Welcome to the first JAMM interview and review!  We are taking a look at Twice by HeroCraft.  Twice is a puzzle and logic challenge game.  It builds on the simple rules of the classic Memory game, where you need to match two like designs in-order to score points.  Our reviewers took a look at this game for two different mobile operating systems:  Peter on Windows Mobile and Iris on Blackberry.  I’ll ask the tough questions, and give you all the ins and outs of Twice.

Heather: Thank you both for being here today.  Let’s start with something easy, how do you play the game?

Iris: It is so wonderful to be here.  Twice  plays just like a traditional memory game.  You need to flip the tiles, and match two of a kind.  Find all of the matches, and complete the level.  However, every time you mismatch a pair, one of the little green squares on the upper left-hand side of the screen falls.  Once they are all gone, then the game is over.

Peter: Always fabulous to talk to you, Heather.  Twice has three different game modes.  One has you race against the clock (Agile), another gives you only a limited amount of attempts(Smart), and the third has no limits at all (Sly).  So, you can have high stress or no stress. Getting past the shell and settings for Twice, it was actually well optimised for windows mobile. Twice is fully controllable through the d-pad on the phone, as well as the touch screen. Even on the Tilt, the tiles were large enough to manipulate with a finger.  All three game play modes worked equally as well.  There is no reason to have to pull out a stylus to play this game, and on a WinMo smartphone, all of it should happily work from the keypad.

Iris: When playing the timed version of Twice, you have to keep an eye on the leaves.   They fall off of the gold vine at the top left of the screen.  When you have no leaves left, you’re done!

Heather: Iris, would this game have been easier with a touchscreen?

Iris: Twice definitely would have been better with a touchscreen, but then again, so would everything else on the Blackberry Curve.

Heather: Getting into the nuts and bolts of things, what did you think of the graphics and music?

Iris: The graphics are too small.  I think it would be better if the squares were a little bit bigger.  Plus, the green background, that I suppose is supposed to be some sort of grass or leafy background, comes off as green corduroy.  The gold blocks against the green background didn’t flow well for me.

Peter: Even though  the game functioned graphically well, the look was well, Iris put it best when she said “green corduroy” . The graphics weren’t inspiring, and the soundtrack? I think as this is supposed to be a memory training game, the ploy with the soundtrack may have been to make it as annoying, and unsavoury as possible, to add to the concentration demands of the game. Wishful thinking on my part, it’s just annoying, and I don’t know who it would appeal to.  Is there a society for the appreciation of elevator muzak?

Heather: Well, its obvious that there is some room for improvement in the graphics and music department.  What about the game itself, was it challenging?  Do you think it accomplishes its goal as a memory trainer?

Peter: I’d have to say No and No.  Playing Twice, I lost interest in it very quickly. It was much less addictive than the native bubblebreaker app on WinMo. I got through about 7 levels in the sly game mode before I thought this has become random, and is not based on any sort of memory theory. The more mistakes you make in the sly mode, the quicker you lose lives. The only problem I had with that, I didn’t think it fit with the memory training genre.

Iris: I agree. It was a little challenging, not crazy challenging, but challenging.  Of course, the challenge would have been more enjoyable with better graphics and a touchscreen.

Heather: We have hit on the negatives, but what did you like the best about Twice?

Peter: What became the best feature for me, in retrospect, was the  Sly game.   It was the only gameplay level where I felt challenged. Even though this level of the game seems the most random, it was actually the one I played the most.

Iris: There are 3 choices of game play, which was mentioned earlier, Sly, Agile, and Smart.  Sly being the easiest.  Agile being timed, but not necessarily the hardest. I felt Smart is the hardest, because it starts with more bricks than any of the other two levels.  I would say the best feature would be Agile level, because it was the most challenging one.

Heather: It looks like the two of you will need to battle it out over which mode is the best.  Now, if you had the magical powers to improve this game, what would you change?

Iris: I would change the size of the blocks, – or at least have less complicated graphics on the given boxes.  Plus, the green background needs to be changed.  The green and gold combination creates eye strain for the player.

Heather: What about you, Peter?  What would you change?

Peter: Twice is  a great game, it just doesn’t offer anything new to themarket. The graphics let the app down.  A slicker user interface would help, but a more developed, gameplay interface would be best.  For a game that is supposed to be an intelligence builder, it is in need of an upgrade!

Heather: Finally, and most importantly, what do you think of me?

Iris: Too wonderful for words

Peter: Smart and insightful

*Disclaimer:  that last question may or may not have actually been answered by Iris and Peter

In conclusion, it appears that Twice is a good start, but needs to be tweaked a bit in order to make it an excellent game.

Pros:  Choice of 3 different games

Cons:  Graphics, music, and more challenging levels

I would like to thank my two guests Iris and Peter for being here today.  I would also like to thank the people at HeroCraft for providing copies of Twice to Peter and Iris.

Twice is available at HeroCraft for Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm, iPhone/iTouch, and Blackberry.  Prices vary from $5.95 to $0.99 depending on operating system.

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