Wednesday App Review: Framed

Screen 1 iPad Retina NON ENG

I have to admit that I am a huge fan of those old noir films with the grizzled private investigators, the dirty crooks and the clever and seductive ladies.There’s just something so fun about that era, and the app Framed has managed to capture all of that in a unique comic strip puzzle game. But, as cool as it is, don’t go buy it just yet. This app was actually released last year and has been generating a lot of buzz recently. It’s won multiple awards and while there are a lot of great things about it, I have some complaints as well. First, we’ll look at the good. The art and animation on Framed is absolutely beautiful and it was easy to get lost in the story. All of the characters are silhouettes set starkly against bright backdrops and the frames each animate beautifully and change according to the order. When I read the initial description, I had trouble imagining how that would work but the team really did a great job on it–it’s absolutely seamless. The interface for the game is also very simple. All you do is drag the frames to the correct order and watch the scene unfold. If your PI gets caught, then you simply rearrange and try again. It’s a little trial-and-error and partially problem solving. Some of the challenges were harder than others, and towards the end the game dynamic changes and requires you to rearrange and reuse frames, which adds a fun element. It’s kind of hard to explain, so here’s a trailer from the game creators to show how the gameplay works: However, while the game itself is definitely clever, I have to admit that I wish I hadn’t paid $3 for it. There is virtually zero replay value and the game itself is rather short for the money. Personally, I felt like the storyline wasn’t very clear as there are not really any cut scenes and no dialogue. While I can hazard a guess as to the plot, I can’t honestly say the game really explained on exactly what is going on. Part of me likes that but since I almost feel like it is meant to be a narrative, part of me also thinks it could have been handled a little better. Regardless, I did greatly enjoy the puzzles in the game, and the animation was absolutely superb. The app itself is available for $2.99 on the Google Play Store and available on the App Store for $0.99. I can’t say that I’d recommend paying $3 for it, but I would easily say it’s worth $1 and if you have the Amazon App Store downloaded, then you should be able to pick it up for $1 there. Win! Do you know of any great apps that you’d like to see us review? Leave a note in the comments below!]]>

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