Big Top 10, a new number puzzler released by Bight Games, has recently entered the app store. If you can trace a line and you can count to 10, Big Top 10 is right up your alley.
Big Top 10 is kind of like Word Scramble or Wurdle or WordsWorth, but with numbers instead of letters. Your goal is to trace a contiguous line through the field of numbers until the aggregate total of your line equals 10. The longer your line, the greater the point value. Each grouping of 10 will disappear and be replaced with new numbers to create new possibilities. After some time, negative numbers will begin appearing within the field, allowing for greater opportunity to string together long lines of numbers. A minute timer counts down as you search for groupings. Each one earns points and adds a few seconds back onto your timer. Once it reaches zero, though, you’re done.
As you progress, you’ll also notice special characters, like bombs, appear on the board. The inclusion of a bomb in your number string will result in an explosion that may wipe out more numbers than just those contained in the scoring string. Other special characters include multipliers for point bonuses and time freezes, which stop the countdown time for a brief period. If you don’t like the numbers on the board or are having a difficult time finding a decent grouping, simply shake your iDevice for a fresh board and keep plugging away. Big Top 10 even supports a two-player Versus mode, though both players must be on the same wi-fi network.
Graphically, the game has a strong circus theme running throughout, if you haven’t already guessed by the title. The background styling is reminiscent of old school circus posters, and the font used for the numbers is the same type of font you might expect to see Barnum & Bailey written in. We found the font to be somewhat difficult to read at times, especially for negative numbers. Fortunately, negatives appear in yellow for easy differentiation. Overall, the whole theme is sort of blah and boring, although the gameplay is very fun and engaging. The theme music even has a circus vibe, with trombones featuring prominently in the songs. Tap and drag to create chains of numbers, anywhere from two to as many as you can. A running total is kept in the upper lefthand side, so you won’t have to do too much thinking. Our only complaint is that if we reached our goal of ten, but then saw a better way to incorporate more numbers or utilize a special character, there was no way to back up or undo our progress.
Overall, the game is a lot of fun and certainly worth your time if you enjoy simple number games. We’re not familiar with any other games like this that use numbers instead of words, so it has no real direct app store competition. Its $0.99 price tag is certainly appealing, even if its graphics are not. Big Top 10 racks up a solid 4-Dimple rating.
Big Top 10 gets our AppSmile 4-Dimple rating:
