Bring on the mobile - TripleTown and Paperland

So, for all I post here about games more often than anything else, I don't think I've posted anything to date about mobile games.  Partly because, until very recently, I haven't done much with them, due to the limitations of my cheap phone... partly because, frankly, I haven't been impressed by what I've seen so far.  That's changed a bit, now that I've run into a little slice of evil called TripleTown.

The reason it's called TripleTown is fairly straightforward... a major part of the game play is the sort of match-3 game that's been around for years now.  However, the creators took that idea in an entirely different direction... instead of a filled field of symbols, swapping, and so on, you start with a mostly empty field, and, instead of swapping things around, you're placing semi-random things, which, when matched, combine into an upgraded thing instead of disappearing entirely.  Using this mechanic, the goal is to build as large of a town as you can, building up from grassy fields to bushes, trees, houses, and beyond.  That might be an interesting puzzle on its own, but they also added bears... which you place like any other item, but then moves about on its own, until it's trapped (at which point it dies, leaving behind little gravestone symbols, which combine into churches, which combine into cathedrals, etc.).  This elevates the game from an exercise in how to most efficiently build your town to dealing with a roaming problem that you have limited control over at the same time... and don't even get me started about the ninja bears.

Of course, many fun ideas die a horrible death in the mobile realm, because of the interface.  Here, the makers purposely used a "cute" theme to simplify the display, and hid little-used options away, while still giving access to them through the main screen... it's a well thought-out system that leaves you to play the game as long as you want, while minimizing the downtime involved in doing less-common but sometimes useful things.

Of course, the game's not perfect, but that's just the nature of the medium.  It's a free download to start, and it gives you a limited amount of playtime for free (in my case, "limited" would have equated to about 3-4 full games).  Beyond that, it's got the standard cash-milking systems involved, if you want to go that route... OR, you can pay the full-upgrade cost (about $3-4), and get additional map types to play on, and leave the micro-transactions alone (unless you really need some coins to make a critical purchase for your map... so, if you have no willpower, this might not be the game for you after all).

All in all, I've had enough fun with it so far that I was willing to pony-up the unusually high "full version" price.  It's good for both short sessions or longer bouts, which is rare, and it makes you think ahead if you want to do well.  To me, that's all to the good... and it's free to try, so you really should.

...oh, and I did see something else cute that I considered worth paying for.  If you want something interesting but unobtrusive for a "live wallpaper", you can do far worse than Paperland.  It's built to look like paper cutouts of things you might see in a landscape, all animated to produce a scrolling backdrop for your phone.  Beyond that... well, it's hard to describe in words.  Since it has a free version too, I'll just say it's worth a look, and leave it at that.