Turn It On! is a simple puzzle game that excels in most of its presentation, but falls flat in virtually every other category. At $0.99 or $0.00, it may be worth the 45 minutes required to complete the game, but at $1.99 there are better options available.
Foreword: I was kindly provided the code for this game directly from the developers over Twitter in exchange for a review and feedback.
Story:
There isn't really any story in Turn It On!, nor any sort of driving force to lead the player between the levels. There is a small animation of a spaceship preparing to lift off that doesn't seem to be related to anything in the game, but other than that there's nothing.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is that of a standard blackbox puzzle game where you have to figure out how to activate the specific device you are interacting with. Unfortunately, in Turn It On! all of these puzzles are either way too easy or lead the player to guess for the answer. If the puzzles were more engaging, the game may be worth more the time and money, but as it stands there really is no feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction from finishing any of the puzzles. Overall, the gameplay feels lackluster and boring.
Art:
Turn It On's! art is fairly nice. Nothing particularly stands out, but the puzzles are well modeled and the worlds are inoffensive. The major issue with the game's art style is that there's no story to base the art style off of, leading to a disconnected and inconsistent style. Luckily, the menus are simple and easy to understand.
Controls:
The controls are simple and easy to understand. They seem based off of other examples of manipulating a static object in a 3D environment on a mobile device, and are well replicated. The only issue with the games controls is when there are things to manipulate on the side of the object, where the controls become unreliable.
Sound:
The music in Turn It On! is simple and forgettable. None of it is particularly bad, it just falls flat due to the lack of an overall theme and story to build off of and work with. Luckily, the sound effects are well done and respond nicely to player input.
Note: Review originally written in 2019
Foreword: I was kindly provided the code for this game directly from the developers over Twitter in exchange for a review and feedback.
Story:
There isn't really any story in Turn It On!, nor any sort of driving force to lead the player between the levels. There is a small animation of a spaceship preparing to lift off that doesn't seem to be related to anything in the game, but other than that there's nothing.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is that of a standard blackbox puzzle game where you have to figure out how to activate the specific device you are interacting with. Unfortunately, in Turn It On! all of these puzzles are either way too easy or lead the player to guess for the answer. If the puzzles were more engaging, the game may be worth more the time and money, but as it stands there really is no feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction from finishing any of the puzzles. Overall, the gameplay feels lackluster and boring.
Art:
Turn It On's! art is fairly nice. Nothing particularly stands out, but the puzzles are well modeled and the worlds are inoffensive. The major issue with the game's art style is that there's no story to base the art style off of, leading to a disconnected and inconsistent style. Luckily, the menus are simple and easy to understand.
Controls:
The controls are simple and easy to understand. They seem based off of other examples of manipulating a static object in a 3D environment on a mobile device, and are well replicated. The only issue with the games controls is when there are things to manipulate on the side of the object, where the controls become unreliable.
Sound:
The music in Turn It On! is simple and forgettable. None of it is particularly bad, it just falls flat due to the lack of an overall theme and story to build off of and work with. Luckily, the sound effects are well done and respond nicely to player input.
Note: Review originally written in 2019