iOS and Android App games are literally taking over the gaming world. I heard a statistic the other day suggesting that there are more games in application form than have ever been released on a console. Now I’m not sure if this is a fact, but it really would not surprise me. However, the old adage goes, quality over quantity, and you sure do have to sift through a lot of crap before you find a nice little gem hiding in the corner of the app store. One of these gems I have meandered across goes by the name of Dragon, Fly!
If you’ve ever played Tiny Wings on your iPhone, then in essence you have also played Dragon, Fly! The two games are dauntingly similar, but rather than get into a debate about which version is better I will focus my attentions solely on Dragon, Fly! The game is simple, you take on the role of a cute newborn dragon, but you can’t yet fly. You can jump pretty high though, and upon hatching from your dragon egg, you’ve decided that you’ll will make the most of this by jumping and sliding through the hilly landscape until your mother catches up to you and brings you home (shame on you for worrying her!). A straightforward premise then and it’s kind of cute, if baby dragons are your sort of thing. The game mechanics couldn’t be easier either, as there is only one thing you have to do, which is to touch the screen in order to get a good run up for the next jump. There are a few features to make the game a bit more interesting, whereby if you get a few good jumps in a row you initiate fire mode, (come on, it’s a game about Dragons, what did you expect?). You can collect gems to unlock new quests and different color Dragons, which is a nice feature, but I don’t think it will draw you away from the new Mass Effect. Or will it?
When I first downloaded Dragon, Fly! I thought it was fairly gimmicky. I jumped, I landed, Mummy caught me, game over. I played it a few times just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, put it down, and thought that was that. It wasn’t until I looked back at this moment that I realised I’d actually been playing this game through the entirety of Avatar, which was showing on the box at the time. Then it dawned on me, this game has something magic about it. I don’t even remember the opening credits, and I love Avatar, I was just that entrenched in the game. Things didn’t get better from there, and with the added feature of online leader boards, it was a genuinely frustrating experience for those around me to watch my attempts of beating this game, when I was supposed to be paying attention to what was going on in Game of Thrones.
Time would honestly disappear. It is the first Android game that I can ever say I spent hours playing in one sitting, because I could do it anywhere and anytime. I think one time I was up until 4am trying to get the highest score in my region, and I swear it felt like ten minutes. I got into the top ten at one stage; I don’t know where this score sits now, as I had to delete the game after a certain incident…One day, whilst I was on the phone to my wonderful girlfriend, it hit me just how addicted I had become. I had put her on speakerphone, just so I could play whilst I was on the phone. She hated me for this, and I sincerely apologized. I duly proceeded to uninstall the game, but I have missed my baby golden Dragon.The game is addictive, simple, fun and that’s all you really need. It reminds you that a good game doesn’t necessarily have to have stunning visuals or an epic soundtrack, you just need to enjoy the time you spend with it. So if you have a few hours to spare in your day, or just need something to play in order to escape to monotony of everyday life, download Dragon, Fly! It’s free, and it will ruin your world.