amazing antsFormat: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Developer: Pocket Gems

US iTunes, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store

I have a bit of a grudge with ants. You see a few years back we had a bit of an ant problem in my garden that resulted in these creepy SOB’s making there way into my house. Anyway I have held a grudge because of the fact I had to pay a exterminator to get rid of them. Still enough of my life story, and lets get talking about the latest puzzler from the good people at Pocket Gems.

I have heard a few people say that they find this a bland game to look at, and I find my self taking double takes at my iPad screen to make sure I am playing the same game that they are talking about. This is because I think Amazing Ants is a very cute looking video game. It may not have the most amazing animations in the world, but I think it more than gets the job done in terms of its visuals. I actually think in a way that the game resembles the classic puzzle game Lemmings.

The basic idea of Amazing Ants is that you need to help these cute little ants get from point a to point b. And along the way you can find fruit for there colony to eat. But the way you do this is actually really challenging, and what you thought would be a cute little game is one tough brain teaser.

I already mentioned before that I thought the game looks like Lemmings, but it does share a couple of other things with that classic game. To start with when you start your group of ants walking that is it. They will just keep on walking until something stops them from doing so. Also like in Lemmings you can give your ants abilities to help them get through a level. For example you can make them jump in order to get over something that has halted them in there tracks.

The puzzle element is that these abilities are only given to you in a limited amount. So if you screw it up by mistiming something then you are going to have to restart the level. Another couple of abilities at your disposal are speed sticks that can make your ants run fast and go up walls. And bubble which can make your ants float. This is a really tricky ability to use as you need to keep an eye on your compass so you know where your ant is going to land.

In all this is a great game, but it does have one thing that is making me pull my hair out and that is this is a freemium game. In a town building game you just turn off the device and let something build. Amazing Ants is not a town building game though is it? So the way the freemium model comes into play is that you need to earn coins to open up the next set of levels. So you will be playing the same levels over and over again. As good as this game is it does get a little on the tedious side. Of course you can spend some money to unlock coins.

Amazing Ants is a great game, but I still am not sold on the freemium model of gaming. If they had an option for say five bucks to unlock all the levels and everything the game has to offer then I would do it in a heartbeat. But when I am need to pay a buck here and there I lose interest.

Still do not let that put you off. At the end of the day this is free and it is a great deal of fun. If you are a fan of the classic Lemmings like I am then I am sure you will get a real kick out of this.

US iTunes, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store