Blot – ink spatter on its way through paper-sketched world
Hardly winning may points for basic originality, Blot features unusual design and an underlying sense of humor. With style alone, the universal cave flyer leaves most of its competition far behind, though failing to stand out in mechanic aspect. All sorts of things – wastelands, trees, helicopters etc – are in fact sketched out on paper and are recombined to build new backgrounds each time you play.
The main character called Blot is actually an ink spatter flying out of a pen in search of paint cans and smudges and in attemp to dodge pencils. Though the artistic theme doesn’t really go hand in hand with coin collection, it’s still carried through pretty far.
Collected coins can be exchanged for a wide range of upgrades, including those that make boost and paint effects last longer, make you magnetic, alert you to approaching boost buddies or double your income. You only can choose one bonus at a time, so you’ll have to decide between going the distance, growing rich or attending to a Game Center achivement.
Apart from coins, Blot is also seeking out boost buddies to absorb and grow. As is getting bigger, it becomes harder to dodge obstacles, but easier to seize coins. Four coins picked up at a time will temporarily make you invisible and hugely boost your speed. Smudges and colorful paint cans scattered along the way also affect direction, speed and magnetism in various, sometimes pretty unexpected ways.
The flyer is teeming with pop-culture references like the “pip-blot 2000” buddy detector or unlockable costumes playing off Star Trek and features a cute soundtrack. Touchscreen controls rely on the familiar scheme where tapping makes Blot rise, while letting go send him falling. One might have to get used to the arc of his movement a little, but nothing has been drastically altered so far.
Though offering no intriguing plot or challenging missions, Blot makes up for its simplicity with a grading system and coin rewards. Coins can be also obtained in-app, with most of what you’d ever need available as a single $2.99 purchase. The game itself is priced at $0.99 and runs on both iPhone and iPad as well as iPod touch.
