Social StudentEver heard of playing God? Well you can! Albeit a tiny bit reversed. From Apple to Android this nifty little game allows you to be godly in your own living room – with a cup of tea and a biscuit in your hand!
‘Let there be light’ – brought to you by JoyBits, Doodle God starts simple with the four basic elements ‘water, wind, earth and fire’. With your godly powers you must use your imagination to create life. From your basic elements you graduate to the complexities of what life brings – like sex, alcoholism and evil – just to spice it up a bit. Although simple, this game does have some progression, your ‘task’ is to use your powers to create more and more elements, like bacteria, volcanos and humans. It doesn’t take a genius to be godly at this game.
One of the delightful highlights of the game is the beautiful graphics JoyBits use for Doodle God – they even make God himself look cool! Each element has a simple icon, accompanied by sounds and encouragements from an unintelligible voice – God? And to top it all off it even comes in HD – hallelujah!
Complete with a walk-through tutorial, this game is anything but complicated! It’s so easy a hamster could play it – if that’s what they’re in to. And to make it easier there are even hints thrown in to guide you through smoothly. Its simplicity and accessibility makes Doodle God devilishly addictive. Once picked up, hours can be lost – absorbed in the alternative universe of Doodle God. However, although at first you become completely engrossed in your own little world, the game soon becomes repetitive as nothing varies from level to level, and achievements are annoyingly hard to reach and do not give you much satisfaction when you have reached them. This leads to the game becoming boring and forgettable, with no variation between levels and no real incentives to continue, interest can be lost quickly and the game becomes dull. But if you do somehow remember Doodle God – maybe you stumble across it whilst doing that obligatory app clear-out to make room for more selfies – it is easy to jump right back in to your addiction.
As it is available on many platforms, Doodle God varies in price from one device to the next. From the fabulous free Facebook to the steep PSVITA at a hefty £4.99 – just for a simple bundle! On IOS the game is fairly priced at £1.49 for the starter bundle, and £1.82 on Google Play. Some bundles can reach the dizzy heights of £69.99 – not worth it for the repetition and simplicity! Although, I do not think the game is worth its value at £4.99.
Overall, this is a good, modest game. But its simplicity is also its downfall. Although addictive at first, Doodle God becomes quickly monotonous and unmemorable with not much sense of achievement. It is worth its value at £1.49, however any higher and it is not worth the money you pay for it. Maybe it is an attempt to make religion look cool and entertaining, but the game really isn’t related to religion apart from the name and the ‘sins’ that can be produced. Generally, the game is good to play curled up on your sofa, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to play it with the same fierceness that Tetris brings.