Review: Lunarcy by the FABRIK

   When I was first introduced to Lunarcy about a week ago, it was completely off my radar, so I had no idea what to expect. It was not long before Lunarcy had completely won me over with its slick retro-modern aesthetic, its charming electronic music, and its maddeningly challenging gameplay. Lunarcy is definitely not another relaxing casual game for the iPhone. No, Lunarcy is a game for gamers, and has earned a spot in my personal go-to gaming collection on my iPhone.

Lunarcy’s Retro-Modern Graphics get a big “Thumb’s Up” from The Current Gamer

  Lunarcy is a real time physics puzzler where you are commissioned to pilot a ship charged with launching into a stable orbit around a planet, successfully docking with another ship, and then safely landing back on the home planet. While this may sound simple in theory, Lunarcy is an incredibly challenging game. Just as in real life, launching a ship into stable orbit around a planet requires a high level of precision in setting both the velocity and trajectory of the ship. In Lunarcy you will be working from planets of varying sizes which means just when you begin to get comfortable with the gravity you have to work with, you are shipped off to another planet having to re-learn the nuances in the physics all over again.

   The art in Lunarcy is very retro-modern, and anyone who grew up playing Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Atari will especially appreciate the art style. While a definite throwback to the gaming days of yesterday, the visuals are at the same time sharp, bright and run with a smooth frame-rate giving a very nice modern touch to the classic art style. The music is also very well done, and has a sort of and electronic retro-scifi sound to it. The music also changes dynamically with the gameplay which is a very nice touch.

  Another similarity Lunarcy shares with the games that inspired it is the extreme challenge. You will find some levels take dozens of tries before you perfect a strategy, and every few levels you will encounter new variables that will keep you on your toes. While Lunarcy is one of the most challenging games I have played on the iPhone to date, I did not find the game overly frustrating. Retrying a level is fast and easy with no annoying load times to worry about, and you are not punished for having to replay a level multiple times. If a particular level is really getting under your skin, you also have the option to skip ahead to another level. At any given time you will have several levels to choose from. Ultimately I found the steep challenges to be refreshing in a market that is now full of more casual titles that often require very little actual effort on the part of the player. Part of what made older retro titles so great was the level of satisfaction you would get by finally beating a chapter or level. Lunarcy does a great job of managing your frustration levels while making you feel like you have really achieved something after beating a particularly challenging level.

With 48 levels, Lunarcy will keep you busy for quite some time
 

 The mechanics in Lunarcy are all about patience and precision. The controls consist of one button to boost forward, a button to turn your ship left, a button to turn your ship right and a button to steady your ship and stop it while it is turning. Essentially you have the classic zero gravity controls. Unlike most games, the controls are not not meant to be constantly used. In fact, much of your score in Lunarcy is based on how much fuel you have left upon completing your mission, and fuel is used every time you boost, steer or stop your ship. This is where using gravity to your advantage really comes into play. Ideally you want to boost and steer your ship just enough to bring it into a stable orbit around the planet, as movement in orbit does not use up any fuel. While in orbit you then want to use the movement to your advantage using minimal force in docking with the other ship. After docking with the ship you receive a set amount of credits, and then need to guide your ship into a safe landing back on the planet. Land too hard, and you will damage your ship. After a successful landing, credits earned are used to re-fuel and repair any damages to your ship. Remaining credits are tallied up and factored into your final score for the level. 

   Currently Lunarcy only features local high scores, and one mode of play. Even so, with 48 levels you will easily find hours upon hours of gameplay. Recently the FABRIK revealed exclusively to The Current Gamer that an upcoming 1.1 update for Lunarcy will feature online global leaderboards, a new beginners difficulty setting, and a whole new mode of play. The new mode of play, Time Trials, will throw away fuel conservation and damage control and will allow you to do whatever it takes to complete each level with the fastest time possible. This will require entirely new strategies, and will add plenty of additional gameplay hours. Both modes will be included in the new online leaderboards, and will also both be playable in the new beginners mode. The beginners mode will be a welcome addition to the more casual players, or players new to the game that want to level out what is currently a very steep learning curve.

  Of course, we can not yet factor in these new features to to score, however The Current Gamer will be reviewing the new update when it arrives and will then update the score accordingly. 

 Until then Lunarcy gets a very respectable 4 out of 5

iTunes Link Full Version

iTunes Link Lite Version

the FABRIK Website

  Review by Robert Mullen