Orborun is an obstacle course challenge where you play as a running and rolling robot who looks suspiciously like one of the co-op Portal ‘bots. But in this game, you curl up into a ball and roll around obstacles and pick up bonuses to boost your score as you try to reach the exit as fast as you can. Orborun is available on iOS devices and Google Play, but the iPad version is reviewed here.

To control your rolling robot, simply tap on the left or right sides of the screen to make it go in that direction. To slow down, just tap on the bottom of the screen. You can also use tilt controls, but those are harder to work. As you roll, pick up items to boost your score such as coins or by bashing blue panes of glass (just don’t break the red ones or you’ll lose points). Cube items give you a speed boost, while hidden keycards can unlock bonus levels if you collect enough of them.

There are two kinds of levels with several stages in each. The Haste levels consist mostly of blue half-pipes and planks with a more direct path to the goal. The Puzzle levels aren’t much different, but you roll around orangish panels and there are more obstacles, so they’re a bit harder. If you fall off the edge or crash into an obstacle, you must start the level over again. While I found the game to be a bit difficult, if you like Super Monkey Ball style challenges, you may enjoy this one anyway.

Kid Factor:

If you crash into a wall or fall of the edge, your robot falls apart, but that’s about as violent as it gets. Reading skill is helpful for the tutorial text, and younger gamers may get frustrated at the high difficulty and touchy controls.

Tags: Game Reviews