Quirky storytelling, easy and addictive gameplay and polished cartoon-style animations will make igrAlliance's Memory House for iOS stand out among the massive collection of puzzle games in the App Store. I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of a game that touts a funny narrative and unique adventure alongside memory-based puzzles, because frankly, memory games have never been much fun for me. I did want to give Memory House a shot, though, and while I remained skeptical about how much fun a memory-training game could be, I decided that Memory House deserved a chance.
Memory House begins by explaining the game's mechanics while also introducing you to the main character, Samuel Benjamin Malligan, also known as "The Captain." It seems that the retired sailor has picked up some new hobbies, including alchemy, which has led to some seriously quirky and mysterious events around his property. It's up to you to help the Captain restore order around his house.
While the game does follow a story, the actual gameplay takes place between cutscenes in which you are presented with a room from the Captain's property. After about 10 seconds, the scene will be interrupted by an evil cloud character and the items in the room will be shuffled around to different places. At this point you will be asked to place all of the items in the room back to their original place. Your performance for each puzzle is rated out of three stars
and is dependent on the amount of time it takes you to put all of the items back in their place. Move everything back to its original spot fast enough and you'll earn more three-star scores.
After each scene is complete, the player is presented with a short cut scene from the Captain. While the cutscenes are sometimes funny and witty, the story can be a little confusing, especially since The Captain's speech doesn't always make sense. I know that my knowledge of sailing lingo is limited to what I heard on the last episode of "Deadliest Catch," but sometimes I have no clue what The Captain is saying. I found myself skipping through several scenes just so I could move on to the next puzzle.
The puzzles themselves, while repetitive, are actually fun. I found myself working on improving my speed as I progressed through the game. For a person that doesn't typically enjoy memory training games, this is a great achievement for igrAlliance's mobile app. I think that Memory House is going to be an attractive option for parents with young children looking for a new game on the iPad, or for someone looking to just kill a few minutes during their day.
The Wrap-up:
The Good: Memory House has wonderful animations and an easy but addicting memory training game style. The game is quick and fun with almost no learning curve.
The Bad: Sometimes the story seems a little off the wall and even intrusive to the playtime of the game. The Captain needs to think before he speaks.
The Verdict: If you have young children who love memory games or Where's Waldo books, or even if you're an adult that enjoys those things, do yourself a solid and try out Memory House. It's not for everyone, but if you like quick memory trainers, it might be the next.
Available starting today from the Apple iTunes store.
NOTE: This app review is provided as part of PhoneDog's sponsored app review program. More information can be found athttp://www.phonedogmedia.com
