Alice in Bomberland, Sonic Boom’s twisted take on the classic Alice in Wonderland, has hit the app store. Though an interesting concept, we can only come to one conclusion: little girls and explosives just don’t mix.
Alice in Bomberland wends its way through the Lewis Carroll novel, but in ways that you may not be familiar. Evidently, this story is dynamite… literally! In order to determine the correct retelling of her tale, Alice must traverse through 48 chapters, unlocking each subsequent chapter, along with characters and abilities. Each chapter has a target score that Alice must reach without dying. Alice achieves this goal, in part, by collecting the lost pages of her story. Of course, she must do this while avoiding the bombs and dynamite that come at her from all directions. Alice has 4 hearts worth of health, and it appears that suffering the effects of an explosion reduces her health half-heartedly, so to speak. Safe passage to the next chapter restores her full health, which she’ll need to fend off the next wave of explosives.
There is little in the way of options or instructions. All you need to know is explained through the story excerpts you’ll receive between levels. These should be viewed, as they often explain Alice’s new abilities or the purpose of new objects she will encounter in the next chapter. They can be skipped, however, if you don’t feel like reading along. The controls are touch-based, with tiny left/right arrows at the bottom left of the screen and tiny up/down arrows at the bottom right. At times, this split control scheme can be confusing and we sometimes drifted inadvertently from the controls. The music is pretty good, appropriate for this type of game. The graphics are also nice, done in storybook fashion. Gameplay, however, just felt repetitive and somewhat boring. There wasn’t much challenge and there is something disconcerting about bombs detonating in the vicinity of little girls. It doesn’t really draw you in, and the less-than-perfect controls don’t help.
We’re not sure if this game is directed at a younger crowd, but its concept, while intriguing on paper, just doesn’t seem appropriate or enjoyable when brought to fruition. Replayability is limited, with no real leaderboards, timed levels, or the like. In fairness, a “major update” is on its way, though we are unsure what this will entail. We did feel that the $1.99 price tag was justified, given the number of levels and the care taken in creating the visual art. Unfortunately, it’s just not a title that seems to generate a buzz or any real desire to play beyond the initial attempt. Alice in Bomberland fizzles out for a 3-Dimple score.
Alice In Bomberland gets our AppSmile 3-Dimple rating:
