Bean Boy for iOS and Android Review

by Gary Oldwood on 10 January 2015 · 3026 views

Today’s review is about a rather simple game for iOS and Android devices, or better yet, an intuitive game with simple gameplay that made it to the best new games category of the App Store. The game’s title is Bean Boy and you could say that it’s as funny as it sounds.

Introduction

Bean Boy is a tiny, squishy boy, that looks more like an orange than a bean seed, but perhaps that’s just me. The players must give a helping hand to him in order to get as far as possible while collecting golden stars and avoiding different obstacles on the way. At the beginning of the game our hero is at a kitchen floor of a house and the scenery changes as you move upwards.

Gameplay

In order to help him climb to the cubes, you aim towards the direction you want to get him at and jump. If during the jump Bean Boy reaches the verge of a cube, he clings to it and hangs in there until you tap on top of the cube to position him there.

Your goal is to jump from one cube to the other without falling. Every time you successfully land on a cube, a new one appears and some of them are moving, making the jump even harder. Bean Boy can bounce off walls and if he falls you have to start from scratch, so aim well before sending him off. During the fall a large number of stars will appear so try to collect as many as possible before landing back on the kitchen floor.

The game tries to avoid being repetitive by using an auto-generated mechanism which means that if you miss a cube it will disappear and the next one will appear in a different position. The higher you reach, the background scenes change from the inside of a big house to the starry sky.

The controls are as simple as they can be. All you have to do is slingshot Bean Boy using your fingers onto the cubes while collecting the scattered stars. The stars are the currency that you need to purchase the rocket ship that will shoot Bean Boy up when he’s in danger of falling or when you find it hard to jump to the next cube. Be aware that every time you use the rocket ship, its price goes up so use it wisely. If you fall, the next time you use the rocket ship its price will be back to normal again. The price increases only while you’re moving up. Bean Boy also offers IAP for those who want to buy more stars to use the rocket.

Cons

Of course, as you can guess, it’s an endless game where you just wait till you fall and start over. To be honest I wish it had levels added or enemies except from obstacles because that would make the game more interesting. This lack of variation could really bore the player and make you forget about the game very quickly. Hopefully in next updates we’ll get more additions to an otherwise fun game.

Appearance

The graphics are beautiful and not very complex and Bean Boy looks like a jelly when he is squished or hits the walls. But what grabbed my attention was the amazing music and sound effects of the game. It is captivating and I couldn’t bring myself to put it to mute.

Conclusion

As I stated earlier on the introduction, this is not a complicated, unique or deep game, but its magic lies exactly on its simplicity and easy gameplay. That’s what makes Bean Boy’s concept entertaining, fun, and challenging in its own way. If the developers improve the gameplay with a few more additions and add more plot, it will definitely become a game that will stay with us for a long time.