Discover O review: a minimalist game that will keep you coming back for more

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Thanks to the Internet, anyone can virtually travel the globe by browsing pictures of destination spots and reading travel blogs. But, how would you like to see the world through a minimalist’s eyes?

Discover O is a simple reflex game that tests your reaction time and takes you around the world with a minimal graphic design so you can appreciate the simpler things in life. We’ve got a full game review of Discover O for you below.

Concept

Players earn points by correctly matching a colored ball to sections of a circle. Swipe up, down, left, or right to match ball to wall. The more correct matches you make, the more points you will earn. When you’ve earned 100 points, which amounts to exploring an entire location, you will unlock a new setting. You will explore San Francisco, Goa, Patagonia, Australia, and Space.

Design

The theme to this game is minimalism. The reflex mechanics are simple, using one ball and four sections of a circle. The controls are simple, swipe up, down, left, or right to cause the ball to hit one of the sections. The background designs are what keep you coming back for more. The screen starts out blank, but as you earn points, you explore new elements, which are added to the background until you’ve reached 100 percent and created a full scenery.

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Gameplay

Players start in San Francisco with a ball inside a circle. Swipe one direction to match the ball to one of the four sections of the circle. Every time a match is made, the circle rotates and reveals a new set of colors. Continue to match the ball to the section to keep the game going.

Your moves are timed. The ball grows smaller the longer it takes for you to make your match. At the beginning, you get about four seconds to move. However, the time limit decreases the more points you earn. Within just a few rounds, the timer drops to just a second.

To make matters worse, the colors change from contrasting to similar. The four colors at the start of the game are pink, yellow, green, and blue. However, as the game progresses, the circle changes to shades of orange or green and it becomes much harder to quickly discern the differences between them

As you earn more points, you will unlock new elements, which are added to the background. I still haven’t figured out how the point system works for revealing new objects on the screen, but I believe that, it gets more difficult to unlock a new element as you increase your high score.

This is definitely one of those just-one-more-try types of games. Each time you unlock new elements, you can’t help but try to increase your high score by playing just one more round.

You can also use gems to continue a round instead of starting over. The first continue costs one gem. Each additional continue matches its consecutiveness (for example, a second continue costs two gems, a third costs three, and so on).

As long as you keep trying, you will eventually explore all of one location and unlock another. Try to explore all five of the destination spots to reveal a minimalistic trip around the globe.

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The Good

I love how easy it is to get into the game. Within seconds, you know what your goal is and how to achieve it. I found that I actually played better when I was slightly distracted by some other element, like watching a movie or listening to a podcast.

The Bad

The in-app ads are the only thing that will stop you from a smoothing flowing game. About every five minutes or so, you will get a full-screen five-second video advertisement. However, you can remove those pesky ads for only $0.99.

Value

Discover O – A minimalist game is free to download. In-app purchases help improve your high score, but certainly are not required for hours of entertainment. The replay value is high, since the goal is to explore new locations, which can only be done through gameplay.

Conclusion

This is a fun, fast game that will keep you coming back for more. You could play the game for many hours and still feel like you have to try one more time. It is free to download and, other than the full-screen advertisements that appear every once in a while, you can play all day without needing to pay for additional content. This game is available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Download it in the App Store today.

Related Apps

The gameplay is different, but Bricks is another minimalist reflex game.

What do you think about this globetrotting reflex game? Let us know in the comments below.