It is hard to know where to start talking about OddBlob…except to say that it is very aptly named.  Just look at the main character in the above picture…that is one odd blob.  Aside from that though, this is a very familiar gaming concept, in an unconventional unique package.  In other words, it looks and feels like nothing you have played before.  Astraware was kind enough to send me a copy for review, and I have not been able to stop playing it since I loaded it from the iTunes App Store.  Let me show you what I found.

The gameplay in this one is should feel pretty familiar.  It is a standard paradigm, which will find you hopping through a tiled maze, making your way from one end of the board to the other.  Now, this would be pretty easy, if not for the fact that there are plenty of obstacles along the way, including bounce tiles, walls, fruits, and disappearing tiles, to name a few.

Right about now, you are thinking, if this is just another game in a crowded field, then why are we even here.  What’s the point of this review?  Well, this is where Astraware shines…as always.  They have taken a familiar game and flipped it upside down.   Rather than the expected fancy, hi-res graphics, Astraware went old school on this one…Claymation.  Yup, that’s right.  The graphics on this one utilize the same technology that brought you Gumby…and so much more.  I have always been a huge fan of Claymation films, and was pleasantly surprised to find it cropping up (for a second time for those of you who remember Platypus) in an Astraware game.  The use of claymation graphics brought a fantastic refreshing change to this popular game style.

Adding to the excitement are the four levels of difficulty and two gameplay modes.  Play in strategy mode to try to gain the highest number of points by hitting bonus tiles and collecting fruits.  Switch to panic mode for even more heart stopping fun.  In panic mode, you will only be given a brief head start before the tiles start falling away behind you.  Better move fast or those tiles will fall right out from under you.  

Regardless of which mode you select, I would be remiss if I did not mention one of my favorite components of the game: CAKE!  Whenever you see a slice of cake sitting on a tile, you know you are in for a bonus, jump on it, and you will be brought to the Cake or Doom mini-maze, in which you must wind your way to either a bonus cake…or certain disaster. 

Finally, as with most Astraware games, there are plenty of in-game awards, not all of which require you to win in order to earn them.  You can even go online with the OpenFeint network in order to compare awards and scores with users from around the world.

Games like this are one of the reasons I was so happy recently when Astraware spun back off from Handmark and became an independent studio again.  Only the creative and slightly warped designers at Astraware could possibly have devised this one.  It is the perfect combination of unique and familiar, which means it feels like a whole new game, but has very little learning curve.  Toss in the ninety-nine cent price tag in the iTunes App Store, and you really have no excuse for passing by this one.

OddBlob was developed by Astraware and is available for $0.99 in the iTunes App Store.