man in a Maze looks great, and the game show vibe
really works. The whole concept of, you know...risking your life to maybe win a Blu-ray set...it
struck me as not only funny, but maybe a bit of commentary on commercialism and how it’s
led to rampant materialism.
Or not. Whatever, it’s the Life of Puffins! Puzzle fans looking for a classic experience
with smart gameplay and plenty of depth should definitely take note. Moving your character
could be tightened up a bit, but hey, for 99 cents...you can’t ask for much more.
It’s fun, it’s clever, it’s a bit morbid...it’s Man in a Maze for the iPhone.