Written by Jaymes Carter
Every every now and then, a totally refreshing game lands within the Play Store. ?The key word in the last sentence is lands. Simply because it is exactly what the main character, The Sleeping Prince, accomplishes in the game. He ends up landing on platforms, beds, bouncing plants, and a cadre of other places to help his kingdom. With excellent ragdoll physics, Signal Studios, the game developer, with partner Tilting Point, have created a lush world with this puzzle/platformer to succeed in many ways. The Sleeping Prince has become available to download in the Play Store and the Amazon App Store, and it shouldn’t be missed.
Update: April 17th, 2015 9:31am PST: The Sleeping Prince has become officially a premium game. Now you can download this game for $1.99 there are no IAPs at all. We’ve updated google’s Play link at the end of this article to the new premium version.
Signal Studios is based is based in Seattle. They’ve created games for consoles, PC and mobile platforms. Previous titles that they have created that you might know about are Toy Soldiers and Ascend: Hand of Kul. Their most recent title, The Sleeping Prince, is an excellent melange of platforming and puzzle elements. Within the opening sequence from the game, you find out from the Great Wizard Plushkin from the Cloudreach Kingdom, who’s as communicative as Charlie Brown’s teacher, the whole kingdom is under an evil spell by Sydney Slime. Most people are asleep in a peaceful slumber. The spell hasn’t affected the wizard, so he enlists your help, to be able to aid the dominion, and save Princess Leona. There’s just one catch… you are asleep too.
The game tutorial is straightforward, much like the controls. However, successfully mastering the controls, will require a little bit of effort. Hanging around you are collecting gems and stars to aid you inside your quest. Acquiring the gems and stars is accomplished by swiping the Prince in the direction you’ll need him to maneuver. Short swipes move him shorter distances, while long swipes can be used for larger jumps. You also have the option in some places, where you stand required to hold the Prince in place, to be able to completely control his movement, rather than sending him flailing in a certain direction. Have I pointed out the ragdoll physics are fantastic? It receives a little tricky sometimes because your swipe can do a lot, however, you have to plan it. Sometimes, you hope your swipe allows your character to make the perfect arc, or find a specific platform. I am impressed by the controls. They work nicely and therefore are efficient in their implementation. The challenge is trying to not overshoot a place with the length of your swipe. So what can also be a little frustrating, is getting stuck, bouncing between platforms. It seems like you are kept in a cycle, as you are watching your expected time to complete the level drain away.
“Throw the Sleeping Prince around look around the castle, towers and gardens. Attack dangerous enemies, avoid deadly traps, and solve clever puzzles. Enjoy smooth and intuitive physics-based gameplay.” Signal Studios/Tilting Point
Each level has three goals that must be met. Should you accomplish all the goals, you get a gold medal, two goals, silver medal and something goal, bronze medal. The goals to satisfy are: finishing the amount in under a specific amount of time, collecting the three stars on the level, and picking up the necessary quantity of gems. It all seems easy, until you realize that those stars can be hidden in certain pretty tricky places. The game design in the levels are uncommon, as well as the apparatuses that are accustomed to assist you to navigate the level. You will find beds, stretched fabric, plants, hooks along with other items, to assist the Sleeping Prince get from an area to a different. Power-ups become available as you play through the game… and they really help. You will find 40 levels for you to conquer. Obtaining gold and silver medals help unlock later levels/areas.
The art in the game is impressive. Between the unique level design and also the graphics, Signal Studios has established an environment that is lush and royal. There’s a great amount of detail in the artwork, ?also it enhances, exactly what is a really fun and challenging game to experience. The music, which was developed by Barry Dowsett of Soundrangers, accompanies the Sleeping Prince’s journey throughout the levels. You can tell the collaboration between the composer and also the design team was a successful one.
The Sleeping Prince is integrated with Google Game Play Services with 28 achievements to unlock and leaderboards. Exactly what is a tiny bit curious, is the fact that there appears to be no cloud saving implemented at this time. I played several levels on my phone, after which went to play the game on my tablet, and that i was back at the outset of the sport. It’s not a large problem, but definitely something should know, if you like to visit involving the devices like I actually do. Also, this is something that probably really should not be too difficult to apply, since the game is already using Google Action Services. Granted, the game just came out yesterday, so an update could already be in the whole shebang. Another thing that is a little bit weird, is that when you finish an amount, it requires you back to the first splash screen, so you have to hit play again, after which pick the level you want to play. I am not sure why occurring, it just seemed a little odd, and delayed me from getting back into the action faster.
In a fascinating twist, The Sleeping Prince will be free-to-play for the month of December. Next, it will be transitioning to a Premium Paid app. It would appear that when the game was launched on iOS earlier this year, the feedback the game community provided was positive, however they did not like the energy system and in-app purchases that launched with the game. The game community felt it hampered the sport play experience. Kudos to Signal Studios and Tilting Point for listening to the gaming community, to help make their product better. I don’t know how all this is going to be implemented in the Play Store, but now is the best time for you to provide the game a go.
There are lots of physics-based puzzler/platformers within the Play Store. However, The Sleeping Prince works in the implementation of their controls, the initial game play/mechanics (Un-Angry Birds like projectile-based tossing in some ways), great graphics, music, puzzles and platforming. I’m glad to determine it within the Play Store, and will continue to enjoy playing it. Another nice thing about the sport, is it is straightforward enough to be played by younger children, and challenging enough to hold the attention of more seasoned gamers. Because the game is completely free to download for the month of December, without any in-app purchases whatsoever, now is the time to check it out. Though we do not understand what the premium price will be if this switches over, the game’s high production value and upper tier levels of fun, would certainly warrant an order in a reasonable price point when it switches to being a premium paid app.?
Amazon App Store: The Sleeping Prince
The Sleeping Prince (Playboard) | The Sleeping Prince (Play Store)
