Test device: Nexus One
Android-Version: 2.3.3
Mods: Root
Pyxidis’s gameplay is easy, but mastering the game is complicated.
The goal is to create chains consisting of at least 3 stars of the same colour. The longer the chain, the higher your score.
There’s a bar located at the bottom of the display that informs you about how many stars of a certain colour you still need to collect.
To make the whole thing more challenging, you have to do all of this within a limited amount of time. A small time bar at the top right lets you know how much time you have left. A little word of advice: stay cool, calm and collected, even when you’re nearing the end!
You also have only a limited supply of magical energy, and with every new star connection some of this energy is used up. The bar that shows you how much energy you have left is replenished after a short while, but if you try to do everything in one go it may occur that you can’t make connections, which can be stressful considering that you are playing under time constraint.
You receive a virtual dollar at the end of each round, which you can then encash in the Magic Shop.
The three game modes are:
• Adventure
• Challenge
• Endless
You can use spells in Adventure, but they have to be activated first; collect virtual dollars and stars to activate them.
In order to collect stars a few apps have to be downloaded. There will soon be an in-app-payment option via Google Checkout, as well as – most likely – PayPal.
Spells are useful for when you attempt the more challenging degrees of difficulty. Some spells will buy you more time, others will provide you with more magic energy, or else maximize the distance between stars, etc. Spells have to be used carefully and craftily, so as to optimize their efficiency.
Spells cannot be used in the Challenge mode, but on the other hand connecting stars is faster and easier in this mode than in others. It’s quite a challenge nonetheless, because of the limited amount of time given to complete chains.
The Endless mode can only be activated using stars and virtual dollars. Once that’s sorted the gameplay is pretty much what you’d expect, considering the mode’s name: that is to say, time and energy are unlimited. Hence this mode has aptly been dubbed ‘Relaxed Playing’.
What makes this mode challenging is that you have to work more meticulously and precisely: stars have to be connected in a less forgiving way than in the other modes.
I found the background music to be somewhat annoying: an electronic version of Canon in D Major, otherwise known as ‘Canon Rock’. Mercifully, the music can be switched off (see settings; switching off the soundtrack is the only adjustable setting).
The game is OpenFeint, which can quickly lead to ‘I just spent 2 hours straight playing Pyxidis’ type scenarios. Achievements and high scores can be published and shared with your OpenFeint mates.
Bottom line:
Pyxidis is the kind of game that’s especially fun to play for short periods of time. The degree of difficulty keeps augmenting, meaning that it continuously challenges the player and hence frustration rarely sets in. The gameplay is a simple, but one that will suck you in once you’ve spent a few minutes playing the game.
Andrea Schofield
downloaded it but cannot open as it says screen resolution not supported .htc wildfire