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Little Acorns

SCORE: 81

Thursdays have become Chillingo days at Family Friendly Gaming. We never know what apps they are going to publish. What we do know is they will be releasing something. One of the games from this last Thursday was Little Acorns. Mr Nibbles is a squirrel who is amassing acorns for his family in their tree. This is done in platform style levels. Collect all the acorns, and then get to the exit.

Some levels in Little Acorns have Mr Nibbles catching all the babies, as well as acorns. Other levels have fruit to collect after the acorns. They provide bonuses. The main problem with Little Acorns is the timer. Players only have so much time to beat the levels. Once winter is hit, this timer becomes a major problem.

The graphics in Little Acorns are small, and blocky. The colors are great, and there are plenty of customizations for the main character. Things like a clowns nose, sunglasses, and a tie are a few examples. Mr Nibbles will jump on the heads of various creatures in Little Acorns. They fall off the screen once the player disposes of them.

The music in Little Acorns is exceptional. I love the special effect sounds to this game as well. Especially when a level is completed. I like the lesson of storing up food for the winter. Little Acorns does not spell that out, but it is something I gleaned off this app. There are sixty levels in Little Acorns, and a certain number of acorns are needed to get to the next years - like worlds in other games.

The first three seasons of the first year of Little Acorns were awesome. Once winter hit I started to notice some problems. There are three on screen buttons used for the controls. On the left side are two arrows. One going left and one going right. The right side of the screen has the jump button. The level design can require some tight jumping. Which is not always easy to do thanks to the on screen controls. It seems the more difficult the level, the more glaring the control issues are. This is amplified by the timer. Have trouble with certain areas of a level and you will lose it.

I love the family aspect of Little Acorns. Mr Nibbles is providing for his family, and building up their nest egg. He goes out there and collects the food for his family. This is a great lesson for the industry to keep in mind. I had fun playing Little Acorns. I think this could be a great game if it is done on a device with a D-pad, and a few buttons.
- Paul

Graphics: 79%
Sound: 90%
Replay/Extras: 85%
Gameplay: 73%
Family Friendly Factor: 80%
System: iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad
Publisher: Chillingo
Rating: ‘4+’ - 4+

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