Incredible?

when I first heard of Incredible Ink, I couldn't help but think that it seemed somewhat egotistical, not to mention completely gutsy, to put the word "incredibly" right there in the title of your game. Surely they must be compensating for a rather lackluster gameplay experience, right?

I couldn't have been more wrong. Incredible Ink is indeed incredible. It boasts a unique, ingenious gameplay mechanic that is quite possibly the best thing since sliced bread, which is saying a lot, seeing as how sliced bread is pretty fantastic.

Very Incredible

The game plays similar to a breakout style game, where you bounce a ball around to complete your objective. However, you don't get a paddle. Instead, you get a quill pen. A quill pen, you ask? That's right, an ordinary quill pen. But, as the name of this game implies, its ink is rather special. See, by drawing a line with your pen, you create a platform which your ball can bounce off of. Sound incredible? It is! You can create platforms where you please, sending you ball off in whichever direction you desire. The only catch is that you can only have one line at a time.

Two Modes

There are two game modes: Escape and Break All.

Break All is your classic "breakout" type mode, where your task is to smash all of the blocks on the current level. Also, the bottom of the screen means certain doom for your ball. Instead of simply going off the screen, however, you'll hit a row of spikes. The emphasis here is on how fast you can clear out all of the blocks. Of course, you'll have access to various power-ups that will help you achieve that goal. The system of drawing the platforms, as opposed to having a bumper on a track, makes all the difference in the world and completely changes the dynamic.

In Escape mode, you'll have to guide the ball to an escape portal on each level, all the while collecting diamonds and gems for bonus points. There is no dying in this mode, at least as far as I could tell. Again, the emphasis is on speed and making good time. It's quite a departure from the typical smash-everything gameplay and instead focuses on accuracy and well-drawn lines. Precision pays off in this mode.

A Must Have

I really can't stress enough how fun this game is. The play mechanic works remarkably well and though the game does share similarities to Breakout, it's really quite different. The game is nothing short of extraordinary. The presentation is well done too, with decent graphics and music, but in all honesty, that doesn't matter one bit. The focus here is on the unique platform-drawing element, as well it should be. It's ridiculously fun and surprisingly challenging to boot.

If you aren't convinced by now, please download the trial version of the game and give it a whirl. I can't imagine anyone not loving every second of this game.