A fun and frantic arcade game based on the bizarre DOFUS universe
Price: Free
Version: 1.02
Size: 93.5 MB
Platform: iPhone & iPad
Developer: Ankama
Dofus Pogo is a promotional tie-in game, promising to help “discover the story of the Dofus film,” a French anime which is in turn based on an old web-based gaming series. Don’t let that put you off, though; the Dofus theming is skin-deep, and there’s a lot of fun hiding beyond the movie trailer opening.
Press to aim, release to fire
Dofus Pogo’s premise is pretty straightforward: protect a giant egg, the mysterious Ebony Dofus, from hordes of villainous monsters. This involves firing cute little spherical chicks upwards to fend off increasingly powerful waves of egg-poaching baddies. The chicks – or Tofus, as they’re known for some reason – bounce wildly around the screen, destroying enemies before floating gracefully back down to earth. There’s a nice variation of strange-looking creatures to fight, each with unique traits and movement patterns.
It’s not the first mobile game involving violent chick-flinging action, but where Angry Birds allows time to think before each turn, Dofus Pogo is a good old-fashioned arcade frenzy. Each game starts easily enough, ramping up the pace and difficulty with each wave of enemies. Before long, the screen is overwhelmed with cutesy critters of every ilk. Screen-clearing powerups help when things get tough, clocking up combos is both satisfying and efficient, and the occasional boss-like encounter varies the challenge nicely.
Bounce off the walls to hit shielded enemies
Though far from mind-blowing, it’s a well-polished and addictive game that would feel at home on a real-life touch-screen arcade machine. This is a game to fill the same void on your iPhone as an endless runner or match-three puzzler; a fun distraction for those spare five minutes throughout the day. It’s a test of quick wits and multi-tasking dexterity which manages to be borderline stressful in just the right way. At the very reasonable entry price of free, Dofus Pogo is well worth a download.