MacHeist has an iOS app

MacHeist, notably using “The HEIST” as their new tagline, has just today released an iOS app.  I was at first put off that it was 99 cents, and not free, but I realized it almost certainly leads to some serious savings in something else.  If only I knew what that something else was, to know if it was worth it to me!

Apart from that, how is it for the game itself?  The puzzles in the game are pretty common, and not too difficult (so far).  There’s a 15-type game where you have to connect the wires, a “free parking” kind of game, a tile based “place the pebble” type game which isn’t as hard as it looks (and the hints are there), and a Sokoban kind of game with a really cool looking little robot.  So far I got a couple of the locks unlocked, but I need to put it aside for the moment and get some other things done, too!

The art is really well done and the app simulates a phone call from Sophia, which is a really nice touch, too.

I know a few are going to be annoyed at the barrier to entry for this year’s heist – and I don’t mean the 99 cents, I mean that you *have to* have an iOS device now.  The opening of the first scene on the web page could have been done with a store’s display model but since you have to buy an app now, I think that might cause some complaints.  I do sympathize, but I like the “hands on” nature of the new heist.

I finished “cracking the safe” which happens about 75% of the way through the puzzles, and unlocked a copy of Eets, a Steam game.  It’s OK, I could have done without it, and may not end up playing it with all the other games I have.  However, there are achievements, and that means I gotta finish them all!  I finally finished not only all of the puzzles but all of the achievements too… finishing the puzzles wins you a certificate and a buck off the upcoming MacHeist bundle, and finishing the achievements only gets you a happy happy feeling.

It was definitely a fun game, worth the 99 cents, but not much replayability in it.  They could easily add puzzles later, and might just do so.  I don’t regret getting it though.