Solbot: Energy Rush Review

Simplicity can be the best way to go with certain games, it’s ok for the core mechanics to be easy to learn without being difficult to master and sometimes a simple story is all you need. 

Solbot: Energy Rush is a prime example of simplicity in both idea and execution. The story is very straight forward, you control a robot flying through space whose job is collecting energy orbs, once Solbot collects enough energy orbs the robot will distribute the renewable energy to the people. 

The game’s story also brings awareness about renewable energy and even offers tips for saving energy and even links to energy cautious sites if players want to learn more. 

The game is fairly short, with 50 levels that can be beaten within a few minutes, this makes Solbot a great pick up and quick play game. The short length is justified by the game’s repetitive gameplay, there are only two different sections, collect the orbs and dodge the lasers.

The gameplay consists of players collecting a certain number of orbs that match the color of Solbot while avoiding the other colors. Hitting the wrong color just once will cause Solbot to explode, along the way players can pick up five different power-ups, they don’t really change the game in an impactful way with the exception of the magnet. 

Solbot can be controlled with one hand, the character can only move left and right to avoid obsticles, by taping on the left or right side of the screen Solbot will move one space as if there is an invisible lane that he must adhere to. 

The game is very forgiving and doesn’t punish players for messing up, players will start with a small number of keys that can be used to continue if Solbot is destroyed, this allows players to pick up immediately where they blew up and loose none of their progress. If players use up all of their keys the game will offer an ad to watch in exchange for a key, again allowing players to continue with no lost progression. 

Solbot: Energy Rush doesn’t have microtransaction, so players are not limited to a timer or need to worry about the game cheating to lure them into spending money for coins. The only annoying thing with this lies with the ads, they are always on screen, when the ads are flashing and moving at the bottom of the screen it can be distracting at times. 

Another annoyance is with the HUD, playing on a phone with a notch is probably the worst way to experience Energy Rush, the notch cuts off the HUD that shows what level you’re on and the level’s timer. The game is still perfectly playable without the HUD, but it’s very noticeable. 

Solbot: Energy Rush is a serviceable game that doesn’t do enough to stay interesting, but does simplicity well and can be played by all ages. 

This review is based off of the final code provided by the publisher.

Played on iPhone Xs Max. Solbot: Energy Rush is also available on Android